As the comedy musical TONY! [The Tony Blair Rock Opera] continues its UK tour and heads to Cardiff [June 14-17], I’m pleased to share this interview with its creators, Harry Hill and Steve Brown. What are audiences in store for when they come see the show? Harry: We’ve tried to make it as funny as … Continue reading
As The Rocky Horror Show reaches its half century, with a UK tour in 2023, we’re pleased to publish this interview with its creator Richard O’Brien. What was your inspiration behind The Rocky Horror Show? Someone asked me to entertain the Christmas staff party at the EMI Film Studios and so I wrote a song … Continue reading
Billed as ‘music like you have never heard before’, pianist Anders Helmerson leads bassist Lukasz Chula and drummer Juan Meija as the Anders Helmerson Trio to present ‘the world’s first opus in the key of i’. To my unsophisticated ears, the lead track at least is a glorious mix of piano-led jazz fusion with elements of prog rock, though … Continue reading
You don’t hear many conventional love songs from Essex retro rock band The 1957 Tail Fin Fiasco – so the new single Monogamy Pews is predictably not a celebration of romantic marriage. In fact, this track from their latest album The Harvard Tango tells the story of Glynn Wolfe, also known as Scotty Wolfe, a … Continue reading
I was first drawn to Essex pop-rock band The 1957 Tail Fin Fiasco, not just by their wonderful name, but by their Steely Dan-ish music, with influences from other ’70s bands, which many people of my age enjoy. So I was very pleased to hear they have a new album, The Harvard Tango, now available … Continue reading
A double bill of supernatural Shakespeare has been touring the UK, performed by the remarkable Watermill Ensemble. I don’t normally review plays on this blog (I normally review them for this hyperlocal site in Cardiff), but these exceptional productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Macbeth deserve exceptional treatment. Continue reading
They say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, and the same goes for CDs. Pick up a copy of Laura Comfort‘s new album Don’t Ignore Me, and you may think this is all about the look and not much about the sound – style over substance. But you’d be very wrong. Continue reading
The founder of legendary rock band The Kinks, and the DJs of Funky Sensation are among the names that have been added to the line-ups at two of the summer’s big jazz festivals. Continue reading
It’s understandable that Jazz FM has been blowing its own trumpet this week. Landing two big-name veterans to top the bill at the annual Love Supreme Festival is worth trumpeting. American jazz-funk and soul star Chaka Khan will headline on the Saturday (July 4) and Northern Ireland’s rock-blues-jazz-pop maestro Van Morrison is the man on … Continue reading
Much of Steely Dan’s music oozes California sunshine. Which is odd because Donald Fagen and Walter Becker are born-and-bred New Yorkers. But here’s something odder – jump a further 3,000 miles east and you find a new bunch of Dan-alikes, who are actually more Leigh-on-Sea than LA. I say “bunch”. Actually, I don’t know how … Continue reading
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