Finally happy to announce that we have a residency in London! Tea & Jam @ The Tea House Theatre is a new jam/open mic session taking place on a Thursday, Vauxhall (South West London). Hosted by the jazz quartet featuring Rory Duffy on alto saxophone, flute and vocals, and Chris Roe (from the Open Session @ O'Shea's) on piano.

The night will be a wonderful regular opportunity to try out new material with a house band, including existing songs, half-finished songs, and (in Rory's case) transcriptions of obscure jazz and Brazilian music compositions, a workshop to gig new arrangements that have never been gigged, and a great chance to meet and mingle with eclectic musicians from London's jazz and alternative music scene! All styles will be welcome, plus interdisciplinary and spoken word.

As the night develops, we envisage that sessions will be hosted by alternative artists. This will connect musicians with new disciplines, new styles of playing, and it will enable artists to recruit musicians in a safe, pressure-free environment. Artists will be able to open up their repertoires and bring their pads along so that musicians can get an inside experience at playing their charts.

Audiences will be able to engage with artists in new ways. Tea & Jam @ The Tea House Theatre allows listeners to interact with the artists and request songs. There is also plenty of tea, cakes, beers, wines and spirits to enhance the experience!

We have started up a blog on the Red & Black Music website, which will update you on all of the latest happenings, and which will also feed through to the Dates section of this website.

More info below. Don't forget to Like the Facebook Page:
www.facebook.com/teaandjam

Painting by Julia Coyne
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• Tea & Jam is a scene for musicians showcasing new material.
• Open to any styles - jazz, folk, pop, rock, theatre, world, electronic, experimental, spoken word - vocalist, instrumentalist, DJ, multi-sensory artist - come along and discover your music.
• Bring chords, lyrics and ideas and showcase new material, or simply turn up and jam with the house band.
• Tea & Jam also welcomes solo artists and bands looking for a regular guest slot. Simply let us know before the night!
• Led by saxophonist Rory Duffy (www.roryduffymusic.co.uk) + house band. Rory Duffy will be hosting with his mix of Latin jazz funk fusion & Nu-Bossa. 
• Future nights will also be open to new artists bringing their vibes & experimenting with new sounds.
• Tea House Theatre is situated in an old Victorian Public House that opened in 1886 on the site of the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens, serving tea, cakes, beers, wines and spirits until midnight.
• Audiences can now enjoy a dedicated live music night at this historic site in London.

Tea & Jam will be running most Thursdays up until Christmas

Dates:
October 18, November 01, 15, 29, December 13

Times:
Doors 8:00pm - midnight

Tickets:
£5 non-musicians
£3 concessions / students
FREE for musicians - simply bring an instrument or sing to the doorman!

Brought to you by the Tea House Theatre and Red & Black Music

Just got back from a session playing piano with Sergio Barbati on bass and Jon Desbruslais on drums, at a charity event in Wickford, Essex. Great fun and inspiring to play with such brilliant musicians, in a small trio combo.

September has been an exciting month for us as we are under new management! Red & Black Music is now the new brand responsible for delivering Diáspora, the jazz quartet and the trio, alongside affiliated jazz and international music projects. The business, officially started 2nd September, will offer management, production and directorial solutions for directors and musicians. Working closely with the Musicians' Union, it will also conquer inefficiency and communication deficiency (otherwise known to musicians as 'flakiness') within the music industry. The website is still under development but more information will be going up soon...

Diáspora gig in Worcestershire the other week went down a storm! The gig was also the first with the all-new London-based band, a debut for vocalist Roberta De Francia and pianist John Cervantes, who both performed admirably! It was also my first gig doing entirely lead vocals with Diáspora. Needless to say that the practice certainly paid off! On this gig we also had 1 car coming down from Manchester with Demetris Kanaris on bass and Ric Parmegianni on congas, 1 car coming down from Bolton, with Gavin Hibberd on trumpet, and, from Bournemouth, our much-missed and respected Dave Simpson on kit/timbales. All of us rendezvoused at a farm in the middle of nowhere (well, just over the hills from Stroud, actually!) under a clear night of stars, to play 2 fabulous sets of salsa and Latin Jazz before stopping for a pint and then heading off our separate ways... well most of us! The London crew stayed behind and slept on camp beds of course! All in all a wonderful road trip. Many congratulations to our bride and groom for the evening, Russ and Jenn. Such a lovely couple and family, we wish them the very best!

Another exciting thing is that we've got our first P.A. system for the band. We opted for a Yamaha 300 model, which can do anything up to a 5/6-piece band, plus take it wherever we go for the jazz quartet and trio gigs. The sound is perfect and crystal clear, and I am also very excited about hooking up the mixing desk into Logic and doing a bit of home production!

Possible new regular gig on the horizon. We want to bring back 'The Open Session' formula but do it in a slightly different way. Of course, the aim will be a platform where musicians and performing artists can road test new material. Watch this space!