There are so many things to love about the festive season and this year is no exception.
It’s become a bit of an annual pilgrimage for JOOLS HOLLAND AND HIS RHYTHM & BLUES ORCHESTRA, and let’s be honest, they are the perfect outfit to see on a cold winters night.
He’s a good one that Santa, he’s dropping Jools into Cardiff less than a week before the big day so we can have a right good R&B knees up.
The tour will also mark an exciting new chapter as Ed Richardson is welcomed in as the orchestra’s new drummer, following the retirement of the legendary Gilson Lavis. After starting out together in Squeeze, Gilson became a cornerstone of Jools’ Rhythm & Blues Orchestra, keeping the beat over a span of several decades and retiring with an incredible legacy.
Reflecting on his new role, Ed says…….
“I’ve been a fan of Gilson since my dad first sat me down in front of the Hootenanny. His iconic style left an indelible mark on me. To now step into his shoes is both a challenge and an honour. I’ll do my utmost to continue his legacy and keep the drum chair as exciting as he made it!”
Jools never stops; with CD’s, the TV stuff and of course the long tours with the orchestra. SOUTH WALES LIFE asked him why he keeps going and appears to enjoy it more and more……
“I like touring, I like playing. The best bit of touring is the fact that you get on stage, and of course that’s the shortest part of it. The longest part is travelling to where you’re going. But I don’t mind the travelling and seeing stuff. But the highlight is being on the stage, and hearing different people in my orchestra, hearing the guests, being able to try and figure out the mystery that is playing the piano each day, and sometimes you feel as though you get a bit better, and sometimes you feel as if…for every five steps forward, you take four back, and you keep going on like that.“
For those of us that come to see you often – and some come slightly more than that. You always seem to add a new element to the show with your ‘special guests.’ Jools said…
“So what has evolved with the big band and their shows is, of course, the guests. Ruby Turner is the first person, one of our guests, and she’s become part of the orchestra because of the strength of what she does and because we’ve written so much together. So she finishes off the show but is so amazing, she’s like a person from another age, in having that gospel and blues and boogie-woogie sensibility that was around in the 1930s, that beginnings of it and the greatest flowering of it, in many ways.“
We spoke to Jools about the joys of touring and how he loves visiting new places – like South Wales, although it’s anything but new to him now. He also touched on the band sneaking a look at their phone and iPads.
You can listen to what Jools told us below.
Accompanying Jools with the Rhythm & Blues Orchestra on their annual excursion around the UK (as Jools said) will be the supremely talented RUBY TURNER, with her breath-taking gospel, soul and rhythm & blues vocals. LOUISE MARSHALL, with her beautiful soul and jazz tones. SUMUDU JAYATILAKA also joins the line-up this weekend.
Ruby Turner is one of our finest Soul and R&B Singers. She is constantly touring, not only with Jools and the band, but playing live dates in between with her own Band.
Louise is again another powerhouse of a singer who made a name for herself with The National Youth Choir of Great Britain in 1990. Since then, and her scholarship to The Guildhall School of Music and Drama, she’s performed with pretty much all the greats – Beverley Knight, David Gilmour, Michael Ball, Marti Pellow, Robbie Williams, Bryan Ferry, Ronnie Wood, Van Morrison, Russell Watson, Steve Winwood and Paul Young, to name but a few.
We actually have bit of history with Jools and his band. We worked on a huge charity event aboard a cruise ship from Southampton to the Isle of Wight, they were so good and we raised almost £2 million over that weekend. We have an admission as well, we were at the very first ever broadcasts of THE TUBE at the City Road studios in Newcastle. We could tell you so much about that night but maybe another time. All we can say is Jools and the Orchestra put on one hell of a show.
With a tremendous collection of Jools tunes and his styling of Ska, Boogie Woogie and Blues, this UK tour promises to be an extraordinary and unforgettable night out.
Tickets for JOOLS HOLLAND AND HIS RHYTHM & BLUES ORCHESTRA are priced from £43.65 (+ booking fee). They get to the Utilita Arena in Cardiff this Saturday 20th December, which is pretty much a year to the day since his last visit. To get your tickets, go HERE.
