59 De Ville and WestSideJazz - Double Bill
Entry Requirements: Under 16s are not permitted in the venue. Under 18s must be accompanied by a responsible adult at all times.
59 De Ville and WestSideJazz Double Bill on the Sunday Lunchtime Session:
59 De Ville delivers a modern take on Bebop and Blues standards. Formed out of a jam session at Ain’t Nothing But the Blues, the band features jazz musicians Jeremy Robinson on trumpet and Jamie Royan on double bass & bass guitar, together with blues frontman Russ Varakuta guitar & vocals and multi-instrumentalist Jerry Claydon on drums.
Jeremy Robinson’s jazz trumpet influences span the history of the art: from Bix Beiderbecke and Louis Armstrong, through Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Chet Baker, Lee Morgan and Wynton Marsalis. Jamie Royan studied bass and drums at ICMP before joining the West London music scene playing bass guitar and double bass in rock, blues, jazz, and classical settings. Following in the footsteps of his brother Alex, a well-known rock and country singer, New Yorker Russ Varakuta now finds himself a frequent guitarist-vocalist on the London jazz and blues scenes. His guitar influences include Robben Ford, Buddy Guy, and Jim Mullen, while his vocal style owes debts to Ray Charles, Merle Haggard, and Howlin Wolf. Drummer Jerry Claydon’s main influence is the blues rock drumming of Ken Pustelnik (Groundhogs) and he is a regular jammer on the London blues scene.
Among the material this exciting hybrid jazz and blues quartet will be performing are numbers such as “The Sidewinder”, “Nightlife”, “Black Cat Bone” and “Cantaloupe Island” as well as their own original compositions.
WestSideJazz showcases mellow jazz and good vibes playing their own take on Swing, Blues, Ballads, and Latin standards. Formed out of Jazz Café sessions at Mehr Clef 2024, the band features Richard Cook on vocals, Marcus James on piano, and Jamie Royan on double bass. For this special show, WestSideJazz will additionally be joined by Jeremy Robinson on trumpet. The performance will include renditions of “Fly Me to the Moon”, “Centrepiece”, “Lullaby of Birdland”, “Old Devil Moon” among others. Singer Richard Cook studied jazz vocals at Richmond Jazz School and was vocalist in Cuban music band ‘Havana Good Time’ for ten years before forming Brazilian group ‘Blame It Tn the Bossa Nova’ in 2019 with which he continues to perform. Richard draws influence from the music of his childhood and has applied this to the songs he loves to sing. Marcus James studied Jazz piano at Leeds College of music in the 1990s and returned to playing recently after a long break, taking up where he left off, working to develop a lyrical style drawing on influences ranging from Keith Jarrett to Bill Evans and Wynton Kelly.
WestSideJazz 3.30pm (doors 3.00pm) 59 De Ville 4.30pm.