JLT play the music of Michel Camilo

The John Lake Trio Play the 

Music of Michel Camilo

Sunday 14 October 2018 at 3.00pm

Don't miss this new venture for the trio playing the incredible latin jazz music of one of the giants of contemporary jazz.

Michel Camilo

Michel Camilo is a legend in his own lifetime as a master of latin jazz piano and his compositions and re-styling of latin jazz standards are now classics of the style.

This concert will be an ambitious exploration of some of Camilo’s earlier compositions which established him as an international artist including “And Sammy Walked In”, “Tropical Jam” and “One More Once”, combined with some of his interpretations of classic latin pieces such as “Poinciana”, Chick Corea’s “Armanda's Rumba” and Kenny Dorham's "Blue Bossa"

The set will provide a contrast of lively latin rhythms with highly melodic and sentimental ballads such as “Thinking of You”. It will be a great opportunity to showcase the church’s new Venables baby grand piano played by John Lake with Simon Cambers on drums and Matt Casterton on bass.

This one hour concert is in aid of the church restoration fund and is with free admission, but it is hoped that you will give generously to help maintain this historically important and vital part of the village community of Alfriston.

The church has a recently purchased Venables baby grand piano and this is a great opportunity for John Lake to showcase it with Matt Casterton on bass and Simon Cambers on drums.

New regular gig with a new band line up

The Lake/Blakeman Band play Latin Jazz @ Rotunda

A new collaboration between John Lake and Robin Blakeman playing latin jazz standards and a few originals at Brighton's cosiest cafe in Preston Park on Sunday 22 July at 2.00pm.

Robin is a seasoned jazz performer/composer and a Berklee alumnus with an international performance history including a recent appearance at the 2018 St Petersburg Jazz Day with Alexander Vasilevsky's Caribbean Jazz Report.  He will be playing tenor & soprano sax, flute, alto flute and bass clarinet with John Lake supplying piano and added orchestral colour with vibes, strings and synth sounds. Simon Cambers on drums, Matt Casterton on bass and Angus Bishop on percussion.The tonal palette will be music to your ears.

Come along and enjoy an afternoon of mellow, melodic jazz and chill out at the fully licensed cafe with a range of delicious hot and cold meals including Sunday lunch.

The second set of the afternoon will be open for musicians to come and jam with the band and dancers will be welcome throughout the performance.

No entrance fee will be charged but a retiring collection will be made for the band.

https://www.facebook.com/Rotunda-Cafe-309768439169307/

A Simple Kindness

Yesterday marked the 1st anniversary of the day of the Manchester city bombings which affected not only the victims of the Ariana Grande concert but their families, the wider community and had such a marked impact around the UK and beyond. Shortly after the bombings I completed this song called "A Simple Kindness" which I have dedicated to the actions and gestures of the people of Manchester who responded to the tragedy and provided help, comfort and generosity of spirit towards people affected directly. Such actions are bold gestures in times of great difficulty and I salute all those with that spirit of human kindness in this recording.

The recording was completed in February 2018 with the wonderful skills of Keith Goddard on bass, Angus Bishop on drums and Dave Bee Bee as studio engineer in his excellent new studio facilities in Seaford. The piano is a Yamaha C5 and is kept in beautiful order by Dave. Thanks to all concerned for helping record this and I hope you enjoy listening to the track. Please leave your comments on the blog!
https://www.numberonemusic.com/johnlakeband

John Lake

Recording sessions at Dave Bee Bee's studio

New tunes recorded and more on the way

A day in the studio with Keith Goddard on bass and Angus Bishop on drums produced four tracks of previously unrecorded original material. Just one day spent with the impressive skills of these two lovely musicians and the intuitive and sympathetic recording techniques which Dave Bee Bee provided made the whole thing a very relaxed and enjoyable day. 

The Yamaha grand piano is a joy to play in Dave's studio and the set up is comfortable, well environmentally controlled plus with a separate drum room and facility to record separately in the control room. Add this to Dave's years of expert experience as a recording musician and his great hospitality and kindness and you could search a long way to find such a good facility for recording on the South Coast.

The four tunes recorded are Unsaintly Thomas - a calypso tipping a wink towards the Sonny Rollins tune of a similar name; Parkinson Behaving Badly - a funk/swing number which treads a careful path between the Michael Parkinson TV theme tune and the TV theme from Men Behaving Badly; A Simple Kindness - a ballad composed in response to the altruistic behaviour of Manchester citizens towards the victims of the blast last year after the bombing disaster; and The Last Straw - a jazz waltz to complete the "Straw" trilogy which began with  Short Straw back in 1985!  

The rough mixes are complete but final mixes will be done when Dave gets back from his walking holiday in Nepal. Just can't wait to share these with you.