Burton Agnes Jazz & Blues Festival Unveils Main Stage Line-Up
aaamusic | On 08, Mar 2012
Burton Agnes Jazz and Blues Festival – Main Stage Line-Up
July 6th, 7th and 8th 2012
“Possibly the most enjoyable jazz concert I’ve ever attended.” The Independent
“Tis the musical equivalent of a Sunday stroll through the grounds of a stately home… you won’t find more beautifully serene surroundings this side of Woodstock for such an experience” All Gigs – Festival review
Friday Evening
6:30pm – 7.45pm Octopus – This eight piece band of seasoned professionals will play us in with classic swing
8:15pm – 10:00pm Zena James – An energetic quintet presenting powerful originals, infectious grooves and jazz and pop classics as you’ve never heard them before. Inspired as much by 70’s soul as by the jazz greats, Zena has been acclaimed across the jazz media for her ‘lustrous’, ‘touching’ and ‘persuasive’ voice and her funky new take on popular and rare jazz gems and irresistible, low-down R&B sounds. “She’s very, very good live indeed …you’ll have a marvellous time!” Bob Sinfield, Jazz FM Radio .“With a brave leap into the soul-laden subtle groove end of the jazz spectrum, Zena projects on stage a warm, engaging personality and an infectious sense of enjoyment” Brian Blain, Jazz UK.
Late Night Sessions Courtesy of the Beverley Arts Trust
10.00pm – 10.30pm John Cox – John Cox started writing his own songs at 15 on guitar. He started playing live a few years later, mainly playing bass in all kinds of alt-rock bands. Eventually he formed a post punk band called ‘Clox’, singing lead and playing bass, in the eighties. Their first single ‘Looking The Part’ was played on the John Peel, Pete Powell and Kid Jensen shows on Radio One. Also in the eighties John formed rock band ‘The Love Bombs’, did several East German tours just prior to the Berlin wall coming down.
10.40pm -11.10pm Bandiqui – Bandiqui are singer Rebecca Robyns and guitarist Peter Cox. This songwriting duo met through playing together in their former group “Off The Grid” where they both realised their mutual love of Jazz music. Formed in 2009, they played at the Hull Jazz Festival, and appeared at the first late night session at the Burton Agnes Jazz and Blues Festival to great acclaim in the same year.
11.20pm -12.00 Alligators – The Alligators are back for the third year running! Now becoming the must see act at the late night seesions, they are a local trio performing no holds barred rhythm and blues in the classic style. All three members of the band are vastly experienced and this shows in the sheer energy and exuberance of their usually sold out gigs. A great gig and lots of dancing is guaranteed.
Saturday
1.00pm – 2:25pm The Lemon Monkeys (Matt Smith and Carlos Olmos) – London based jazz guitar duo performing a mix of soul, funk, jazz and blues
2.45pm – 4:15pm Zoe Gilby Quartet – A young jazz vocalist who has been making a real impression on the UK jazz scene. Influences include Carmen McRae, Nancy Wilson, Sheila Jordan and Roberta Gambarini. “Deserves wider recognition and a major record deal.” Courtney Pine, BBC Radio 2.
4:35pm – 6:05pm The Give A Little Love Jazz Orchestra – A Horace Silver Tribute- Performances of Horace Silver’s work from the 1950s to the modern day, capturing the excitement, swing and spirit of the American jazz composer and pianist’s groups.
6:30pm – 8.00pm Stacey Kent – Stacey Kent, a best-selling member of the Blue Note roster of recording artists, now boasts six best-selling albums, a string of awards, including the British Jazz Award and BBC Jazz Award for ‘Best Vocalist’, as well as a fan-base that enables her to sell-out concert halls around the world. Stacey sings from the soul. She tells us her stories with her faultless phrasing and a lucid, enchanting voice.
“Devistatingly stylish…a beauty in any circumstances” The Observer
“She has charm to burn, a smile that could give you hope in February and sings like nobody’s business” The Wall Street Journal
“A delight” The Guardian
8:20pm – 10:00pm Ian Siegal & The Mississippi Mudbloods, featuring Cody Dickinson, Luther Dickinson and Alvin Youngblood Hart – In a dream team of the best contemporary blues talent on the world scene, there is sure to be a place for the four guys who make up the Mississippi Mudbloods. This collection of British and American talent creates a powerful fusion of hill country blues and southern rock.
Ian Siegal is the voice of contemporary blues in the UK. In 2009 he was the first non-American to take the no. 1 slot in Mojo magazine’s review of blues albums. He recently became the first Brit to be nominated for Best Contemporary Blues Album in the Blues Music Awards (BMAs) – in effect, the Grammys of the blues. He also picked up British Blues Awards for best band and male artist in 2010 and 2011.
Brothers Cody and Luther Dickinson are the driving force behind Grammy-nominated North Mississippi Allstars, a personal favourite of Robert Plant with whom they toured for part of 2011. Luther, who also plays with The Black Crowes, is widely regarded as one of the finest slide and roots guitarists working today.
Alvin Youngblood Hart has been described as the cosmic love child of Howlin’ Wolf and Link Wray! His praises have been sung by everyone from Bod Dylan to Eric Clapton. His awards include a Grammy and a Blues Music Award. Alvin’s illustrious career encompasses being bandleader, guitarist, singer, songwriter, solo artist, and even guitar tutor to Hollywood actor Samuel L. Jackson.
Late Night Sessions Courtesy of the Beverley Arts Trust
10.00pm -10.30pm Val Marshall- Val Marshal is a singer/songwriter/guitarist based in Hull. She has been performing locally for the last three years in local Hull /York / Sheffield /Leeds Pubs /Clubs/Festivals on a regular basis. Val’s songs are all original and from the heart. They are an eclectic mix of Alt-country /Acoustic rock /Folk roots. Val has featured live on BBC Radio Leeds, BBC Radio Humberside and has had her CD played on Bob Harris’s Radio 2 Saturday show.
10.40pm -11.10pm King Courgette – King Courgette are Poppa ‘King’Courgette, String Bean Slim, Bad Apple Two T’s Curtis, Hot Chilli McGrath and Zucchini Bill. Named after a hilarious incident down Poppa Courgette’s allotment they play a lot of old-time blues tunes by the likes of Blind Boy Fuller and The Stanley Brothers, and try to give them their own unique ’Courgette’ sound. Banjo, harmonica, mandolin and ukulele all feature along the way, plus percussionist Zucchini Bill is a fine purveyor of the hambone!
11.20pm -12.00 This Way Up – This Way Up are a Beverley based 5 piece rock and blues band performing both classic covers and self penned material. After supporting legendary blues outfit Slack Alice in 2010 they have been snapped up to perform at the Great British Blues Festival this year.
Sunday
12:00pm – 1:30pm Rob Law Quartet with Thom Whitworth – Rob Law is an accomplished piano player who has earned himself a reputation as one of the country’s most exciting young artists. Guitarist Thom Whitworth has played with top players and won Young Jazz Musician of the Year. He is regarded by many as the new Pat McCarthy. Most jazz bands use either piano or guitar, and most piano and guitarists dislike playing with each other because they clash, so this combination is both exciting and unusual.
1:40pm – 3.00pm Tribute to Atlantic Jazz – A super-cool seven piece ensemble, led by saxophonists James Russell and Jim Corry, when they are not busy touring with Jamiroquai. The band pays tribute to the swinging, soulful musical legacy of the Atlantic record label.
3.15pm – 4.45pm Sean Taylor – Sean’s incredible passion for performance, sheer talent and songwriting of the highest calibre means he has rapidly grown to be one of the hottest new names in the UK blues/acoustic scene. “absolutely superb guitarist” Bob Harris BBC Radio 2, “a bluesy devotional intensity that rightly draws comparisons to John Martyn’ Q
5.00pm – 6.00pm Ben Beattie’s Jazz Essentials plus Simon Cunliffe-Lister – The driving force behind this band is saxophonist and pianist Ben Beattie. His compositions have been compared to the Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek. Jazz Essentials bring together a interesting mix of atmospheric jazz, blue grooves and soulful ballads. Although they take influences from many areas and eras of the jazz genre, they carry a unique sound that is sympathetic with earlier and contemporary areas of music. They offer a sincere and genuine approach to their music-making by injecting a youthful vigour that create a resounding and individual personality. Festival organiser and saxophonist Simon Cunliffe-Lister will play out the weekend with Ben and his band.
Festival info:
Held over three days, with performances both inside the stately Elizabethan Hall and outside in the Hall’s beautiful grounds, the Burton Agnes Jazz & Blues festival presents a varied line up of funk, traditional jazz, hard blues, dreamy vocals and everything in between.
The main stage on the lawn hosts the festival’s headline acts. With rolling fields behind and pristine woodland to the side, you couldn’t ask for a more stunning setting for some of the UK’s top Jazz and Blues artists to perform. Inside the Hall, intimate acoustic performances mix with original Elizabethan carvings and French Impressionist art to create an inimitable festival experience.
On Friday and Saturday evening the Wolds Top beer tent plays host to the Beverley Arts Trust’s late night sessions of folk, jazz and rhythm ‘n’ blues.
Local food and drink feature heavily at the festival. At the tea tent and food lawn, festivalgoers can indulge in home-baked treats, barbecued local meats, freshly prepared curries, and salads grown in the neighbouring walled garden. In the beer tent award winning Wold Top beer is on tap, brewed just five miles away from the festival site.
A campsite in the field adjacent to the Hall offers welcome hot showers and panoramic views of the Yorkshire Wolds for those wishing to pitch a tent for a night or the whole weekend.
Burton Agnes Jazz & Blues Festival welcomes families of all ages with its safe, easy-going vibe. There is plenty on offer for children including a Children’s Corner with play area, 15 acres of magical gardens to explore including a walled garden with maze, jungle garden and giant games and a woodland walk with forest creatures to find. Free face painting and balloon artistry caps off the entertainment.
Built between 1598 and 1610 by Sir Henry Griffith, Burton Agnes Hall is an Elizabethan stately home that has stayed within the Cunliffe-Lister family for more than four hundred years. Fifteen generations have filled the Hall with treasures, from magnificent carvings commissioned when the Hall was built to French impressionist paintings, contemporary furniture, tapestries and other modern artwork in recent years.
The charm of the house is that it is clearly a loved and lived in home and visitors are welcomed openly by the family in joining them to spend many enjoyable hours at Burton Agnes Hall.
‘Burton Agnes Hall ranks among the finest, and best presented, houses in England. It is the perfect English house, embodying the climax of the final great age of domestic architecture’
Simon Jenkins, Chairman of the National Trust, journalist and author of England’s Thousand Best Houses
2012 Festival Tickets info:
Weekend Advance Ticket
Friday 6pm – midnight, Saturday 11am – midnight, Sunday 11am – 6pm
£40 before 1st June / £50 after 31st May (Concessions £38 / £48)
Concessions: OAP’s, Season ticket holders, students, children 12-15 years
Children under 12: FREE with an adult
Day Ticket: Saturday 11am – midnight
£30 before 1st June / £35 after 31st May (Concessions £28 / £32)
Day Ticket: Sunday 11am – 6pm
£25 before 1st June / £30 after 31st May (Concessions £23 / £28)
Evening Ticket: Friday 6 pm – midnight or Saturday 6pm – midnight
£20 EACH DAY before 1st June / £25 EACH DAY after 31st May (Concessions £18 / £23)
Camping Voucher: Camping open Friday 3pm – Monday noon
£30 before 1st July / £35 after 31st May
Available online at www.burtonagnes.com and from the Festival Ticket Office Tel: 01262 490 324
Or Visit Burton Agnes Hall and its courtyard shops.
