Pigfoot
Chris Batchelor trumpet: Liam Noble piano:James Allsopp baritone sax: Paul Clarvis drums
Pigfoot burst onto the London scene in 2013 with their highly original take on New Orleans jazz ‘21st Century Acid Trad’, recorded live at the Vortex. At their ongoing Vortex residency ‘Pigfoot Play’ they have been extending their repertoire in all directions, with gigs dedicated to Opera, Motown, Elvis, Bacharach and the music of 1972, all spontaneously transformed by the band’s wild musicality and wry humour.
This imaginative approach to popular material by the all star line up has been met with critical and audience acclaim at Swanage, Bedford, Scarborough, Brecon and London Jazz Festivals. They have just completed recording their second CD “Pigfoot Shuffle” due for release in September 2019.
Here they turn their genre-bending skills to re-workings of a range of classic material; Led Zeppelin’s raucous “Black Dog”, the 70’s funk of Curtis Mayfield’s “Pusherman”, the South African township transformation of a Mozart aria from “The Marriage of Figaro” and, typically, a medley of Elvis Presley and Wagner material.
The Pigfoot sound has also developed, with the introduction of Liam Noble’s creative and individual keyboard setup, which allows Chris Batchelor and James Allsop to combine as a flexible and powerful frontline, egged on by the inspired eccentricity of Paul Clarvis’ sparky and spiky drumming. Anything can happen.
"There is all the musical intelligence you would expect from these four superb jazz musicians, along with a whole lot of heart and joy. There is also an admirably subversive glint in every eye. Damn, do these guys have a good time!"
Peter Bacon thejazzbreakfast.com
You can see Pigfoot here -
You can buy Pigfoot Shuffle here -
Chris Batchelor's Zoetic
Chris Batchelor trumpet: Margrit Hasler viola: John Parricelli guitar: Steve Watts bass: Paul Clarvis percussion
Telling The Tale is the debut album by Chris Batchelor’s Zoetic, a close-knit and sympathetic band of long term musical partners joining together to play Batchelor’s evocative compositions. The unusual combination of trumpet, viola, guitar, double bass and percussion, with this particular personnel, creates a distinctive and atmospheric group sound.
The collective sensibility shared by Zoetic’s stellar line up is the result of years of playing alongside in many different projects. Guitarist John Parricelli and bassist Steve Watts were fellow members of the legendary ’80’s big band Loose Tubes, for which Batchelor was a key composer. Paul Clarvis, here on tabla and hand percussion, has been a member of Batchelor’s eclectic quartet Pigfoot for over ten years, while violist Margrit Hasler is a more recent addition to the UK scene, having previously featured in Mark Lockheart’s ‘Ellington In Anticipation’, another post Loose Tubes connection.
Telling The Tale portrays eight imaginative scenes reflecting the breadth of Batchelor’s global influences and inspirations, from the mysterious, cinematic title track to the rolling township groove of Elephant Lane, and the spiky rock sounds of Huckster. Washington Lyon grows from lyrical solo bass to a band waltz that revolves around a simple figure. Corneta brings us to a vibrant Andalusian inspired scene, while the sparky Luck slips into a bluesy riff as the setting for the improvising. The only piece not composed by Batchelor is the beautifully melancholic ballad Canto Triste by Brazilian singer songwriter Edu Lobo.
“Zoetic’s sound is melodically catchy without a cliché in earshot, produced by creatively idiosyncratic individuals who simultaneously sense exactly when to make space for the interventions of partners on the fly.“ John Fordham londonjazznews.com
Feature here by John Fordham in LondonJazzNews
You can see Zoetic here -
Zone-B
Chris Batchelor trumpet: Steve Buckley alto sax: Rob Luft guitar: Tom Herbert bass: Gene Calderazzo drums
An exciting new group led by the telepathic frontline combination of Steve Buckley and Chris Batchelor, who have enjoyed a long and fruitful playing partnership which started even before the formation of Loose Tubes in the 1980's.
They went on to feature in bands such as Microgroove, Taxi Pata Pata and Bosco D'Oliveira's Grupo Folia before making several influential albums as co-leaders, including the ground breaking multi-track recording Life As We Know It.
The international group Big Air that they subsequently formed with Myra Melford, Jim Black and Oren Marshall in 2002 received universal critical acclaim and their CD was described as "the best British jazz record for 20 years" by Brian Morton in Jazz Journal.
Re-united in Zone-B, Buckley and Batchelor have joined forces with the world class rhythm section of Rob Luft, Tom Herbert and Gene Calderazzo to present fiery and soulful original music inspired by the range and depth of the musical experiences they have had together.
You can see Zone-B here:
https://youtu.be/jIzX4Orf94E
http://youtu.be/-HB2FYEFmy0
http://youtu.be/e8YRIDJ8xBU
Big Air
Chris Batchelor trumpet: Steve Buckley reeds: Myra Melford piano: Oren Marshall tuba: Jim Black drums
Genre-mashing international quintet, Big Air is a collaboration between UK jazz artists and some of the leading US players - Chris Batchelor & Steve Buckley (Loose Tubes) , Myra Melford, Jim Black & Oren Marshall. Their first release on Babel won five star reviews from The Guardian, BBC Music Magazine and was described in Jazz Journal by Brian Morton as "the best British jazz record for 20 years".
For bookings contact Lee Paterson +44 (0)7947 103892 lee@gogobetween.com