What's On at Brook's Blues Bar

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Gig through till spring at Parsons Green Sports and Social Club

Brook's Blues Bar is presentinga new series of monthly gigs at Parsons Green Sports and Social Club in Broomhouse Lane. Here's the line-up:

SATURDAY JANUARY 21
DANA GILLESPIE WITH DINO BAPTISTE ON PIANO – a rare London performance.

Dana Gillespie has been a major figure on the UK music scene for over 40 years. She moved via the 60’s folk scene through pop and glam-rock to finally settle on the musical love of her life - the Blues, which she describes as " …my first musical love because it’s earthy, spiritual and honest".

Since the late 70s she has been singing, recording and touring with international blues musicians including spending two years in the USA. She has recorded over 60 albums for major labels including Pye, Decca, RCA and her current label, Ace. She has performed worldwide and voted Top British Female Blues Vocalist by the British Blues Connection and Blueprint Magazine five times and has now been elevated to their Hall of Fame.

Highly regarded by her fellow musicians, she was invited by Bob Dylan to support his ’97 UK tour as he has been a fan since the 60s.

Her repertoire is a mix of classic blues standards and her own compositions –so good that it’s hard to tell them apart. " It’s an index of Gillespie’s empathy with her material that the originals blend so seamlessly with the classic numbers…she literally beats the pants off anything done by a British bluesman the last 10 years"  - Essential Blues.

Dana Gillespie

Dino Baptiste

Admission £12

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 18
STEVE MORRISON & BROOKS BLUES BAR ALL-STARS FEATURING ALAN GLEN.

The All-Stars bring together some of the wonderfully talented musicians Brooks Blues Bar has showcased over the last few years to create a band with a difference – each member has a musical reputation in his own right.

Steve Morrison, is by any standards a remarkable guitarist who commands a following by virtue of not only his technical skills, but as a literate and melodic song writer. Alan Glen’s musical credits are too numerous to list, but he was one of the members of the Yardbirds; Richard Ansell’s boogie woogie/rock’n’roll piano brings a liveliness to the blues, and Paul Clifford’s subtle and inventive percussion ( he was the drummer for the hit Canadian group The Be Good Tanyas and currently tours with Groanbox),adds a unique ingredient to the mix. Top this off with Steve Elliott’s tenor sax weaving through the melodies and you have a special evening – unmatched in any music venue in the capital.

Only at Brooks Blues Bar for one night!

Steve Morrison

Admission £15

SATURDAY MARCH 17
WATERMELON SLIM (USA) UK TOUR – EXCLUSIVE LONDON APPEARANCE. Booking advised.

The now legendary Watermelon Slim makes his Brooks Blues Bar debut in his only London appearance in his UK Tour in a rare solo performance.

After winning two Blues Music Awards (BMA) in 2008 for Best Blues Album of the Year and Best Blues Band of the Year, Slim and The Workers received four more BMA nominations in 2009. That’s a total of 17 nominations since 2004!

" Of course, this isn't slicked-up Music Row fare. It would be pretty difficult to smooth the rough edges off Slim…(he) invests his country with the same gritty, true-to-life character and singular voice he brings to the blues" - Philadelphia Inquirer

Born in Boston, Mass., and raised in North Carolina, Bill "Watermelon Slim" Homans has taken his blues all over the USA, Europe, and Southeast Asia. During a career spanning over 30 years, Watermelon Slim has played with Bonnie Raitt, Robert Cray, the late John Lee Hooker the late Henry "Sunflower" Vestine of Canned Heat, and in France with Champion Jack Dupree.

Watermelon Slim

Admission £15

The bar serves drinks at club prices and the clubs also offers a two course meal, with a fixed price £12 for main course with choice of dessert or cheese which must be ordered in advance at the time of booking.  This is not a restaurant or pub, so you are promised good simple home cookin'.

For priority booking, email info@brooksbluesbar.co.uk or phone the club on 020 7736 1401 between noon and 3pm and after 6pm.

 

 

 

 

January 17, 2012