by Admin | 23 Jul 2023 | activities, FRONT PAGE NEWS
We’re super excited to welcome Bow Django, Bow’s finest swing jazz proponents to the library next Friday (28 July) for an evening of latin-infused toe-tapping rhythms.
Bow Django comprises guitarists Ienne and Chris, bassist Casper, clarinettist Jenny, violinist Peter, and vocalist Annie.
The band was formed when a group of friends got together to play gypsy jazz in an African cafe in Bow in about 2018. However, it really got going in the ‘tween and post-Lockdown periods when the group met in Victoria Park each Friday for a couple of hours to play for themselves and a dedicated group of distanced audience.
The natural choice for parks, street parties, cafe culture and libraries, their music – uptempo and infectiously optimistic – can’t fail to get your feet tapping.
Last Fridays will be taking a break in August but will resume again in September. Watch out for details of our new programme shortly.
Tickets on sale now – here. And as ever, pizzas available!
by Admin | 11 Jun 2023 | Cricklereaders, Cricklereaders Read
The group has chosen Tennessee-born author Cormac McCarthy’s The Passenger for their July meeting.
A sunken jet, a missing body, and a salvage diver entering a conspiracy beyond all understanding. The Passenger is a dark, hallucinogenic novel from Cormac McCarthy, the legendary author of Blood Meridian, No Country for Old Men and The Road.
‘What a glorious sunset song . . . It’s rich and it’s strange, mercurial and melancholic’ – Guardian
1980, Mississippi. It is three in the morning when Bobby Western zips the jacket of his wet suit and plunges into the darkness of the ocean. His dive light illuminates a sunken jet, nine bodies still buckled in their seats, hair floating, eyes devoid of speculation. Missing from the crash site are the pilot’s flight bag, the plane’s black box – and the tenth passenger.
Now a collateral witness to this disappearance, Bobby is discouraged from speaking of what he has seen. He is a man haunted: by the ghost of his father, inventor of the bomb that melted glass and flesh in Hiroshima, and by his sister, the love and ruin of his soul.
Traversing the American South, from the bars of New Orleans to an abandoned oil rig off the Florida coast, The Passenger is a breathtaking novel of morality and science, the legacy of sin, and the madness that is human consciousness.
‘The Passenger shows that McCarthy belongs in the company of Melville and Dostoevsky, writers the world will never cease to need’ – New Statesman
by Admin | 9 Jun 2023 | latest
Doors 1900, music starts 1930. Seats are not reserved, so come early!
Barbershop comes to Cricklewood! Experience the sublime close harmonies of the Peridot Quartet.
Peridot is Héctor, Aurélie, Duncan and Matthew, who hail from Spain, France, Australia and Britain respectively, and came together as a quartet in March last year. They sing a capella – that is, with no instrumental accompaniment, and usually without amplification – representing music in its oldest and primeval form. They have more years of chorus and quartet singing experience between us than they care to add up, and share a small but treasured haul of gold, silver and bronze medals from a number of chorus contests.
For this event, Peridot is looking forward to explaining to you how four-part vocal harmony works and demonstrating lock and ring, overtones (and possibly some undertones), illustrated by songs from the quartet’s repertoire, ranging from barbershop settings of popular songs from the 30s up to arrangements of chart toppers from this millennium. And there’ll be an opportunity to learn a “tag” (tags are short phrase of music sung by barbershoppers all over the world) – audience participation not compulsory, but encouraged!
by Admin | 1 May 2023 | cafe, FRONT PAGE NEWS
It’s official! Spring has definitely sprung! By popular demand, the ice machine is leaving its winter hibernation quarters and will be back at the library as of Wednesday 3 May. We’ll have iced coffee and iced chai latte on sale to drink in or takeaway. We also have more patio tables and chairs available for you to sit in the sun and enjoy your drink.
Let us know what you think!
by Admin | 1 May 2023 | library event
Our regular visitors Brent Jazz Orchestra Quartet are back again in May, this time with singer Beverley Stone. Since as long as she can remember Essex born Beverley has been immersed in popular music, starting with the Great American songbook interpreted by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole and Billie Holiday. Contemporary artists such as Carol King and Madonna have also had major influences. The key has always been the combination of melody, musical arrangement, emotion, and the story to be told – the more soul searching the better. Her professional adventure started after leaving her 9-5 job and taking on a singing engagement on the high seas. Her deep love of singing and performing was discovered and her future mapped out.
Since then she has travelled to many parts of the world, appeared on British television, and secured long term residencies at prestigious central London venues. More than happy working as a jazz singer with small groups or fronting a swinging big band, Beverley has performed at some of the finest venues in the land including Ronnie Scotts, the 606 Club, Pizza Express Soho, The Hideaway, Bateaux River Cruises, The Wellesley, The Hippodrome and The Forum.
Whilst cultivating her song writing career she has worked with some of the country’s foremost musicians and producers, and her debut album Butterfly Rising is available to buy on iTunes. Her passion for all things singing has in recent years been extended to the field of vocal coaching and guiding individuals who need help in exposing hidden talent.
What to Expect This Evening
There will be a donations bar, and pizzas, served in the interval, can be ordered in advance. If you don’t see the pizza you like on offer, requests are accepted. We order from Basilico. We have listened to your feedback and you can now order large or small pizzas. Pizza sales end the day before the concert to give us time to place the order.
Brent Jazz Orchestra on Facebook
