Welcome to our page about
Jazz in Leicester
This is the home page for all things relating to jazz, and blues, in Leicester and Leicestershire.
Use this page to find articles about jazz in other parts of Music in Leicester magazine.
Was compiled by Trevor Locke.
Leaving Jazz
Saturday 30th July 2022
To use those much-vaunted words, “I can announce today that …” I am standing down from the committee of Regent Jazz. In actual fact, I did that some weeks ago but it is only now that I have got round to putting the announcement on this page. What this means, is that I will no longer edit this page. “Hooray” I hear you cry. If someone else wishes to take over any kind of column about Jazz in Leicester (from me) then please make yourself known to the editor of this magazine. As for me, I must now bid this column a fond farewell.
Editorial enquiries: contact Kevin Gaughan on Facebook. See http://www.musicinleicester.co.uk/about/
Can You Help?
Regent Jazz was looking for someone to help look after its website: regent jazz.
This would involve adding content to the site about once a month. Most of the content will be supplied by email. This means it is not something requiring a huge amount of time. If you think you can help, please contact Trevor Locke on Facebook.
Jazz nights at The Regent
Hot Club Quartet
at Regent Jazz
26th October 2021
Concerts have got underway again at Regent Jazz. There is a full programme of Tuesday night concerts from September 7th onward, after lock-down finished and live music began to start up again. This continued throughout October and the programme for November is now already available.
Tonight was another of those exceptional concerts, the last one being the concert on 21st September (called ‘Pianorama’) when three musicians played keyboards.
Left to right: Mike Sole, Curtis Billingham, Arthur Tyers and Gary Reader.
Tonight (26th October) we were entertained by three virtuoso musicians: Mike Sole, Curtis Billingham, Arthur Tyers and Gary Reader. It was a night of outstanding music performed by four local artists of the highest calibre.
A new website had been established, put together by me; please take a look at Regent Jazz (the web address is either regentjazz.co.uk or regentjazz.com – they both arrive at the same website.)
The November programme of concerts is now available:
9th October 2021
Jazz is back
The lockdown is over and Jazz has returned to The Regent. Concerts are being held every Tuesday – some ticketed, others free entry.
Full details on the Regent Jazz website.
The music of Django Reinhardt will feature in the concert on Tuesday 26th October
10th April
Jazz is in hibernation, during the lockdown. We all hope it will make a comeback once this epidemic is over. If you want to see what happened before it all stopped, Regent Jazz website, is up and running and will let you know if we are given any light at the end of the tunnel. In the meantime there are plenty of places on the Internet where you can still listen to jazz, YouTube being one of them.
Here is what was on this page, previously:
Coming up at Regent Jazz
More details from the Regent Jazz website. A new version of the website has been devised by yours truly.
Or from the Regent Jazz Facebook page.
Trevor Locke attended the following concerts:
Tuesday 26th November
Tonight, it was The Citizens of Swing, the ensemble that featured, among others, Ned Newitt on sax and Andy Kirkland on bass, Bruce on the trumpet and sometimes vocals, and on the piano Mr Pete Houtman. Paula played the guitar.
Tuesday 19th November
A big night at Regent Jazz. The crowd-puller for tonight was George’s Blues Band. One of the most popular bands to play at Regent Jazz, the band gave us a set of really good tunes and songs. An evening of Jazz that everyone could appreciate.
Tuesday 12th November
One of the nights that offer free admission, the Regent Jazz Jam is now in its 11th year. This is where a variety of musicians can take to the stage and jam together. It sounds like it is unrehearsed but in fact, it is not entirely improvised. The quality of the playing makes it sound like it has all been worked out well in advance. Always good to see some new musicians having a go with the stalwarts.
Tuesday 24th September
A night at Regent Jazz and Sliphorn on the bill. Tonight’s ensemble comprised two trombonists, a keyboard player, a double-bass player and a drummer. They drew an enthusiastic response from the audience. I particularly enjoyed them playing a number by Thelonious Monk called Misterioso.
25th June
Swing Gitan. Another amazing performance by the gipsy jazz ensemble. On stage were John Coulson (bass), Elliott Lewis (guitar), James Tolhurst (trumpet) and Authur Tyers (guitar). The virtuoso instrumental playing astonished me tonight just as it did last time I saw this group. The complexity of the fingering on the guitar frets was simply astonishing. This style of music has its own characteristic riffs, flourishes, embellishments and decorations. It involves considerable complexities of technique. No drums in this ensemble. Based on the musical roots of Hungarian communities, its sounds were ravishing. The rhythms were utterly compelling. Often, one guitarist would play a passage and then the solo would pass to the other guitar player who would pick up the theme. See my entry below on 30th October for comments about this group’s previous appearance.
11th June
Tonight was a free jazz jam. Numbers by Irving Berlin, songs with a meteorological theme including words such as clouds, pennies and rain. Always an enjoyable experience to see all these musicians coming together in various combinations to play music.
21st May
Six of the Best trio with Todd Jazz. Songs I knew included Misty and I’ve got you under my skin. Celebrated musicians on stage including Mike Sole on the keyboard, Neal Seagrott and Dave Anderson. Top-notch artists. The Status trio is one of the most exhilarating groups of artists on the Leicester jazz scene. Many memorable tunes were heard tonight.
14th May
An altogether delightful evening with a wide variety of artists. Tonight’s concert was one of the series called Modern Jazz Jam. Free admission to all and musicians welcome to participate.
23rd April
The Matt Hollinshead quartet. with Len Holden. Regent Jazz concert. Many delightful tunes and well-known melodies.
2nd April
Another enjoyable night at Regent Jazz. On stage The Cool Jazz trio and Jazz 24. Chris White played ragtime and boogie-woogie on the piano.
26th March
Tuesday night and it’s time for jazz. Tonight The Sunday Painters was the band, at the Regent Jazz Club. Led by Andy Nicholls, there were five musicians in the group, all of them highly talented. One band for the whole night. They were very good. Very experienced. From the keyboard, Chris Conway also provided the vocals for some of the songs. One of the songs he gave us was I Put A Spell On You the classic of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, the American singer, from 1956. Some of the songs I hear at the jazz club I have not heard for years and years. It’s good to hear them again; like finding an old friend. Another tune I enjoyed very much was The Night Has A Thousand Eyes, the 1962 hit song by Bobby Vee.
The band played some familiar tunes, including the theme from the Pink Panther movie. That was one of the best renditions I have ever heard of that tune. The second half of the band’s set included a guest appearance by saxophonist Richard Everitt. The guitar playing of Andy Hagiioannu was outstanding. I was delighted when they played Clear Skies, a breezy melody that wafted into the room, featuring intricate string playing of Andy and the sounds of the whistle from Chris. What struck me about The Sunday Painters was their tight ensemble playing and rich orchestration. The band’s set included a wonderfully varied selection of songs.
Tonight’s concert provided a very enjoyable evening of fine music.
Leicester’s great jazz musician
Digging through the archives, I happened the find the article I wrote about Leicester-born jazz trumpeter Henry Lowther. I interviewed him in 2013 and thought the article should be re-published. You can read it on my Arts in Leicestershire archive website.
Big Band, big sounds
Most of the Jazz I hear comes to me at the Regent Jazz concerts. The other source comes from the concerts given by The University of Leicester Big Band.
When they play, here in Leicester, I go. Tonight (22nd February) they were at Marquis Wellington. This is a large band (often with twenty or more musicians) and squeezing them all into a small space is no mean feat. These free concerts are one of the highlights of our local live music scene. What you hear at Big Band concerts is high-quality music. Many of the songs I heard tonight were songs I had heard at the Jazz club sessions. They are not necessarily a Jazz band. They play a broader range of music. But many of the great Jazz classics are included in the band’s repertoire. A very enjoyable experience and one I would recommend for anyone who can get to see this band.
Enjoying music at Regent Jazz
Tuesdays are nights for Jazz. Live music played by expert musicians. Back in December, I saw Notso Big Band and a group of students from the Attenborough Arts jazz course. A wide variety of instruments being played by a sizeable group of instrumentalists. Lots of tunes that I recognised. Some of which, I had not heard for many years. Songs by Rodgers and Hart, Ellington, Gershwin… many memorable songs. When I go to these concerts, I write notes. On one occasion, I jotted ideas along the lines of ‘What is Jazz?’ A weighty question, worthy of serious study perhaps – one day. But then, perhaps, Jazz it what you make of it. We each have our own definition. As someone said to me, “Music is about how it makes you feel.” True enough. It is also about the experiences you associate with a particular piece of music. Perhaps the experience that went with hearing for the first time. That is what lends it personal significance.
January. A performance by the Cool Jazz Trio. I recall hearing a song by Bert Bacharach. This guy’s in love with you, I think it was. I remembered the version of it done by Herb Alpert. In the second half of that concert, we heard from The Jamms band. They played the theme song from the film A Taste of Honey. Also, Blue Moon, made famous by Billie Holiday, in 1952.
The Modern Jazz Jam nights are free entry. They are a good opportunity for people to try the club and see if its concerts are to their liking. As I was listening to the music I thought about the difference, as a listener, between being at a Jazz concert and being at a rock gig. It’s more than just about what is being played. These different styles of music offer the audience totally dissimilar experiences. Rock music is very intense. Jazz can often be much more laid back and offers a wider range of emotional experiences.
In February, I went to see The Swinging Bass Band with their star vocalist Roy Forbes. They gave us songs by Cole Porter, Frank Sinatra, and many other well-known classics.
Gypsy Jazz
30th October 2018
Jazz at the Regent with Swing Gitan.
This evening’s concert was given by a group from Nottingham called Swing Gitan. In my opinion, this was one of the best concerts I attended this year. It was a concert that gave us instrumental virtuosity of a remarkably high standard. On the group’s website, it says ‘Bringing to life the swinging sophistication, passion and energy of 1930s Jazz-age Paris, Swing Gitan are the Nottingham quartet who play music inspired by the incredible Gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt.’ I could not have put it better.
Two members of the group played the guitars – Arthur Tyers and Elliott Lewis. As soon as these two musicians began their solo pieces, the name of Reinhardt immediately came to mind. He was a Belgian-born Romani-French jazz guitarist, regarded by many as one of the greatest jazz musicians of the twentieth century. His music was characteristically Romani Gypsy with roots deeply in the Spanish flamenco style.
The guitarists were very ably assisted by trumpet-player James Tolhurst and double-bass player John Coulson. Together they formed one of the best ensembles I have listened to in a long time.
The group made an excellent start to their programme. Their complex musical passages were delivered with effortless simplicity. Some of the riffs played by Tyers were mesmerising. Altogether, this was music-making of a high calibre. The audience was completely entranced through the whole concert.
The room at the Regent Jazz club was more than usually full tonight. In fact, I noted, in my book, that this was a concert that deserved to be streamed live on social media. Not that I have any idea how such things work. As I watched the guitarists at work, I was fascinated by the quick and agile finger-work. Fingers that worked like lightning on the frets.
Curtis Billingham told me that Swing Gitan’s sound has a true Manouche tone. I took his advice; he has been one of the musicians who has played with the Gypsy-Jazz group from Leicester, The Gadjos. The style of Jazz that became known as Manouche had its origins in the work of the Gypsy guitarists working France and Belgium in the 1920s. Rheinhardt was born in a Gypsy camp in Belgium, in 1910, his mother being a member of the Manouche tribe. Eventually, the name was applied to Jazz groups that played a style of music in which the rhythm guitars provided a percussive sound known as la pompe, characterised by its strongly syncopated bass lines. In the Paris concerts of the 1920s, Reinhardt often performed with the Jazz violin virtuoso Stéphane Grappelli.
One of the tunes played tonight was Summer Time. It was rendered with a delicious Flamenco resonance. The only word for this part of the set is sensational. The group then went on to provide us with an altogether wonderful improvising of Take The A Train, the 1939 tune made famous by Duke Ellington in 1943 through the film Reveille with Beverly. The group demonstrated its ability to take a standard jazz classic – All Of Me – and improvise on its theme and variations in a way that was captivating and wholly delightful. There was also another marvellous number, this time of a traditional New Orleans Creole marching song, possibly, the one made famous by Jelly Roll Morton. If you want to watch something rather surprising from this band, see their rendition of The Charleston, on YouTube.
The two guitarists took it in turns to perform solo passages together with solo pieces from the trumpeter and the bass player. The performing of solo passages is something that invariably drew applause from the audience, as the musicians continued to play. The complex intricacy of the instrumental guitar playing was breathtaking. Often such passages demonstrated the different styles of playing between Tyers and Lewis.
What especially captivated me, this evening, was the guitar playing. I have personally watched some of the greatest exponents of this instrument, in the twentieth century, including the Spanish flamenco guitarist Paco Pena and the rock musician Jimi Hendrix. They played at the concert I attended in 1967.
A brilliant evening of music.
Find out more about Swing Gitan from the band’s website.
23rd October
The Great American Songbook
A particularly rewarding night at Regent Jazz. I say that but do not imply that only some nights are rewarding. They all are. But, speaking personally, some more than others. Mike Kemp and his group of musicians were on the stage tonight including the singer Kat Pagett. Many songs greeted my ears tonight, many of which I had heard before and knew. Some I had not heard for years.
Tonight’s set began with Sweet Georgia Brown, from 1925. It was recorded by Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles, Charlie Parker, Nat King Cole and many other artists. A jazz standard composed, in 1925, by Ben Bernie and Maceo Pinkard with lyrics by Kenneth Casey. Like many of the songs from that era, the lyrics reprised black people’s experience in America. In the words of the song “Georgia claimed her – Georgia named her.” A reference to the baby girl of Dr Brown of the House of Representatives.
Sweet Georgia Brown. Performed by Ben Bernie. This can be watched on YouTube. This old black and white film is interesting. I love the way that the curtains close, at the end.
Dinah Washington’s song T’Ain’t Nobody’s Bizness If I Do struck a chord for me. Because of its gentle humour. Such as ‘If I should take a notion/To jump into the ocean/Ain’t nobody’s business if I do ‘ Like several of the songs we heard tonight, the words portrayed the personality and experience of their writers. Tonight performance of this song was credited to Billie Holiday.
Honeysuckle Rose. Another of the songs I recall from my childhood. I might have heard it for the first time on the wireless. Might even have been performed by the Billy Cotton band. What I appreciated about the concert tonight was the way Kat introduced the songs, often referring to when she had first heard them; sometimes because they were sung to her by her father. Incidentally, I gained great pleasure by watching this song being sung by the legendary Marlene Dietrich. Youtube
Many more well-known tunes followed: Hard-hearted Hannah, Ain’t She Sweet, Saturday Night at The Movies. Jeepers Creepers.
One song particularly tickled my funny bone was Bessie Smith’s Gimme a Pigfoot. It began with ‘Up in Harlem, every Saturday night/When the highbrows get together it’s just so right/They all congregate at an all-night hop/And what they do is oo bop bee dap.’ It conjures an image of a black woman craving a boiled pig’s trotter to eat. It includes ”Gimme a pigfoot and a bottle of beer/Send me again, I don’t care, I feel just like I wanna clown/Give the piano player a drink because he’s bringing me down.’ Extraordinary. Evocative. Highly enjoyable.
A lot of what engaged me tonight were the words. Kat sang in a beautifully clear voice. Simple ideas, emotions and human desires. The ability of lyricists to write plain words in an uncomplicated way that everyone could immediately relate to. In that ear – from the 1920s to the 1950s – human emotions could be evoked from effortless feelings, honest emotions and straightforward life experiences, ideas and images that required no sophisticated elaborations. Simple words combined with immediately entrancing melodies.
There was just so much in tonight’s show that was delightful.
28th September
Big band sound
Another concert by The University of Leicester Big band.
18th September
The KGB band in concert
We were at The Regent again; this time to review Leicester’s KGB jazz band.
4th September 2018
Tuesday night is Jazz night
Starting up again, after the August break, The Regent Jazz Club put on a most enjoyable night of live music.
Photos and video by Kevin Gaughan
Tonight the concert was given by the Regent Jazz Quartet – Peter Houtman on the keyboard, Richard Everitt on sax, Paula Robinson on bass and Andrew Sime on drums. They were joined, in the second half, by Andy Nicholls on tenor sax.
The set tonight included American Tunes, smooth Bossa Nova and bittersweet ballads and classic numbers. The Regent Club offers a pleasing atmosphere and a congenial ambience and those who attend are friendly and welcoming. The concert room is clean and there is plenty of seating. The bar offers a good selection of beers, ales and wines at reasonable prices.
The Jazz Club’s Autumn Programme has just come out. On 11th September there will be modern jazz jam, which is free admission and all musicians are welcome. Leicester band KGB, led by Gemma Lakin will be the attraction on Tuesday 18th September. On 23rd October, the theme will be the Great American Songbook, and that will be followed on 30th October by an evening of music inspired by Gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt.
Full details and tickets prices are on the Regent Jazz website. www.regentjazz.webs.com.
Tuesday nights at The Regent are well attended and there is always a good selection of tunes to be heard. Many of these you will recognise, even if you are not a Jazz aficionado. Tunes by Gershwin, Ellington, Cole Porter and many of the great composers of the twentieth century.
What I like about jazz music, is that each of the musicians playing in an ensemble, is often also a soloist and, as in tonight’s quartet, they perform solo pieces as they work their way through a song. At the heart of jazz is improvisation; the group plays variations on a well-known theme tune. Tonight, for example, the group played Cole Porter’s Night and Day, and the well-known song Mr Bo Jangles, and also Gershwin’s Summer Time performed by many famous singers including Billie Holiday, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Nina Simone and many others.
So, a good night out; live music in a congenial venue. And it doesn’t cost the Earth.
Watch Kevin Gaughan’s video from tonight’s show.
Jazz fans might also be interested in gigs put on by the Leicester Jazz House.
6th July 2018
Mike Sole
We went to hear a concert by Leicester’s critically acclaimed jazz musician, Mike Sole.
To read this, select ‘blog’ on the above menu bar.
Regular weekly live jazz
Find out what the Regent Jazz club has to offer.
Read a review of a jazz night at the Regent Jazz Club
Find out about the University of Leicester Big Band, on Facebook.
Read about the University of Leicester Big Band.
See also:
Our contents page. It says 2017 but it’s also for 2019, too
Market Harborough. There is a jazz night in Market Harborough on the second Sunday of the month, from 12:30 p.m. Details are available from their website.
