Tribute To Studio One & Treasure Isle

Well I've managed to get hold of a flyer, so, as promised, here are the full details of the forthcoming Tribute To Studio One and Treasure Isle. This event claims to be one of the biggest revival dances in London - so don't miss it!

It takes place this bank holiday Sunday (28th May) @ The Garman Rooms, Garman Road, off Watermead Way, Tottenham, N17 (near Northumberland Park train station)

Doors open 11pm till dawn and admission is £10 all night.

DJs are Calvin Francis (Choice FM), Gemi Magic Sound, System Sound (Station FM) and special guest the legendary Gladdy Wax (Supreme FM).

There will also be a "shuffling competition" so make sure you wear your dancing shoes!

For further info call 07985 116 107

Jamaican foundation extravaganza

There will be a Foundation Extravaganza this coming Saturday (27th May) @ The Forum, 9-17 Highgate Road, Kentish Town, NW5. A truly amazing line-up of acts from Jamaica will be playing live including:

The Etheopians
The Heptones
The Silvertones
and The Melodians

Tickets are priced between £30-£35 and doors open from 8pm-2am.

For more info and ticket booking visit: http://www.meanfiddler.com/displayPage_forum.asp?PageID=428

Gladdy Wax @ Coast To Coast

Legendary Jamaican selector Gladdy Wax is DJing at Coast To Coast this coming Saturday (27th May). Expect some top notch ska, rocksteady and reggae as well as some quality soul and funk. This should be a great night and will most likely be packed so get there early!

Coast To Coast is held at On The Rocks, 25-27 Kingsland Road, E2 (off Old Street)

For full details visit www.coasttocoast.org.uk

Jamaican label art website launched

A great new website has just been launched dedicated to the Art of the Caribbean record label - jamaicanlabelart.com. It is the brain child of two respected reggae collectors who are regular contributors to the Blood and Fire reggae message board.

Check out the website here: http://jamaicanlabelart.com/

For more information contact: mike@jamaicanlabelart.com or Ian@jamaicanlabelart.com

Gene Drayton Unit news

Here's the latest news from The Gene Drayton Unit (GDU) - one of London's hippest Hammond 'n' horns combos...

GIG NEWS

The next GDU show is Saturday 8th July, at the 100 Club in London. See: http://www.the100club.co.uk/

RECORD NEWS

The new GDU album "At The Jazz Traffic Lights" is now out on both CD and limited edition vinyl. Copies will be in all good record shops as well as on the Amazon website later in the summer, but you can get hold of the album right now by ordering it from the GDU website. It is priced at £10 plus postage and features 12 tracks (11 of them new) and a total playing time of 46 minutes. See: http://www.genedraytonunit.com/discs.html

RADIO NEWS

Paul Jones has been playing tracks from the new LP on Radio 2. See: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/shows/jones/

WEBSITE NEWS

The GDU website is getting a makeover this summer: new graphics, new colour scheme, and new content. The band also now have a blog on MySpace. See: http://www.myspace.com/genedraytonunit

Jean-Paul at Lady Luck

I'll be DJing at Lady Luck this coming Thursday (25th May) and am really looking forward to it!

Details are as follows:

Lady Luck @ Too2Much
Walker's Court, Soho, London W1.

Doors open 10pm - 3am (but arrive before 11pm as it's cheaper to get in and always sells out!)

Two rooms of WILD SOUNDS from the 20s to the 60s from the LADY LUCK DJs plus SPECAL GUESTS:
LADY KAMIKAZE, DEMI THE VIPER and JEAN-PAUL SÉCULAIRE (RIGHT ON!)

Live on stage at midnight: THE BAD BREED!

And then at 2am there will be FIRE BURLESQUE by RED SARAH
and POLE DANCING from FIRE SPIDER.

Plus LIVE SET upstairs in the Cocktail Lounge from MR IVORY KEYS (DUFFER)

For further info visit: www.ladyluckclub.co.uk

Set The Tone

This Saturday (27th May) sees another Set The Tone session at The Social (downstairs), 5 Little Portland Street, London W1 (tube: Oxford Circus)

Music from 7pm - Midnight with admission being free all night - but it's advisable to get there early as it's a small venue and always fills up quickly.

Resident DJs are: STEPHEN SAUNDERS, NICK AVINIT and DEAN THATCHER and this month's guest DJ is: RICKY BARROW (THE ALOOF)

Music policy is as ever: ROCKSTEADY, SCORCHING SKA and RUDE REGGAE

Future guest DJs are:
24th JUNE: ALAN HANDSCOMBE (REGGAE SHACK)
22nd JULY: DAVE MACK (THE COOL OFF - NOTTINGHAM)
19th AUGUST: JIM COX (THE REGGAE TRAIN)
23rd SEPTEMBER: DJ SKAFACE (SKA'D FOR LIFE)

For further info visit the website: www.set-the-tone-67.co.uk

Upbeat club comes to London

On Saturday 3rd June the Upbeat crew from Essex present the launch of London's newest club night:

Upbeat & Uptown @ The Marine Broker, Leman Street, London E1 (nearest tube Aldgate or Aldgate East)

Resident DJs Richard Brown and Andy Powell plus guest Gav Evans (Shotgun) will be playing 60s rhythm and blues, soul, ska, boogaloo and beat from 9pm til 2am. Admission is £5 on the door.

For more info call 07751 016975

Stow-A-Way Soul changes venue

After nearly a year and a half at The Soul, Walthamstow's finest regular soul and r&b night - Stow-A-Way Soul - has moved to The Castle, Eden Road - right in the heart of Walthamstow Village and just five minute's walk from Walthamstow station. This venue has it's own dance floor as well as plenty of seating. The launch night night was on Wednesday 26th April and the night returns every fourth Wednesday of the month (next date: Wednesday 24th May).

Tower Music Festival

There is a stellar line-up for this year's Tower Music Festival at The Tower of London:

James Brown plays live on Tuesday 4th July
Dionne Warwick will play live on Thursday 6th July
Dr John and Randy Newman play live on Friday 7th July
and Buddy Guy and Jeff Beck play live on Monday 10th July

Other artists include Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings and - rather less excitingly - Jamie Cullum!

Tickets for these events are available through Ticketmaster - http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk - but be warned they aren't cheap!

For more info on the festival visit the website - http://www.towermusicfestival.co.uk

Mash It Up! returns

Mash it Up! returns this Saturday (20th May) to a secret venue in Islington, London N1

This night promises "the finest in upbeat, danceable ska and reggae and straight-up funky-assed funk from the old school".

Tickets are £5 and are available in advance only - remaining places are available on a strictly first come, first served basis.

Doors will be locked at 10pm to ensure sufficient jumping around time - so you'll need to get there before 10pm. The venue has a quieter area at the back if you want to chat and drinks are at pub prices so turning up before the pubs turn out should not be too much of a hardship. The night will finish at around 2am.

For more details including DJ info and playlists visit the Mash It Up! website: http://www.mashitup.org.uk/

To make bookings, or if you have any questions, contact the promoter - John - by email at: baldheadselector@mashitup.org.uk

Payments can be made online by Paypal to the same address.

Sweet But Deadly club

Sweet but Deadly is expanding…it will now be running twice a month, one date for bands and 60s beat/garage DJs, and more interestingly one date with just DJs playing pure modernist sounds - 60s soul, rhythm & blues, Motown, Stax, ska, dancefloor jazz, Latin and Hammond grooves.

This night runs from 9pm - 2am and the door charge is just £3. However there is strictly no admission after midnight so get there early!

Guest DJs this Friday (19th May) are Marcus Hjoberg and Liam Hughes.

Next month's date is Friday 23rd June and will feature guest DJ Michael Jemmeson as well as myself - Jean-Paul Séculaire.

July's date will be Friday 21st.

For more info visit http://www.myspace.com/SweetButDeadlyclub

Calypso legends live in London!

Calypso legends The Mighty Sparrow, The Mighty Terror, Calypso Rose and Lord Superior are playing a rare gig in London at The Barbican on the 23rd June. This really is an event not to be missed by lovers of Carribbean music. A stellar line-up like this is unlikely to be seen again on these shores and the calypsonians are not getting any younger.

Tickets are priced at £14-£22.50 and the concert begins at 8pm.

The evening is a celebration of calypso's captivating melodies and timeless hits (Shame & Scandal in the Family, Rum & Coca Cola and Jean & Dinah) that made a cultural hub of Dirty Jim's Swizzle Club in Port of Spain and gave a voice and sound to Trinidad in the world.

Complimenting the concert, Barbican Film are screening the award winning documentary "Calypso At Dirty Jim's" (6pm - Cinema 2). Concert ticket holders can claim concession rates - call the Box Office on 0845 120 7531 to book.

For full details and to book tickets for this event visit http://www.barbican.org.uk/music/event-detail.asp?ID=4305

Mike Garrick gigs

Legendary British jazz pianist/composer Mike Garrick is playing a couple of gigs in London over the next month. Garrick is arguably one of Britain's finest jazz pianists and composers and was one of the leading players in the 1960s British modern jazz scene. He was born in Enfield in 1933 and formed his first modern jazz quartet in 1959. Garrick recorded a number of albums throughout the 60s and 70s, including several with Joe Harriott - and one of Garrick's recent projects was a performance of Harriott pieces arranged for big band by Garrick himself.

Sunday 21st May - 1pm-4pm - £6/£4
A rare chance to see Mike Garrick playing in a quintet line-up.
Downstairs at the Spice Of Life, 6 Moor Street, Soho
More info from www.spicejazz.co.uk

18th June
Mike Garrick makes a rare appearance at the Pizza Express Jazz Club, 10 Dean Street, Soho
More info from www.pizzaexpress.com

Jean-Paul's guest DJ spots

I've got some nice guest DJ spots coming up in London during the next couple of months:

This coming Wednesday (17th May) I'll be DJing at The Stag O Lee @ The New Evaristo Club, 57 Greek Street (basement), Soho

This is probably the best R&B night in London and well worth a visit, especially as admission is absolutely free!

Music starts around 8.30pm and goes on til very late. Music policy is basically the finest in 50s and 60s Rhythm 'n' Blues (plus a touch of ska and 60s soul).

Then on Thursday 25th May I'll be back at The Lady Luck Club - now at Too2Much (formerly the Raymond Revue Bar), Walker's Court, Soho

This is a truly unique *amazing* night in a fabulous venue and NOT TO BE MISSED! For full details visit www.ladyluckclub.co.uk

Finally on Friday 23rd June I'll be back at Sweet But Deadly @ The Pleasure Unit, 359 Bethnal Green Road, E2. This night has a great music policy and attracts a young and friendly crowd.

It costs just £3 to get in and runs from 8pm-2am but there is strictly no entrance after midnight... you've been warned!

Vespa & Lambretta exhibition

A new exhibition called "Ready, Steady, Go!" opens tomorrow (Saturday 13th May) at the Chelsea Space examining the history of Vespa and Lambretta scooters and their influence on British culture.

The exhibition includes advertising and posters from Innocenti and Piaggio, films and photographs and a rare Vespa from the 1950s.

There will also be a scooter rideout tomorrow ending in the piazza in front of the gallery. Music will be supplied in the piazza from Noon onwards by one of my favourite DJs - Dave Edwards (compiler of the Trojan Mod Reggae boxsets)

For more info on the exhibition email arpna@kabinetofcuriosities.co.uk

Address:
The Chelsea Space
Chelsea College of Art & Design
16 John Islip St
Millbank
London SW1P 4JUN
(Nearest tube: Pimlico)

For more info on the Chelsea Space visit http://www.chelsea.arts.ac.uk/chelsea-space.htm

Sonny Rollins at The Barbican

Legendary jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins is playing at the Barbican tomorrow night (Sat 13th May)! The gig sold out months ago but I was lucky enough to get tickets. It's definitely worth checking if there are any returns as this should be one hell of a gig.

For more info visit http://www.barbican.org.uk/music/event-detail.asp?ID=3387