Al Stewart - Greatest Hits

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 76:55
Size: 176.1 MB
Styles: Soft rock, Folk rock
Year: 2004
Art: Front

[3:18] 1. Bedsitter Images
[3:39] 2. In Brooklyn
[3:45] 3. Electric Los Angeles Sunset
[3:59] 4. You Don't Even Know Me
[3:53] 5. Soho [needless To Say]
[7:58] 6. Roads To Moscow
[4:21] 7. Carol
[6:37] 8. Year Of The Cat
[4:59] 9. Lord Grenville
[3:20] 10. On The Border
[6:22] 11. Song On The Radio
[6:39] 12. Time Passages
[2:42] 13. Merlin's Time
[5:07] 14. Running Man
[3:54] 15. Midnight Rocks
[6:16] 16. Last Days Of The Century

Over the years, there have been plenty of Al Stewart collections, most featuring the same five or six songs, giving the impression that he's an easy artist to compile. That, however, isn't quite the case. Most of these collections are haphazardly assembled, focusing either on his early elaborate historical story songs or his lush productions of the late '70s and early '80s, choosing songs that were not necessarily hits and not necessarily good showcases for his idiosyncratic gifts. Despite its nondescript (and misleading) title and its cover art, which bewilderingly mimics the cover of Year of the Cat, Rhino's 2004 collection Greatest Hits is the first to truly to capture Stewart at his best, from his baroque British folk-rock in the late '60s to his soft rock hits a decade later. While all his American hits are here, this is more of a "best of" than a hits compilation, since it doesn't follow the charts and zeroes in on songs that capture his precious, sighing, sophisticated, lightly psychedelic and elaborately produced progressive folk-pop. It bypasses such dirges as "Nostradamus," which often appears on Stewart comps even if it's a bore, and includes such gems as the swinging '60s side "Bedsitter Images," "Electric Los Angeles Sunset," the wonderful "You Don't Even Know Me" (from Orange, one of his finest albums but one of the most overlooked), and "Carol" before settling into the familiar hits -- "Year of the Cat," "Lord Grenville," "On the Border," "Song on the Radio," "Time Passages," "Midnight Rocks" -- that all sound better here than on other hits collections because the context is right. Year of the Cat and Time Passages remain noteworthy albums in their own right, as do Orange and 24 Carrots, but as a career overview and introduction, this Greatest Hits is nearly perfect. ~Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Greatest Hits mc
Greatest Hits zippy

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Alice Free - Humanity

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:10
Size: 130.9 MB
Styles: R&B/Soul/Blues/Jazz
Year: 2017
Art: Front

[4:46] 1. Small Things
[4:45] 2. Black Dog
[4:29] 3. Half Of Nothin'
[3:48] 4. Joyless Soul
[4:41] 5. Bleak Heart
[5:01] 6. No Goin' Back
[3:35] 7. Doesn't Matter
[4:32] 8. Not Like Me
[5:13] 9. Falling
[4:19] 10. For Me
[2:53] 11. The Box
[5:05] 12. Decision
[3:55] 13. Little Shell

I’m the singer/songwriter with the band. I’ve been writing stuff for as long as I can remember and my home is littered with ‘words’! I’ve had some poetry published and I wrote a few songs with a friend a while ago. After a pretty traumatic time a couple of years ago I expierienced a very prolific writing period and most of the songs were born from that time of sorrow and adversity. I sang my first song ‘The box’ to Larry, luckily he was very receptive and the songs just kept coming after that! Thats how we write, I sing the words and vocal melody, Larry produces the music and arrangements around them then all the guys breathe life into the songs with their amazing playing! I am so glad the songs have come to life and feel all of us together have something special. Many thanks to Larry, Robert, Chris and TMS!

Humanity mc
Humanity zippy

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Barbara Dickson - The Collection

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 66:18
Size: 151.8 MB
Styles: Easy Listening
Year: 1987/2007
Art: Front

[3:28] 1. Come Back With The Same Look In Your Eyes
[4:10] 2. We Were Never Really Out Of Love
[2:31] 3. Now I Don't Know
[3:33] 4. It's Really You
[3:46] 5. January February
[4:13] 6. Hold On
[4:08] 7. Only Seventeen
[3:39] 8. Surrender To The Sun
[3:23] 9. Take Good Care
[3:25] 10. The Long And Winding Road
[3:48] 11. Will You Love Me Tomorrow
[3:10] 12. Run Like The Wind
[4:10] 13. Here We Go
[3:42] 14. Tell Me It's Not True
[3:13] 15. The Crying Game
[3:23] 16. A World Without Your Love
[4:43] 17. As Time Goes By
[3:45] 18. One False Move

As a multi-million selling recording artist with an equally impressive Olivier Award winning acting career, Barbara Dickson OBE has firmly established herself as one of the most enduring and popular artistes in Britain today. Born in Dunfermline, Scotland, Barbara’s love of music was evident from an early age – she began studying piano at the age of five and by twelve had also taken up the guitar. She developed an interest in folk music whilst at school which led to floor spots singing at her local folk club. After relocating to Edinburgh, she went on to combine a day job in the Civil Service whilst steadily pursuing her first love, music, in local pubs and clubs. The watershed moment came in 1968 when, after being refused leave from her job for an overseas singing engagement, Barbara resigned, determined to pursue a career for herself in the burgeoning folk scene of the late ‘60’s.

The next few years saw her gradually ‘paying her dues’ on the Scottish and English folk circuit, steadily building a reputation and working with the likes of Billy Connolly, Gerry Rafferty, Rab Noakes and Archie Fisher. Early folk albums, which she recorded for Trailer and Decca Records, were well received. Barbara readily admits that she would have been happy to continue her life as a travelling folk musician, but a meeting with an old friend, musician and playwright Willy Russell, in Liverpool in the early 70s was to change the course of her career completely.

Willy offered Barbara the role of the musician/ singer in his 1974 Beatles’ musical ‘John, Paul, George, Ringo… and Bert’, staged at Liverpool’s Everyman Theatre. She was on stage throughout the entire performance singing the songs of The Beatles alongside a cast which included Antony Sher, Bernard Hill and Trevor Eve. The show was a huge success and after a sell-out Liverpool season it transferred to London’s West End. After seeing Barbara’s performance in the show, impresario Robert Stigwood, the head of RSO Records, signed her to his label.

The Collection

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Barbara Dickson - Nothing's Gonna Change My World

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 43:19
Size: 99.2 MB
Styles: Pop-jazz vocals
Year: 2006
Art: Front

[2:26] 1. If I Needed Somone
[2:50] 2. I Will
[4:50] 3. Rain
[2:57] 4. Here, There And Everywhere
[3:28] 5. Every Little Thing
[3:04] 6. Eleanor Rigby
[3:35] 7. Things We Said Today
[3:46] 8. I'll Be Back
[3:03] 9. P.S. I Love You
[3:48] 10. The Fool On The Hill
[6:10] 11. Across The Universe
[3:18] 12. Goodnight

A widely respected and richly experienced entertainer, Barbara Dickson marks 40 years as a professional musician with the release of Nothing's Gonna Change My World. Produced by Chris Hughes, widely known for his work with Tears For Fears, Paul McCartney, Robert Plant and countless others, the album includes both well-known and less-celebrated material from the Beatles catalogue, as well as a guest appearance by Midge Ure on "I'll Be Back".

Nothing's Gonna Change My World

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Alison Burns - Kissing Bug

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 51:33
Size: 118.0 MB
Styles: Vocal jazz
Year: 2007
Art: Front

[3:16] 1. Kissing Bug
[3:00] 2. You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To
[4:48] 3. The Good Life
[3:31] 4. But Not For Me
[4:51] 5. Love Me Or Leave Me
[4:56] 6. Cry Me A River
[4:09] 7. No Moon At All
[2:51] 8. By Myself
[3:23] 9. Too Good To Be True
[3:58] 10. Shadow Of Your Smile
[4:35] 11. Can't Help Loving That Man
[5:08] 12. The Thrill Is Gone
[3:01] 13. The Way You Look Tonight

Acclaimed by the Glasgow Herald as "One of Scotland's foremost jazz singers," the sensual, supple voiced Alison Burns made a promising case for success on a more global scale on this impressive standards-driven debut that was produced by her father-in-law, famed jazz guitarist Martin Taylor. Based on her formidable talent and casually elegant way with songs like "Cry Me a River," "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To," and "But Not for Me," it's clear that the singer could have emerged much sooner than she has. But her background is fascinating, from singing in the school choir to becoming one of the first female mechanical engineers in Scotland to acting, doing voice-overs, to working as an entertainment lawyer. All of that life experience adds gravitas to the often heartbreaking emotion she brings to these 13 songs, whose restrained arrangements allow her smoky voice to stand out and feature Martin Taylor's breezy guitar harmony lines, and his son James Taylor on drums and brushes. Though contemplative ballads seem to be her forte, Burns shows spirited range on pieces like "By Myself" and "Too Good to Be True," which find her jaunting over much brisker rhythms. This disc plays like an infectious bug that should create a cool epidemic among jazz listeners with great taste as the 2000s progress. ~Jonathan Widran

Kissing Bug

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Archie Semple - The Clarinet Of Archie Semple

Styles: Clarinet Jazz
Year: 2010
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 68:18
Size: 157,8 MB
Art: Front

(3:03)  1. Good Goody
(3:13)  2. After Last Night With You
(2:54)  3. I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me
(2:19)  4. I Want To Be Happy
(3:09)  5. 77 Blues
(3:37)  6. Solitude
(3:19)  7. Home
(2:37)  8. Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone
(4:37)  9. Ammonia Blues
(3:09) 10. No Regrets
(2:32) 11. Sweet & Lovely
(4:06) 12. Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams
(3:06) 13. Ole Miss
(3:18) 14. Sugar Babe
(3:26) 15. Bei Mir Bist Du Shoen
(4:15) 16. I Cover The Waterfront
(2:25) 17. The Needle
(3:41) 18. I'm In The Market For You
(2:45) 19. Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone
(2:47) 20. Home
(3:51) 21. Ammonia Blues

Cult British Jazz musician featured on a set of rare recordings. Archie Semple had all the ingredients to become a cult figure of British Jazz: a highly inventive and distinctive player, played in some legendary bands, was plagued by ill health, retired from playing aged 36 and died nine years later. He emerged onto the Edinburgh Jazz scene in the late 1940s and, like a number of his contemporaries, notably Sandy Brown, Alex Welsh and Al Fairweather, he travelled south to join the burgeoning London Jazz scene. He joined the now legendary bands of Mick Mulligan and Freddie Randall before joining the band formed by Alex Welsh in 1955. He would remain with Welsh until 1963 and stop playing a year later .The influences of Jazz legends Edmond Hall and Pee Wee Russell can be detected in his playing, but he developed his own unique style which made him instantly recognisable. He made few recordings under his own name and this set comes mainly from the archives of  the 77 Records label and includes some previously unissued material. One of the UK's best Jazz pianists, Fred Hunt is on most of the tracks and a few feature, trumpeter, Dickie Hawdon, who would go on to be Head Of Light Music at the City of Leeds College Of Music, and who is another Jazz musician seriously underrepresented on disc. These recordings never enjoyed wide circulation which, again, helped Archie Semple's cult status. http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Clarinet-Of-Archie-Semple/dp/B0046BTZWS

Personnel:  Archie Semple – Clarinet;  Fred Hunt – Piano;  Dickie Hawdon – Trumpet.

The Clarinet Of Archie Semple

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Archie Semple - Hard Candy

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 78:05
Size: 178.8 MB
Styles: Clarinet jazz
Year: 2014
Art: Front

[4:23] 1. Deep Sleep
[3:03] 2. Summer Is Coming In
[2:14] 3. Queen Bess
[2:59] 4. Lady Sings The Blues
[3:49] 5. Up Jumped You With Love
[3:25] 6. Buddy's Habits
[3:34] 7. Back In Your Own Backyard
[3:26] 8. Kansas City Stomps
[5:09] 9. Night People
[2:41] 10. The One I Love Belongs To Somebody Else
[4:01] 11. I'm Coming Virginia
[4:55] 12. What'll I Do
[3:19] 13. Sugar Babe
[2:39] 14. My Foolish Heart
[3:29] 15. Side Walk Blues
[3:06] 16. She's Funny That Way
[3:36] 17. Just Another Day
[3:24] 18. Ostrich Walk
[5:04] 19. I'm Confessin' (That I Love You)
[3:48] 20. After My Laughter Came Tears
[2:52] 21. King Porter Stomp
[2:59] 22. Lullaby Of The Leaves

b. Archibald Stuart Nisbet Semple, 1 March 1928, Edinburgh, Scotland, d. 26 January 1974. After first playing clarinet in bands in his homeland, Semple moved to London in the early 50s. There he became an important voice in the burgeoning traditional jazz scene, playing with the bands of Mick Mulligan, Freddy Randall and Alex Welsh, with whom he remained until the early 60s. During that decade he played with various bands, led his own small groups and made many records, despite the fast-encroaching effects of a severe drinking problem. A very distinctive player with a rich and quirky musical imagination, Semple was one of the most strikingly individualistic musicians to emerge from the sometimes predictable British trad scene. His presence in the already formidable Welsh band helped to create much memorable music. ~bio by AMG

Hard Candy

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Rose Room - Somewhere In Roseland

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 44:33
Size: 102.0 MB
Styles: Gypsy jazz, Swing
Year: 2011
Art: Front

[3:45] 1. Exactly Like You
[3:42] 2. If I Had You
[3:48] 3. Rose Room
[2:43] 4. Undecided
[4:44] 5. Don't Worry 'bout Me
[3:58] 6. Chinatown My Chinatown
[4:05] 7. Blues In My Heart
[3:22] 8. Steppin' Out With My Baby
[3:50] 9. Coquette
[3:00] 10. I Saw Stars
[4:19] 11. Out Of Nowhere
[3:12] 12. Dark Eyes

Seonaid Aitken (violin/vocals); Tom Watson (lead guitar/vocals); Tam Gallagher (rhythm guitar/vocals); Jimmy Moon (double bass).

Scottish Jazz Awards finalists Rose Room have become one of Scotland’s leading ensembles influenced by the Gypsy Jazz genre. Sharing a love of Swing music and the style of the great Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli, their “vigorous and vivacious” performances seem to go “down a storm” with any audience as their 1930s ‘Hot Club’ standards and self-penned originals are always served up with great energy and panache.

Based in Glasgow, the quartet features award-winning virtuoso violinist and vocalist Seonaid Aitken (who also performs with Scottish Opera, folk singer Roddy Woomble and recently orchestrated the music for the BBC/Richard Curtis film ‘Esio Trot’), guitar maker to the stars Jimmy Moon on double bass, and Danny Kyle Award-winners ‘Swing Guitars’ Tam Gallagher and Tom Watson on rhythm and lead guitars respectively.

With two albums recorded to date - ‘Somewhere In Roseland’ (2011) and ‘Am I Blue’ (2013) - Rose Room have headlined at all of the major Scottish Jazz Festivals, have appeared at the celebrated Shetland Folk Festival, and have toured Ireland and performed at the Limavady Jazz and Blues Festival and the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival.

Somewhere In Roseland

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Rose Room - Am I Blue

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 43:29
Size: 99.6 MB
Styles: Gypsy swing
Year: 2013
Art: Front

[3:04] 1. Me, Myself And I
[3:42] 2. China Boy
[4:31] 3. J'attendrai
[4:14] 4. Bossa Dorado
[3:25] 5. Sweet Sue
[5:41] 6. Am I Blue
[3:30] 7. Songe D'automne
[3:05] 8. 'deed I Do
[3:34] 9. Limehouse Blues
[5:08] 10. I'll See You In My Dreams
[3:29] 11. It's A Sin To Tell A Lie

Scottish Jazz Awards finalists Rose Room have become one of Scotland’s leading ensembles influenced by the Gypsy Jazz genre. Sharing a love of Swing music and the style of the great Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli, their“vigorous and vivacious” performances seem to go “down a storm” with any audience as their 1930s ‘Hot Club’ standards and self-penned originals are always served up with great energy and panache.

Based in Glasgow, the quartet features award-winning virtuoso violinist and vocalist Seonaid Aitken (who also performs with Scottish Opera, folk singer Roddy Woomble and recently orchestrated the music for the BBC/Richard Curtis film ‘Esio Trot’), guitar maker to the stars Jimmy Moon on double bass, and Danny Kyle Award-winners ‘Swing Guitars’ Tam Gallagher and Tom Watson on rhythm and lead guitars respectively.

Am I Blue

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Bobby Wellins - Nomad (Feat. Claire Martin)

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s

Time: 64:29

Size: 147.6 MB

Styles: Saxophone jazz, Vocal jazz

Year: 1993/2008

Art: Front

[5:43] 1. CUCB

[5:42] 2. Be My Love

[4:35] 3. Nomad

[4:25] 4. Sandu

[7:44] 5. Love For Sale

[7:27] 6. Willow Weep For Me

[5:41] 7. Remember Me

[2:59] 8. This I Dig Of You

[5:51] 9. Little Rootie Tootie

[4:45] 10. Silent Love

[4:25] 11. This Here

[5:07] 12. Cabin In The Sky

This Scottish jazz saxophonist was born Robert Coull Wellins to a father who played saxophone and clarinet, and a mother who sang. The couple performed professionally, and had appeared in the Sammy Miller show band, as well as doing shows as a duo. Wellins' father started him on lessons on alto saxophone when he was 12; the lessons including a complete round of music theory which naturally involved learning some piano. He studied at Chichester College of Further Education, including keyboard harmony, and continued at the RAF School of Music in Uxbridge where he began clarinet. Upon graduating, Wellins entered the world of so-called palais bands, including stints with British show-band vets Malcolm Mitchell and Vic Lewis. The latter leader took his whole band on an ocean liner to New York, where Wellins had the thrill of running into his idol, the great tenor saxophonist Lester Young.

Wellin's recording career kicked off in 1956 when he joined the piano-less Buddy Featherstonhaugh quintet, also featuring the young Kenny Wheeler on trumpet, who eventually became one of England's most well-known jazz players. The experience in this band consolidated Wellins' decision to concentrate on tenor saxophone. In the early '60s, he was hired by bandleader Tony Crombie for his latest band, beginning what would be a long association between Wellins and the influential British pianist Stan Tracey. The positive creative energy extended beyond whatever band they were in, leading to ambitious co-operative productions. The "Culloden Moor Suite" was Wellins' first major extended composition, written for and performed in this period by the New Departures Quartet supplemented by a 14-piece orchestra. The suite was recorded in 1964, and the following year the Tracey quartet recorded a suite of pieces inspired by Dylan Thomas' Under Milk Wood. Three decades later this record was remembered fondly, picked repeatedly in jazz magazines as an all-time favorite of British jazz.

In the '70s, Wellins began concentrating on his own groups, usually a quartet formation. He began recording as a leader, which he continued to do regularly excepting the types of gaps that seem to occur in the careers of every jazz musician. Further collaborations with Tracey took place in the '80s, along with a very special recording project including the wonderful jazz trombonist Jimmy Knepper, whose projects were unfortunately few and far between after his former boss Charles Mingus smacked him in the mouth and messed up his trombone embouchure permanently. The oversize coach overflowing with liquor and musicians that is known as the Charlie Watts big band of course dropped by and picked up Wellins, who appears amongst the throngs of players on the 1986 release Live at Fulham Town Hall. In the '90s, the saxophonist released some of his most well-received work to date, and was planning a collection of music associated with premier saloon singer Tony Bennett for the early 2000s. He also has developed a flair for the intricate and oddball music of Thelonios Monk, performing it in several repertoire groups. His influence and importance to several generations of British jazz musicians and improvisers is obvious just by checking out how many of them mention him as either an influence, collaborator, teacher -- or all three. ~bio by Eugene Chadbourne

Nomad (Feat. Claire Martin)    

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Donovan - The EP Collection

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:38
Size: 129.7 MB
Styles: Folk-Pop-Rock
Year: 1990
Art: Front

[3:09] 1. Hey Gyp (Dig The Slowness)
[3:23] 2. Josie
[2:13] 3. Catch The Wind
[2:40] 4. To Sing For You
[3:01] 5. Remember The Alamo
[2:04] 6. Oh Deed I Do
[3:49] 7. Ballad Of A Crystal Man
[2:09] 8. Universal Soldier
[1:45] 9. Do You Hear Me Now
[2:42] 10. Colours
[3:28] 11. Turquoise
[2:32] 12. There Is A Mountain
[2:30] 13. Rambling Boy
[2:53] 14. Sunny Goodge Street
[3:13] 15. Hurdy Gurdy Man
[3:37] 16. The War Drags On
[2:11] 17. Jersey Thursday
[2:52] 18. Why Do You Treat Me Like You Do
[2:39] 19. Jennifer Juniper
[3:37] 20. Mellow Yellow

Donovan Philips Leitch (born May 19, 1946 in Maryhill, Glasgow), better known as simply Donovan, is a Scottish singer, songwriter, and musician. Originally a ’60s folk singer, as the decade progressed Donovan cultivated his own unique eclectic sound, mixing elements of folk, pop, jazz, world music and more, often with a twinge of psychedelia. His most well-known work was suffused with altruistic political overtones, making him an iconic figure of the “flower power” counter-culture of the ’60s.

Donovan came to fame in the United Kingdom in early 1965 with a series of live performances on the television pop series, Ready Steady Go!. He first hit the charts in 1965 with his single “Catch the Wind”, continuing on with a string of hits, most of them produced by Mickie Most. Donovan’s 1966 Sunshine Superman marked not only a transition to the burgeoning psychedelic scene, but is also viewed as a formative album in its genre, inspiring countless contemporaries. His 1967 double album A Gift From A Flower To A Garden—the first major album released as a boxed set—completed the transition from beat poet folkster to hippie troubadour.

The EP Collection

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Havana Swing - Django's Discovery

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 89:05
Size: 203.9 MB
Styles: Gypsy jazz, Swing
Year: 2012
Art: Front

[3:57] 1. Lulu Swing
[3:26] 2. Hotel Du Palais
[3:39] 3. Les Feuilles Mortes
[3:41] 4. What Is This Thing Called Love
[4:23] 5. Bossa Dorado
[3:45] 6. I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
[3:28] 7. Belleville
[3:00] 8. Crazy
[3:21] 9. Minor Swing
[3:08] 10. Montagne Ste Genevieve
[3:41] 11. Dinette
[3:52] 12. Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen
[3:54] 13. Swing 48
[3:34] 14. Coquette
[3:18] 15. J'attendrai
[3:30] 16. Topsy
[3:11] 17. Nuages
[3:29] 18. Little Girl
[3:27] 19. I'll See You In My Dreams
[2:47] 20. Gypseattle
[3:12] 21. Harlem Nocturne
[4:14] 22. After You've Gone
[4:19] 23. Route 66
[3:23] 24. China Boy
[3:14] 25. It Don't Mean A Thing (If You Ain't Got That Swing)

HS are inspired by the Hot Club de France, Django Reinhardt’s fabulous quintet of the post war jazz scene in the French capital, and Havana have gone to great lengths to emulate the sound and feel of this timeless music.

Havana Swing Band comprises five musicians from Scotland who share the passion for playing swing music and jazz structured tunes from Django Reinhardt to Latin - coupled with a large number of their own swing compositions

Havana Swing are: Walt Smith (clarinet) Ashley Malcolm (lead guitar) Calum McKenzie (double bass, vocals) Dave Rattray (lead guitar)

Django's Discovery

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