Digby Fairweather,
jazz writer, broadcaster and arranger leads Britain’s
most exciting band, his (seven-piece!) ‘Half Dozen’.
Winners of the Marston’s Pedigree British Jazz Award for
‘best small group’ in 2005 and 2006, they continue
to amaze and delight audiences with their blend of swing
and vocal harmony!
In January 2003 they began touring with
blues-legend GEORGE MELLY and their CD collaboration
‘Singing and swinging the Blues!’ was voted the
Observer’s ‘Record of the Week’ in August of that year. Melly’s
release on the Candid Label, “The Ultimate Melly” sees
Digby and the Half Dozen join forces with John Chilton,
Jacqui Dankworth, Van Morrison and the Swingle Singers.
A new collaboration with George (Lake Records),
completed shortly before he passed away, is due
for release in Summer 2007.
The Half-Dozen
(formed in l995) appears at jazz festivals clubs and
concerts countrywide and is Digby’s ‘dream band’; a
fusion of musical concepts with a strong vocal element.
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The band includes an
A-team of soloists (several of them poll winners in
their own right) fused together by a library of
arrangements built up over twelve years. Close harmony
is provided by five of the band members, adding a new
and exciting strand to the show. Their aims are simple;
to play great jazz music whatever the style, and
entertain the heck out of their audience!
Digby Fairweather
(trumpet-cornet/vocal), Julian Marc Stringle
(clarinet/saxophones /vocal), Chris Gower (trombone),
Craig Milverton (piano/keyboards/vocal) Dominic Ashworth
(guitars/vocal), Len Skeat (bass) Nick Millward
(drums/vocal)
2007 see the Half Dozen joined by BBC Radio 2 Blues man,
Paul Jones -
star of the Manfred Mann group as
well as ‘the Manfreds’ and the world-famous ‘Blues Band’
for select shows – dates on application! |
