JAZZ UP! presents… DAVE KEECH & SONS with special guest SIMON SPILLETT + the Joe English Trio + DJ Sten King

JAZZ UP! presents…

DAVE KEECH & SONS with special guest

SIMON SPILLETT

+ the Joe English Trio

+ DJ Sten King

JazzUp’s festive, end of year party with classic tunes, party vibes, music quiz, late bar and

more!

DAVE KEECH

Dave is co-founder and musical director of JazzUp and regularly appears on stage as both MC and musician.

Dave started playing the trombone at the age of 12, inspired by his trombonist grandfather. He grew up in the Midlands factory town of Kettering, home of the world champion GUS Brass Band. Dave was taught by GUS principal trombonist Maxwell Thornton and learned his craft in the Kettering Gold & Silver Band, one of many thriving youth brass bands in the area.

In his mid-teens, he met trombonist Bob Hunt who introduced him to the music of Duke Ellington, starting a life-long love affair with jazz. He joined Bob’s Blue Rhythm Band, a teenage ensemble playing authentic arrangements of Duke’s music. By the age of 18 he was doing paid gigs with jazz bands and function outfits in the local area. Northampton bandleader John Percival introduced him to the world of professional gigs in earnest and through this Dave was able to fund his passage through art and design school, fuelling his other life-long passion.

Dave gained a place at the Royal College of Art studying sculpture and design under Sir Eduardo Paolozzi and from here became immersed in the vibrant London jazz scene of the late 80s. At a London jam session he met saxophonist and bandleader Ray Gelato and became a mainstay of Ray’s renowned ‘Giants’ for several years, touring the world, playing many of the top international jazz festivals and appearing on Ray’s album ‘The Full Flavour’. Dave cites the experience of playing with Ray at Carnegie Hall, New York, alongside Lionel Hampton and Roberta Flack as a seminal career moment.

In 2003 Dave moved with his young family to Japan, to work as the first non-Japanese member of Yamaha’s musical instrument design team. This was a period of total immersion in music, designing keyboards, drum kits and brass and wind instruments by day, and gigging and recording with Japanese small groups and big bands by night and weekends. At this time he occupied the lead trombone chair in the Hamamatsu-based Blue Notes Jazz Orchestra.

In 2014 Dave co-founded JazzUp with Robin Campbell. Dave states that JazzUp’s mission remains exactly the same nine years on: To showcase the rich diversity and incredible talent of the UK jazz scene and provide a platform for both the nation’s leading musicians and young players at the start of their careers.

Dave has just completed his first solo album ‘Tokyo’, produced by James Ribbans and due for release in 2024. It consists of his own contemporary jazz compositions and features Nim Sadot, Corrie Dick, Andre Espeut, Rob Luft, Binker Golding and Nikolaj Torp Larsen.

Dave is a King Trombones artist and plays a King 2B-PLS Sterling

SIMON SPILLETT

Straight-ahead, high energy jazz is his line and he does it with aplomb
– The Guardian

Over his twenty-five year career Simon Spillett has worn almost as many hats as it’s possible to wear within jazz; multi-award-winning instrumentalist (BBC Jazz Awards, British Jazz Awards, Jazz Journal’s Album of The Year), quartet and big band leader, recording artist, author, historian, record producer, archivist, magazine columnist, Social Media commentator and latterly blogger.

However, for all these varied skills he identifies most strongly as a powerfully swinging, straight-ahead tenor saxophonist, one capable of taking the audiences who hear him on a roller-coaster ride encompassing everything from energetic bebop to heartfelt balladry.

And it’s in this guise that he’s become a solid fixture on the UK jazz landscape, regularly playing sold-out gigs at major festivals (Birmingham, Brecon, Swanage, Southport etc.) and world famous club venues (Ronnie Scott’s).

A charismatic performer, gifted with a dry observational wit, he’s never lost sight of the fact that jazz is entertainment as much as self-expression and whether playing, writing or articulately holding forth on his favourite subject – UK jazz history – he’s an infectiously passionate communicator.

Simon Spillett plays Rico Reeds supplied by D’Addario UK.

ELEAZAR RUIZ SPREAFICO

Eleazar is a London-based Argentine bassist who has performed extensively in the UK and the EU. He has performed at such renowned venues as Ronnie Scott’s, Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall, The Vortex, Sunset/Sunside and La Chope de Puces, as well as EFG London Jazz Festival, Festival Django Reinhardt and Isle of Wight Festival.

Notable recordings include him on Netflix (The Crown, 2021, Hurricane, 2017,) and Amazon (Lucky Man, 2016, The Collection, 2015). Eleazar has studied with New York bassists Ari Roland, Neal Miner, Ben Wolfe and (Austria based) Giorgos Anthoniou.

His technical ability and stylistic versatility put him in high demand on the London jazz scene (whether it’s be-bop, swing, trad, big bands or smaller ensembles), and makes him one of the first calls for visiting international musicians.He performs regularly, and has worked with musicians such as Ray Gelato, Sara Dowling, Giacomo Smith, Olli Soikkelli, Steve Brown, Mozes Rosenberg, Dorado Schmidt, Daniel John Martin, Joe Webb, Gunther Kurmayr, Louise Messenger, Kai Hoffman, Billie Wackrill, Sara Oschlag, Matt Fishwick, Steve Fishwick, Alex Garnett, Mark Taylor, Stefan Melovski, Leon Greening, Alexander Bryson, Matt Holborn, Kourosh Kanani, Gary Potter, Duncan Hemstock, and more.

His playing style draws heavily on the playing of Oscar Pettiford, Ray Brown, Dennis Irwin, Milt Hinton, Nat King Cole, Lester Young, Duke Ellington, Django Reinhardt, Horace Silver and Art Blakey.

JOE KEECH

Joe is at the start of his career as a professional drummer, and recently graduated with a degree in Music from LIPA (Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts), the prestigious music and performance school founded by Sir Paul McCartney.

He is the drummer with rising stars on the Indy rock scene Idyllic, who recently released their debut single 405 Line (first of a 5-track EP), and who are currently appearing at festivals and clubs all over the UK. Joe also works on the Liverpool jazz scene with bands such as Blueprint, and American saxophonist Frank Griffith. Joe is releasing more music with Idyllic and Blueprint in 2024 with lots more gigs planned.

Joe’s Influences are Elvin Jones, Art Blakey, Billy Cobham and Clyde Stubblefield.

ISAAC KEECH

Isaac is currently studying jazz piano on the second year of a music degree at Leeds Conservatoire. Alongside his studies, Isaac plays with the Leeds-based jazz quintet Away From Home and contemporary jazz funk outfit Lemon Soul, who realise their first single in 2024.

Isaac cites his influences as Herbie Hancock, Horace Silver, Neal Evans and Cannonball Adderley.

Support: The Joe English Trio

Young, local pianist and Guildhall Jazz student Joe leads his brilliant trio for the whole season of JazzUps as part of our Youth Jazz initiative. This is enabled primarily by the proceeds from the JazzUp Spring Draw, which took place for the two limited edition Charlie Parker prints by artist (and bassist of The Specials) Horace Panter.

+ DJ Sten King

Our resident JazzUP DJ and core member of the JazzUp team Sten King delivers that unique JazzUp vibe. Sten is well known as a presenter of acclaimed hip hop radio shows such as ‘The Boom Bap Boutique’, and has built a reputation as the DJ that the musicians love as much as the audience.

Ticket details £15 standard price £12 with JazzUp Loyalty Card

Online tickets available from:

www.club-85.co.uk

www.jazzupuk.com

Tickets may also be purchased on the door but please be aware that JazzUp can sometimes be very busy.

16+ with photo ID – younger patrons can be signed in at the door by a responsible adult. Like all our gigs, this show finishes well in time for the last trains North and South to Cambridge/Peterborough and London and we are just a 5 minute stroll from the station.

More JAZZ UP! details here:

WEBSITE https://jazzupuk.com

FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/JazzUpC85

INSTAGRAMhttps://instagram.com/jazzuphitchin

TWITTER @JazzUpHitchin

Any further questions please contact robin@robincampbell.org

JAZZ UP! is sponsored by:

Robin Campbell Music – https://robincampbell.org/

Keechdesign UK Ltd. – https://www.keechdesign.co.uk/