Mostly Jazz, Funk & Soul Festival - 29th, 30th June & 1st July 2012 - Birmingham, Moseley Park

Mostly Jazz, Funk & Soul Festival & Leftfoot present Gilles Peterson 3rd June 2012

John — Thu, 10 May 2012 12:22:15 +0000

Bank Holiday Sunday 3rd June

Mostly Jazz, Funk & Soul Festival & Leftfoot Present

Gilles Peterson

Sam Redmore & Adam Regan.

£10 Advance / MOTD

9pm-3am

As we enter the final month of preparations for this year’s Mostly Jazz, Funk & Soul Festival, friday night’s compere will be joining us for a Bank Holiday DJ session at the Hare & Hounds. Music lover, record collector, DJ, and broadcaster, Gilles Peterson is perhaps most famous for his much loved genre-exploding radio shows. His recent move from to BBC6Music has been well-received by his fanbase as he continues to join the dots between a wide variety of leftfield, soulful sounds.

This year’s festival promises to be the strongest yet with headline appearances from George Clinton’s Parliament/Funkadelic, Roots Manuva & Family Stone. We will be offering the first 50 Festival ticket holders a chance to buy 2 tickets for this event for £15. Email john@mostlyjazz.co.uk for details.
www.mostlyjazz.co.uk

BUY TICKETS HERE

info@hareandhoundskingsheath.co.uk

A Trad Jazz Concert In The Park

John — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 13:33:39 +0000

We are delighted to be bringing two of the biggest names from the traditional jazz world for a special concert in the park on 27th June 2012.

The Big Chris Barber Band

Trombonist Chris Barber celebrated his 50th year as a bandleader in 1999. Inspired by the King Oliver Creole Jazz Band, Chris formed his first Barber New Orleans Band in 1949 at the age of 19. In 1953, along with Monty Sunshine and Lonnie Donegan, he joined forces with Ken Colyer. Then, with the replacement of Colyer by Pat Halcox, Ken Colyer’s Jazzmen became Chris Barber’s Jazz Band in 1954 and has been one of Europe’s most successful traditional jazz bands ever since.

Over the years, Chris Barber’s Jazz Band evolved into the Chris Barber Jazz and Blues Band, a rich eight-piece group, blending brass, reeds, and electric guitar into a unique and unmistakable mix of blues and jazz. And despite being ‘on the slide’ since 1949, having performed over 10,000 concerts and made thousands of recordings, the Chris Barber Jazz and Blues Band keeps marching on. At the end of 2001 Chris extended his band with three more musicians into The BIG Chris Barber Band.

Acker Bilk and his Paramount Jazz Band

Acker Bilk and his Paramount Jazz Band are one of the most successful British jazz groups ever. In 2001 Acker was honoured with an MBE for his services to the music industry.

Acker Bilk gained worldwide fame with his hit single Stranger on the Shore in 1962. It stayed in the charts for 55 weeks and was the first record to hit the number one spot in the UK and USA simultaneously. Acker has integrated the top young jazz talent in the UK into the band with the introduction of Enrico Tomasso (Trumpet), Ian Bateman (Trombone) and Malcolm Crease (Bass) to the line-up, which also includes Ritchie Bryant (Drums) and Colin Wood (Piano). The band has a new vitality which is guaranteed to make your event go with a swing!

Tickets are priced at £20 and are available now from here

Times: 7pm – 10pm

Venue Address:

Moseley Park

Alcester Road

Moseley

Birmingham

B13 8DD

Mostly Jazz Funk & Soul Festival 2012

John — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 09:55:12 +0000

We are delighted to announce that this year’s Mostly Jazz, Funk & Soul Festival will be brought to a rapturous close by the godfathers of Funk – George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic.

The Mostly Jazz Festival is set to return on 29th, 30th June & 1st July 2012 as The Mostly Jazz, Funk & Soul Festival.

Doing exactly what it says on the tin, The Mostly Jazz, Funk & Soul Festival offers a blistering weekend of Jazz, Funk & Soul with a host of household names bringing the party atmosphere back to Moseley Park!

The Friday – 29^th June 2012 – which has been curated by Birmingham’s Leftfoot will see the return of Gilles Peterson who will be compering on the day as well as jumping behind the decks of one of his legendary DJ sets.

London Hip-Hop virtuoso Roots Manuva will be headlining the Friday and will be joined by the genre defying Ghostpoet, cover Maestro’s Introducing who will be taking on DJ Shadow’s ‘Entroducing’ in full, with Leftfoot’s new favourites Bad Bad Not Good completing the main stage line up.

Headlining the second stage will be local tropical dub pioneers Troumaca, electro heroes Free School, the groove driven Maylight as well as a DJ set from Leftfoot’s very own Sam Redmore.

The Friday doesn’t end there… Mr. Scruff will be heading to the park to play on his very own stage – Mr Scruff’s Tennis Hut. He will also be headlining the After Show Party which will be completely exclusive to Mostly Jazz, Funk & Soul ticket holders!

On Saturday – 30^th June 2012 – we will see the return of Craig Charles’ Funk & Soul Club with the man himself curating the line up as well playing a headline DJ Set on the second stage!

He will be joined by the legendary Native New Yorkers Odyssey, Speedometer, The Atlantic Players, The Bongolian, Lack of Afro (DJ Set) & Federation Of The Disco Pimp as well as Introducing coming back to play their second show of the weekend with their take on the music of Mr. Scruff.

On Sunday – 1^st July 2012 – We will be joined by the Godfathers of Funk – George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic. They will be bringing the party to a rapturous close with one of the most anticipated performances of the summer!

Also performing on the Sunday will be James Brown’s Trombone player and master in his own right Fred Wesley who will be joined by his long time band The New JB’s. Completing the Sunday line up will be Soweto Kinch, Andy Hamilton & The Bluenotes, Husk, Miles Levin, Steve Ajao & Birmingham Jazz Youth Ensemble.

In 2012…. There will be, once again, two stages side by side at the festival, the second of which will feature up and coming talent. As in 2011, Tony Dudley-Evans’ development agency Jazzlines and Birmingham’s premier jazz & funk parlour The Yardbird will be curating the second stage, whilst Gilles Peterson’s favourite Birmingham promoters Leftfoot will curate both stages on the Friday. Each will showcase some of their top acts so expect to see a wealth of emerging sounds.

Tickets for Mostly Jazz, Funk & Soul 2012 are now on sale via www.mostlyjazz.co.uk. To avoid booking fees there will also be the option to send in a postal form which is now available from the website. Alternatively, you can visit one of our outlets listed on our site to pick up the tickets in person.

First Acts for 2012 Announced!

John — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:48:26 +0000

With the success of the festival growing each year, we are delighted to announce that BBC Radio 1’s purveyor of eclectic sounds Gilles Peterson and BBC Radio 6’s Funk & Soul maestro Craig Charles will be returning to curate the line up with some of their favourite acts. They’ll also be jumping behind the decks for sets at the official after show parties as well as DJing in the park!

Joining Gilles Peterson on the friday will be the genre defying Ghostpoet (pictured), cover maestro’s Introducing who will be taking on DJ Shadow’s ‘Entroducing’ in full as well Local Tropical Dub Pioneers Troumaca and Electro Heroes Free School.

On saturday we’ll be joined by the legendary Native New Yorkers Odyssey, Speedometer, The Atlantic Players as well Introducing coming back to play their second show of the weekend with their take on the music of Mr Scruff.

Sunday we will be joined by James Brown’s and Trombone master in his own right Fred Wesley who will be joined by his long time band The JB’s. Fred Wesley & The JB’s will be joined by Soweto Kinch, Andy Hamilton & The Bluenotes, Husk and Steve Ajao.

The line ups for both stages will be announced gradually over the coming months but as you can see we already have some amazing artists for 2012! We’ll also be keeping you updated with further events happening in the build up to the festival!Tickets for Mostly Jazz, Funk & Soul 2012 are now on sale here. To avoid booking fees there will also be the option to send in a postal form which is now available from the website. Alternatively, you can visit one of our outlets listed on our site to pick up the tickets in person.

Mostly Jazz, Funk & Soul Festival 2012

John — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 13:46:34 +0000

The Mostly Jazz Festival is set to return on 29th, 30th June & 1st July 2012 as The Mostly Jazz, Funk & Soul Festival.

Tickets are now on sale for the event from here. You can also purchase in person from the festival office and certain outlets in Birmingham and around the country. Check here for further details.

The first acts will be announced on 21st January 2012 and will continue to be announced over the coming months! Keep checking in with us to see who is the latest name to be announced for Mostly Jazz, Funk & Soul 2012!

Here’s a little further information….

With the success of the festival growing each year, we are delighted to announce that BBC Radio 1’s purveyor of eclectic sounds Gilles Peterson and BBC Radio 6’s Funk & Soul maestro Craig Charles will be returning to compere with the latter curating the line up with some of his favourite acts. They’ll also be jumping behind the decks for sets at the official after show parties as well as DJing in the park!

In 2011, Over 5,000 Jazz, Funk & Soul enthusiasts filled the park to witness the Hammond Legend, Booker T (pictured) close the event in style following epic headline performances from The Cinematic Orchestra & Matthew Herbert Big Band. Further performances came from the likes of Pigbag, Hidden Orchestra, Brandt Brauer Frick, Alice Russell, Smoove & Turrell & Ariya Astrobeat Arkestra.

In 2012…. There will be, once again, two stages side by side at the festival, the second of which will feature up and coming talent. As in 2011, Tony Dudley-Evans’ development agency Birmingham Jazz and Birmingham’s premier jazz & funk parlour The Yardbird will be curating the second stage, whilst Gilles Peterson’s favourite Birmingham promoters Leftfoot will be taking the reins on friday. Each will showcase some of their top acts so expect to see a wealth of emerging sounds.

The line ups for both stages will be announced gradually over the coming months but we can already guarantee some amazing artists for 2012! We’ll also be keeping you updated with further events happening in the build up to the festival!

Genius Collective & Soul Food Project DJ SET added to Smoove & Turrell

John — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 09:47:04 +0000

The official Mostly Jazz, Funk & Soul Launch Party is now completely sold out so our attention moves onto making this a night to remember!

Not only will we have Smoove & Turrell on the night but we will be joined by Birmingham’s own Genius Collective

Genius Collective – Stronger Than Me

We will also be joined by the already legendary Soul Food Project boys who will be DJ’ing throughout the night!

See you all saturday night!

Mostly Jazz, Funk & Soul x

The Mostly Jazz Festival is back….. well almost!

John — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 12:50:09 +0000

The Mostly Jazz Festival is set to return on 29th, 30th June & 1st July 2012 as The Mostly Jazz, Funk & Soul Festival.

With the success of the festival growing each year, we are delighted to announce that BBC Radio 1’s purveyor of eclectic sounds Gilles Peterson and BBC Radio 6’s Funk & Soul maestro Craig Charles will be returning to compere with the latter curating the line up with some of his favourite acts. They’ll also be jumping behind the decks for sets at the official after show parties as well as DJing in the park!

In 2012…. There will be, once again, two stages side by side at the festival, the second of which will feature up and coming talent. As in 2011, Tony Dudley-Evans’ development agency Birmingham Jazz and Birmingham’s premier jazz & funk parlour The Yardbird will be curating the second stage, whilst Gilles Peterson’s favourite Birmingham promoters Leftfoot will be taking the reins on friday. Each will showcase some of their top acts so expect to see a wealth of emerging sounds.

Tickets for Mostly Jazz, Funk & Soul 2012 will be going on sale on 5th December 2011 via www.mostlyjazz.co.uk. To avoid booking fees there will also be the option to send in a postal form which is now available from the website. Alternatively, you can visit one of our outlets listed on our site to pick up the tickets in person.

We will be announcing the first set of artists on 21st January 2012 at our official launch party at Hare & Hounds featuring Smoove & Turrell with their six piece live band! Details for this show and how to buy tickets are available at www.mostlyjazz.co.uk

Official Launch Party with Smoove & Turrell – SOLD OUT!

John — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 09:30:56 +0000

Having sold out The Hare & Hounds twice already, Smoove & Turrell are back for their third visit to Kings Heath, but this time, they are bringing the whole band with them!

As always, it’s going to be the funkiest thing that you’ll EVER do on a Saturday night in January…“It’s a badly kept secret that a lot of people believe John’s heading for future stardom – with a voice with the timbre of the greats of Soul music, who could deny that? For Smoove and Turrell, their time is coming, and soon.” – Snowboy.Since the launch of their debut album Antique Soul in 2009, things have started accelerating very fast indeed for the Geordie duo Smoove & Turrell. From being a complete unknown to headlining stages to over 10,000 people at Glastonbury, singer John Turrell has seen his life change dramatically since their first single I Can’t Give You Up became one of the most sought after 7” releases of the year – discussed endlessly on mod and northern soul forums with the final copies of the 500 run selling for north of £150 on ebay.Producer Smoove, with a longer career behind him, exudes the confidence of someone who has seen it all before. Signed as a solo artist to the legendary Acid Jazz imprint in its heyday as well as various major label deals he has the confidence of a world class producer who has finally found a world class lyricist and singer to write with.A quick re-cap on the story so far. Having completed recording of their debut album Antique Soul, their live agent sent the finished copy to Jalapeno Records who took one listen and offered them a deal within an hour of the demo arriving.Singles, I Can’t Give You Up, You Don’t Know and Beggarman scored two Records of the Week on Radio 2 and a playlist on 6 Music between them and set the boys up for a summer of touring culminating in a triumphant Big Chill show before the boys retired to their Newcastle studio to record the songs they had been writing all summer and plot the next move.During the year they were promoting their debut album Antique Soul, John’s incredible blues vocals had not gone unnoticed and he received offers to moonlight as the singer for Ashley Beedle’s MAVIS project and as singer for the Fantasy Funk Band – a live band put together by long time Smoove & Turrell supporter and all round top funker Craig Charles. With the support of Smoove – John spread his prodigious talent as far and wide as possible in 2010 playing with James Taylor , Dr Rubberfunk and Kraak & Smaak as well as the collaborations above, in order to draw as much attention to the next Smoove & Turrell album as possible.

And so after a winter and spring hibernation in the studio – Smoove & Turrell are back with their second album Eccentric Audio. All questions about a difficult second album are brushed aside with the first listen which shows John Turrell at the top of his game lyrically and vocally while Smoove delivers a timeless production that references but never mimics the greats of soul, hip hop, jazz and rhythm and blues. More focused than their first album, tracks like Money are influenced by the politically aware black music of the 70’s, while the incredibly melancholy Wasted Man owes as much to songwriters like Nick Drake and trip hop like Massive Attack as it does to Funk & Soul.

First single Slowdown sees John deliver a powerful vocal that evokes the ratpack at their height (assuming Frank, Dean & the boys had lived through acid house and a youth growing up in the North East that is), Broke delivers a riff that De la Soul would have been proud of and Higher is a full tilt Northern Soul stomper. Never ones to forget about what their fans want – live favourites Let Yourself Go, Hard Work and It’s the Falling In Love make sure that this is an album you could put on repeat at a party.

An accomplished DJ who makes his living by making people dance, Smoove’s hand is all over the album sequence which builds and drops, ebbs and flows until as the final bar rings out the listener knows they have just been part of Something Special.

And that’s all you can ask for in an album really.

Support comes from Genius Collective & Soul Food Project DJ SET!

This event is now completely SOLD OUT

Felabration: Fela Kuti’s Birthday Tribute Concert

John — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 12:33:44 +0000

Fela Kuti’s Birthday tribute concert is the annual event to celebrate the originator of Afrobeat. The concert comes to Birmingham on Friday 14^th October 2011 at The Hare & Hounds. This event celebrates his music, his life, his fashion, and all the many truths that he shared in his music and his life. Join us in celebrating one of the most important Africans of the 20^th century!

The concert will be led by Fela’s Egypt 80 keyboardist and musical director of award winning musical “FELA”, Dele Sosimi and his ensemble. Dele moved to London in 1995 from Nigeria and stands out as one of the most active musicians currently on the Afrobeat scene worldwide. His dedication to Afrobeat has contributed to the development of many musical influences and interests in multi-cultural London.

From his early discovery as a green 16 year old keyboardist by Fela Kuti, who brought him into his band Egypt 80, Dele rose to prominence as musical director of the 30 piece band during the 80’s and 90’s. Whilst at the helm he hatched a plan for a new more aggressive sound, with an old school mate, who just happened to be Fela’s son Femi Kuti. The result was the band Positive Force, with whom he toured globally for a decade, honing his craft and exploring all the richness of this amazing music.

Increasingly Jazz and other styles started to feature in his thinking and Dele opted to jump ship and pursue his own musical vision, packing his bags and heading to London to form his own group. Being his own man has really suited him, allowing the realization of his own vision – one that’s faithful to the Fela blueprint, but also clearly bears Dele’s own DNA, exploring the jazzier side of Afrobeat.

Fela was known for his showmanship, and his concerts were often quite outlandish and wild. In recent years there has been a revitalization of Fela’s influence on music and popular culture, culminating in another re-release of his catalogue controlled by Universal Music, off-and-on Broadway biopic shows, and new bands, such as , who carry the Afrobeat banner to a new generation of listeners.

Dele has performed extensively throughout the world including major jazz festivals such as the Montreux Jazz Festival. Dele frequently performs at some of London’s hippest venues such as the Jazz Café and the Shrine. Afrobeat Vibration, Deles Bimonthly sessions have also grown to be London’s top underground event. Sosimi also went down a storm at the Mostly Jazz Festival 2011 in Birmingham.

Dele has always shown his love for Fela’s music,from his day as a band member in Egypt 80 to him currently flying solo. Fela’s and Dele’s music will be performed on the night. Dele will be supported on the night by DJ Ade and Bobbalin’ Hot. Come and join us in the colourful celebration of Fela Kuti’s legacy!

Djs include Dj Ade and Bobblin hot

Check out the special Felabration mix by Bobblin Hot below!

http://www.mixcloud.com/bobbiejane/felabration-mix/

Advance tickets priced £10. Tickets available from:

http://www.theticketsellers.co.uk/ 0844 870 0000

A thank you from the Mostly Jazz team

Annabel — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 15:23:37 +0000

Thank you to everyone who came to this year’s festival. It was a great success.

We would love to get your feedback so we can make the festival even better. Please let us know your thoughts (positive or negative!) by email info@mostlyjazz.co.uk

If you took any photos and are on Flickr, please tag them Mostly Jazz 2011.

Pictures are still flooding in, but you can see a selection from Russ Escritt here and Fiona Cullinan (including the image above) here.
You can read a great review courtesy of The Hearing Aid here.

We hope to see you next year!

Mostly Jazz Team x