What’s on?

Fresh from the school of Funk that fed the likes of James Brown, Dennis joins an elite lineage of trombone players responsible for changing it’s perceptions.

From The Brand New Heavies, Jamiroquai, Courtney Pine, to Maceo Parker and PeeWee Ellis, Dennis has lent his ‘bone skills to an array of jazz, funk and groove personalities.

A chameleon in the jazz world, here he presents ‘Funky-Funk!’ an electrifying 6-piece outfit exploring funky grooves, fat bass-lines and sumptuous melodies.

“‘Funky-Funk!’ is a outfit I’ve always dreamt of putting together… A seriously funky band with an infectious sound that makes your body move!”

All-star band includes: 

James “The Kid’ Morton (alto saxophone) Johnny Heyes (guitar) 

Tiago Cohimbra (bass) Anders Olinder (keyboards) 

Davide Giovannini (drums)

Support from ORIGIN!

A new contemporary quartet playing original music that captures influences from Chick Corea, Donny Macaslin, Brad Melhdau, James Farm and Brian Blade. 

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Martin Harley has been making music and touring the world for over two decades. His sound has never been more down to earth. Exploring roots, blues and slide guitar in a style The Guardian referred to as ‘Spellbinding’, Harley has released eight albums to date, four recorded on home soil and four across the Atlantic in Texas and Nashville.

An album with Grammy nominated Daniel Kimbro and Sam Lewis is on the way for 2022. The three have collaborated live since 2014. “We’ve all jumped of a few rocks together, physically and mentally, this record has got scars, bars and underwater superheroes” 2021 includes some intimate acoustic shows for Martin with a band tour in the autumn. martinharley.com for tours and tickets.

His recent nominations include, AMA instrumentalist of the year, Best Acoustic Guitarist, Best Acoustic Blues artist. Notable appearances include Glastonbury Acoustic and Avalon stages, Beautiful Days, Royal Albert Hall, Union Chapel, Bluebird Nashville, Tønder Festival, The Troubadour LA and at home round the fire pit with his two daughters.

“Harley offers the listener a masterclass in taste, style and roots blues” – Guitarist Magazine

“No doubt that he is a slide guitar master. He is the business” – Roots Magazine

“Spellbinding” – The Guardian

“Quite simply a great live act” – Time Out London

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Having already built individual reputations, Mat and Alex draw on the deepest roots of the blues to create fresh, relevant songs, which expand British Blues into new territory.

‘The pair blend their personalities and styles to create relevant music with a vibrant core of authenticity’

Taking influence the likes of John Lee Hooker, Little Walter and R.L. Burnside – this collaboration between award-winning harmonica player and blues singer Mat Walklate and renowned singer/guitarist Alex Haynes brings out the best in both artists.

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Australian/UK saxophonist and composer Brandon Allen’s new groove project. Perform brand new contemporary jazz/groove compositions as well as re-interpretations of material he wrote for earlier bands.

Musical influences include Weather Report, Herbie Hancock, Eddie Harris, John  Scofield, Lalo Schifrin, Tom Scott, David Sandborn and the Brecker Brothers.

With synthesisers and intricate and intoxicating sax/guitar melodies, Brandon Allen is one of the UK’s most in demand saxophonists, working with a wide variety artists across various genres.

BLUES & SOUL Review

“The evening was a superb blend of diverse improvisational and stellar ensemble interaction featuring Jamie Murray’s deep abstract drumming, Allen’s incendiary sax playing, Mike Outram’s superb guitar flurries, Jim Watson’s adventurous keys / soundscapes and finally, Laurence Cottle’s expansive and muscular basslines.”

Support from MAJOR RUSE, a dynamic quartet from Leicester. 

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RockCentral and The Hound Dog proudly present:COMEDY CLUBCome join us for an evening of great value entertainment. With a fantastic TV headliner, top circuit opening act AND 2 of the best Rising Stars on the circuit, this is a night not to be missed.Tickets are strictly limited and likely to sell out, so book now and come and have the best Thursday night out in Derby!

Liam Farrelly is a 21-year-old up-and-coming Scottish comedian from Paisley, who started performing stand-up aged 17 whilst still in High School and who immediately went into comedy full-time after graduating.

A meteoric rise through the ranks has seen him nominated for and winning a raft of awards, have a guest acting role on BBC Scotland’s Scot Squad (S4E2, 2018) and perform at the UK’s best and most prestigious comedy clubs, including Scotland’s The Stand, Monkey Barrel, Liverpool’s Hot Water Comedy Club and both the London and Manchester Comedy Stores—all barely a year after first setting foot on a stage.

Liam’s stand-up is story-based and his material is uniquely personal—you could say his unusual family have provided him with a goldmine, as his sister and an aunt are both nuns, he has a wheelchair bound parent with MS who has a wicked sense of self-deprecating humour, and other close relations are in various degrees of deterioration.

“Self-referential asides and personal material… there’s a funny and interesting spark here”Chortle

“Frighteningly young first act Liam Farrelly is going to have to get used to the Kevin Bridges comparisons or have elocution lessons… it was apparent that this was a young man with natural storytelling talent.

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Saxophonist and composer Trish Clowes has been described as “an improviser to be reckoned with” (Downbeat Magazine) and “one of the most agile and original jugglers of improv and adventurous composition to have appeared in the UK in recent times” (The Guardian). Clowes is currently an Associate Artist at Wigmore Hall and her latest album ‘A View with a Room’ is out on Dave Douglas’s Greenleaf Music.  

Her quartet is an intense and thrilling band that represents the front rank of the contemporary UK jazz scene. Lauded for her imaginative approach to improv and adroit writing Trish provides her all-star bandmates with a unique platform for individual expression and group interplay. Mike Walker is a UK jazz legend who co led The Impossible Gentleman and featured in George Russell and Kenny Wheeler bands. Ross Stanley is a multi-award winning pianist who’s worked with Trish on lots of projects as has Ian Thomas, who has also recorded with George Michael, Eric Clapton, Seal, Mark Knopfler, Van Morrison BB King and Michael Jackson.  

Trish Clowes-Saxophones

Mike Walker-Guitar

Ross Stanley-Guitar

Ian Thomas-Drums. 

Support from The Matt Ratcliffe Trio. 

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Combining the raw power of Son House with the dense hypnotic rhythms of Howlin’ Wolf and the barrel-chested roar of the old blues shouters, Tom’s live shows take audiences on a journey from the Delta to the Download.

Dr Tom Attah is a practising musician, and Course Leader for BMus Popular Music Performance at Leeds Arts University. His Ph.D. was awarded by University of Salford. His research interests include the effects of technology on popular music, particularly blues music and blues culture.

Tom’s teaching and blues advocacy includes theatre and festival performances, workshops, seminars, lectures and recitals delivered to learning institutions, artistic communities and blues dance specialist events in the United Kingdom, mainland Europe, Russia, and the United States. 

As a guitarist and singer, Tom performs solo, with an acoustic duo and as part of an electric band.  Tom’s solo acoustic work includes his own original Blues compositions and has led to performances at major music festivals around Europe, including major stages at the Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, the Great British Rhythm & Blues Festival, and Blues Autour Du Zinc.  

Tom’s original music commissions include composing and performing the music for the HandelHendrix permanent exhibition in Mayfair, London, and Tom’s multiple national radio appearances include performances and documentaries for BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 4, and Sky Arts.

Tom’s journalistic writing is regularly featured in specialist music publications including Blues In Britain magazine, and his original research papers and book reviews  are published in several international peer-reviewed  journals.  

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Fleur Du Mal, along side The Hound Dog, are happy to present a New Years treat like no other. 

See the new year through as though living in the roaring twenties! 

Dress up if you wish, as there are prizes for best dressed. 

Enjoy stunningly sexy performances from four incredible burlesque sensations through out the night. 

Think confetti, Prosecco, glamour and love, as we celebrate New Years together in style ! 

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SPEED DATING FOR MUSIC LOVERS (30-55)
An evening of music and dating, mixed in to one! 

We invite all of you music loving singletons for a night that might result in love!  Enjoy up to 30 dates with 30 different people , all who love music and are looking for that special someone. 

Doors open at 5:30pm and ready to begin at 6:15pm! Your ticket includes a welcome drink or either a small glass of wine or half a pint of lager,cider or beer. 

Each date will last 4 minutes , afterwards you will have a moment to make some notes to help make your decisions at the end. Once all the dates have finished, we invite you to stay, mingle and enjoy some live saxophone.

You must choose 6 dates that would like to get to know better and exchange details with. 

These will be written down on your dating card and handed in to the host.Where another person has also written you down as one of their chosen 5, your contact details will be shared with them and vice versa. This will be done within 3 days of the event. Should you not have matched with anyone on this occasion, you will be invited to the next event for free. 

HOUSE RULES 

Before you buy a ticket, remember this is a dating event for people who really love their music and who wish to find a partner who shares this love. If this isn’t you , please don’t attend.

Any untoward advances will result in your swift removal 

Be polite and respectful at all times. 

Be yourself. but we also recommend you dress to impress. 

Smart casual as a minimum.

Happy Dating!

“The plan is to stir something up and tell the truth of where I am in the world…”

It was the start of 2020 when Robert’s third LP, the critically-acclaimed ‘In This Town You’re Owned’, was released by Thirty Tigers and walked straight into a worldwide pandemic. Despite stalled promotional plans and tours, the record resonated enough to win the Americana Music Association UK’s ‘Album Of The Year’ award for 2021. Receiving critical acclaim, the record also charted at number 2 in the UK Americana Charts and American Songwriter Magazine named ‘In this Town You’re Owned’ in its top 20 albums (every genre) of 2020. “I had to try to take the positives as an artist’ Robert says when recalling the experience of lockdown. “I hadn’t had any time off from performing in many years and that gave me a bit of a reset…but I’m now looking ahead to a successful year and excited to be playing new songs to people”.

It was Vincent’s powerful and soulful voice that attracted acolytes such as Bob Harris, Paul Carrack and Mary Chapin Carpenter. In 2016, Harris awarded Robert with his ‘Emerging Artist’ of the year award at the inaugural UK Americana Awards show describing Vincent as “absolutely magnetic” and “the real deal”. In 2018 following the release of ‘I’ll Make The Most Of My Sins’ (AMAUK Album of The Year 2018) Robert was invited to perform on the BBC ‘Old Grey Whistle Test, For One Night Only’ closing the show. It was this performance that would propel him to number 1 and 2 in the iTunes Album and Singles Charts.

Maintaining his status as one of the most acclaimed voices in the UK Americana scene, Robert’s new songs represent a left turn for an artist who is ready for something more. 

The new album “has more of a concise sound,” Robert says. “The songs arrived throughout 2022 and are born from personal experiences, rather than the social commentary of the last album. This is a very intimate set of tunes.”

“One of the great blues men of our time” Jools Holland, BBC

“Bloater is a phenomenal guitarist!” Mark Lamarr, BBC Radio 2

“I love this guy…he has a voice that sounds like it’s been soaked in turpentine for the last decade!” Craig Charles, BBC 6 Music

“I’m a massive fan of Big Boy Bloater, he’s a charismatic boy with a big voice” Imelda May

“The best R&B guitarist and singer in the UK”  The Blues Magazine

Big Boy Bloater is a guitarist, singer, songwriter, presenter and entertainer of the highest order. His take on roots and R&B has impressed many people within the genre, from the original greats of Blues & roots to modern aficionados, and beyond. He is regularly asked to play guitar for legends of R&B, roots and blues and he takes his own band – the LiMiTs – on tours around the globe as well as working his own One Man Show and stepping in as a special guest or session player.

Bloater has played at many major festivals across the US and Europe, including Cognac Blues Passions, Ribs & Blues, Latitude, Secret Garden Party, Ramblin’ Man Fair, Hop Farm Festival, BluesFest, The Great British R&B Festival, Burnley Blues, Viva Las Vegas and more. His shows are always impressive, energetic and fun, without losing any musical integrity. His upbeat songs belie their dark lyrics and intricate arrangements. His voice has been compared to Howlin’ Wolf crossed with Tom Waits – indeed he was voted #87 in the top 100 ‘Best Blues Voices of All Time’ by the readers and writers of the Blues Magazine in 2016. The most recent album ‘PILLS’ released in 2018 was voted #2 in Classic Rock Magazine’s Blues Albums of the Year.

Bloater has played for many icons of music and has played guitar behind Imelda May and Paloma Faith as well as once being asked by Sir Paul McCartney to record with him at Abbey Road. He has been interviewed and played sessions on many radio shows including BBC Radio 2 shows with Jools Holland, Jo Whiley, Mark Lamarr, and Paul Jones.

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