What are you doing This Friday? The Secret Showcase Presents… are delighted to announce that Smitty’s Big Four will be taking to the stage at St. Moritz Club London for The Friday Night Whoopee on the 30th May and we can’t wait!
Smitty’s Big Four is the feisty little brother of the Kansas Smitty’s House Band. While the House Band draws its main inspiration from Count Basie’s hard swinging late night jam sessions in 1930s Kansas City, the Big Four is interested in the music of Sidney Bechet and the upbeat swing of New Orleans. The Big Four’s unique combination of trumpet, soprano sax/clarinet, guitar and bass, separates the group from traditional Dixieland groups with the omission of drums and piano. This streamlined formation allows the band to navigate New Orleans and swing standards with unparalleled energy and tightness while maintaining the melodic integrity of the canon. The band features Pete Horsfall, Giacomo Smith, Dave Archer, and Ferg Ireland.
Join Samantha Pink Panther and friends for the best live music in town and the hottest 45s, Special Guests include Tim Hellzapoppin of Hellzapoppin Club.
Doors at 10pm, band will be on around midnight and we will be partying till 3.30am.
£6 before 11.30 £8 After. Advance Tickets available here
Here is what The Kansas Smitty House Band feel like in full swing!
So, with all the bank holiday delights and frolics out the way we’ve got yet more fun in store for you. Were delighted to announce an outstanding newcomer to The Secret Showcase Presents… Stage. We are getting our blues on this Wednesday at Floripa, to The Black Train Blues Band.
Black Train started casually many years ago when Joseph Miller and Teo Treska met in college. After realising they had a very similar taste in music they decided they worked together rather well, thus Black Train was born. Over the years the duo has gradually become more serious and recently incorporated band members Enzo Strano and Adriano Siani to pull together a full band.
Black Train’s music is eclectic and draws on a variety of influences, but is best described as a mixture of blues, folk and roots music, with a strong penchant for the blues.
Doors are at 5 with Happy hour at 5-7.
Special offer buy two steak meals and get a bottle of house wine free.
After the live music, Samantha Pink Panther will take to the decks to spin some moody blues.
So things have been hotting up this week which really makes us want to party harder in the run up to summer. This Friday we have a very special show lined up and we can’t wait to get steaming hot dancing to the rhythms of the Dirty Gents! These guys are a class act that will really hit you hard with their carnival vibes!
Whether a trio or 9 piece The Dirty Gentlemen orchestra is providing a fight back for the old school standing defiant against the ‘autotune industry’. They have spent their first few years together playing Swamp Pop, Soul and New Orleans Rhythm and Blues and are now conjuring up their own rhythms in any way, shape or form that feels right.
Guitarist and singer George Elliot discovered his passion for the music of New Orleans whilst recording in the swamps of Louisiana with band ‘Scoundrels’. Here he got to meet and work with some of the pioneers of the genre and got the chance to soak up the sounds and rhythms of the bayou. On his return to London he realised the sounds that he fell in love with in the swamps were missing. Gathering together a combination of old band mates from school and other talented blues loving musicians from London blues hub, ‘Ain’t nothing but the blues bar’, Dirty Gentlemen emerged out of the urban swamp and ploughed on with front room party style gigs.
They have now moved into a warehouse in the depths of North-East London where they are building their HQ and recording studio so that they can play from dawn till dusk. With a combination of gritty guitar, growling Hammonds, punching horns, kicking drums and bass, and heartfelt vocals from George as well as the formidable Phil Hughes, Dirty Gentlemen have had an amazing year and a half of bringing this music to the ears of young and old music lovers who can’t help but feel good, stomp their feet and keep coming back for more deep fried music.
The band are on around midnight and and we’re partying till 3.30 in the morning with the hottest vinyl classics played by Samantha Pink Panther and Friends.
159 Wardour Street W1F 8WH
Doors open at 10pm £6 before 11.30pm £8 after. Advance tickets available for guaranteed entrance any-time of the night.
We are more than delighted and extremely excited to welcome another newcomer to the TSSP Stage for the Friday Night Whoopee at St. Moritz Club London. W1
DJ Healer Selecta’s band/Raison D’etre collective The Dustaphonics are a force to be reckoned with and if entertainment is what you are looking for on a Friday then look no further as this is where it will be for sure!
The Dustaphonics play a mix of high energy vintage rock n roll and authentic instrumental surf with a distinctly London attitude that takes their music beyond simple imitation.
Feat Hayley Red on vocals, DJ Healer Selecta aka Yvan Serrano Fontova on Guitar and rotation guest musicians such as Bruce Brand or Eric Frajiria on Drums, Dan Whaley or Marcus Dods on bass.
The band’s birth was suitably auspicious blessed by the likes of music and cinema legend such as Bo Diddley, Tura Satana, Spanky Wilson, Wanda Jackson as part of Serrano’s Raison D’Etre London Artists Collective. During a private show in London, legendary actor and singer with the Blues Brothers Dan Aykroyd even jumped on stage with them to sing some of his classic numbers. Now expect seriously feel good vibes, a hint of garage soul and a teaspoon of punk rock circa 1977
Over the years they have graced the stages of some of Europe and London an UK’s hottest venues and Festival, including The 100 Club London, Latitude Festival, Islington Assembly Hall London, Jazz Cafe London, The Pigalle Club, The Garage London, Anniversary of UFO club The Tabernacle London, Camden Blues Kitchen, Rhythm Factory, Dirty Water Club, The Garage Bergen (Norway) La Fleche D’or Paris, La Machine Du Moulin Rouge Paris, Le Baron Private club Paris, Aeronef (Lille) CCM John Lennon Limoges Fr, Cool Soul Fest, Eysienes Got Soul Bordeaux with Jim Jones Revue, Purple Week End Festival, Nuits Secretes Festival, French, Italian, Spanish tour 2010, 2011, 2012, support for London show of James Hunter, Wanda Jackson, Sam Gopal, Kid Congo, Jim Jones Revue, Sanseverino, etc..
While were shouting about this its well worth telling you about the Dustaphonics amazing new music video starring world famous streaker Mark Roberts. It’s absolutely brilliant! Props to Cat & Bear film production for doing such an awesome job.
Join Samantha Pink Panther and Friends and party to the best live music in town and hottest 45’s
Open 10pm – 3.00am
£6 before 11.30 £8 after Student discount and Advance tickets £6 for all night entry.
The Secret Showcase Presents is delighted to invite Florence Joelle to its stage for the first time for the Friday Night Whoopee on the 9th May at St. Moritz.
Paris-born, London-based, singer / songwriter / blues harpist Florence Joelle was bred on jazz at home, and on the music of the Paris streets, the Gypsy art of Django Reinhardt, bal musette, and North African rai, Florence started collecting rock’n’roll, doo-wop, Latin jazz, and early blues as a girl. Her music draws from all these influences, carving out a unique sound that, although deeply rooted in the past, vibrates in the present
A twee retro singer she is not, though. Ever socially conscious, her songs depict what happens around her. The gritty ’29 Bus Blues’ tells of an assault witnessed on a London night bus, while ‘The God Of Things’, written during the riots of August 2011, warns of the materialistic world we live in.
Released last May, her second album, Stealing Flowers, has won four star reviews in the Independent, Daily Mirror and Jazzwise, amongst others, and her song ’29 Bus Blues’ was included in Tom Robinson’s Best of 2013 on BBC6 Music.
A direct to stereo analogue recording, the album was made using vintage microphones and analogue processing, and captured in four days, straight to 2″ reel to reel tape, “This is another beauty of analogue recording,” Florence muses, “much studio time and money can be saved that way, as long as everyone knows what to play on the day.”
And they certainly know what to play on the day… Her line-up boasts lead guitarist Paul Seacroft on acoustic, electric guitar and lap steel (The Tiger Lillies, The Specials, The Selecter and Slim Zydeco), double bass / flamenco guitar Chris Clavo and drummer / percussionist Matt Jackson. And what musicians! They also arrange her compositions. “I write the melody, lyrics and chord structure of my songs on an acoustic guitar. It all sounds very bare, so I need my fellow band members to work their magic”, Joelle admits.
Stealing Flowers, Florence Joelle’s second album, takes the analogue theme further, not only on recording, but also with an image shot by photographic artist Jayne Taylor using old film stock and a vintage Hasselblad camera. “Everything we see and hear now is airbrushed and over-altered, from the photographs in magazines to much of the music on the radio. Showing things as they are makes them almost futuristic.” Florence says. “Back in the day, music was recorded live, and there weren’t many ways, apart from reverb and echo, to alter sound. The best take was kept, and that was all. We went the same way with the cover artwork. Nothing was added, there was no stylist, I am wearing a £10 dress from a thrift shop which I took in myself, the records on the floor are mine, and I bought the flowers too. It’s all about Jayne Taylor’s composition. There is something beautiful about capturing moments of reality, unembellished. What is the point of creating something that isn’t yours?” – And this is all very much hers. Despite its title, nothing is lifted on Stealing Flowers.
What the press say: “Joelle’s sensuous purred vocals and sprightly jazzy songs lend proceedings a contemporary edge while circumventing mere nostalgia.” – The Independent****
“Florence is a rare jewel and this second album captures her captivating style. She boasts deliciously suave vocal phrasing framed by a hot and agile band. Her savvy originals and jumping jazz standards are an unaffected joy. Blooming lovely.” – The Daily Mirror****
“A genuine talent, and definitely one to watch.” – Classic Rock – Blues Edition “Stealing Flowers is a record to cherish.” – Jazzwise****
“Sultry, sexy and French, she was born with a voice tailor-made to pour out enticing cocktails of chanson, r’n’b and jazz.” – R2 Rock’n’Reel ****
“Florence Joelle sings rock ’n’ roll like Billie Holiday might, croons a torch ballad as Wanda Jackson may, and spices it all with a bit of Patti Smith attitude.” – Vintage Guitar Magazine
“Florence Joelle’s Kiss of Fire Paris-born, Camden-based, her music has a heady, jazzy swing of the hips, the sultry tango of ‘I’ll Come Running’ the perfect soundtrack to any Martini-fuelled, Mad Men-themed party.”– Q Magazine
“It’s her voice that smacks you around the head. It’s utterly unique.” – Ruth Barnes’ Pick Of the Week, Tom Robinson’s Show, BBC 6 music
DO NOT MISS, our Femme fatale Friday special. Not only do we have an incredible band fronted by the beautiful and talented Flo but we have Kitty Durham of Kitty Daisy & Lewis joining Samantha Pink Panther at the Decks. Grrrrrrrrrl Power all night long!
The Secret Showcase Presents... 