Friday night performances from Shakatak and the Hamish Stuart Band are among the highlights of the new year [2018] calendar announced by Swansea Jazzland. Continue reading
Category Archives: Music
Hot weather and cool sounds at Swansea jazz fest
Hot weather and cool sounds combined to make the 2017 Swansea International Jazz Festival the biggest and best yet. The temperature soared in South Wales for the fourth annual festival, again based in the city’s maritime quarter. Continue reading
Swansea gets all fired up for summer jazz festival
Swansea International Jazz Festival gets all fired up this summer with the music of Earth Wind and Fire, soul star Ruby Turner, and the jazz of Dudley Moore among the highlights. Continue reading
Perfect pitch, but shattered dreams
A beautiful, talented young singer moves from Texas to California, with dreams of stardom. She meets and falls in love with an influential music producer, who promises to deliver fame and fortune. But in Shattered Pitch, a short film by Rafael Soto, the smooth path to happiness soon becomes a rocky road to misery and … Continue reading
Tubby Hayes, the modern jazz maestro from the suburbs
Tubby Hayes may not be on everyone’s list of the all-time jazz greats, but that could be just because he wasn’t American. Continue reading
Comedy / Film / Horror / Jazz / Music / Science fiction / Television
Daleks, werewolves, voodoo and rebellion – Roy Castle’s big screen legacy
Roy Castle was one of the UK’s biggest TV stars of the 1960s and ’70s. An accomplished jazz musician, dancer and actor, a generation of Brits grew up with him as the presenter of the hugely popular Record Breakers. Surprisingly, perhaps, he made only four feature films over 10 years, but each one of them … Continue reading
Jazz / Music / Songwriting / Writing
From Bath to the Bay – the smooth Latin sounds of Michelle Pollace
Michelle Pollace (it’s pronounced poh-LAH-chi) is a super-talented musician, who can often be found playing her smooth Latin Jazz rhythms at venues around the San Francisco Bay area. This Californian native and her keyboard (with backing from some of the Bay area’s finest musicians) are equally at home in quiet, upscale restaurants and outdoor concert … Continue reading
Swansea Jazz Festival – far from average
Founders of the Average White Band may have provided the big headline act on the final night, but Swansea Jazz Festival 2016 was far from average. The event’s third edition was widely regarded as its biggest and best yet – again organised by Swansea Jazzland’s Dave Cottle at venues in and around the city’s attractive … Continue reading
Maybe Tomorrow? No, get it today!
Zeeteah Massiah, whose debut album, Juice, was a stunning collection of jazz-blues-soul-R&B, is back with a very different collection. While Juice consisted mainly of new material, written by her equally-talented partner (now husband) Paul Caplin, her second album, Maybe Tomorrow, consists mainly of familiar tunes by the likes of Cole Porter and Johnny Mercer. Continue reading
Maritime music – Swansea International Jazz Festival
Swansea International Jazz Festival returns for its third year this summer, with some 50 events at 12 venues in the city’s Maritime Quarter. The Dylan Thomas Theatre will host the ticketed concerts with a diverse programme of jazz featuring artists from USA, Europe and Australia. Continue reading
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