The Jazz Repertory Company
The Musical Revolution Is Older Than You Think - Authentic Live Recreations Of The Greatest Music In Jazz History
Keith Nichols Presents...
The very best in Classic Jazz, Ragtime, 1920s Jazz, Dixieland Jazz, Swing Music & Comedy. For music festivals, jazz clubs and great nights out.
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BBC Jazz Heritage Award Winning 'Keith Nichols is the UK's premier vintage pianist with an encyclopaedic knowledge of early jazz. Together with the UK's finest jazz musicians he presents authentic recreations of some of the finest jazz artists in history in a series of shows both informative and witty.
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Played with a degree of passion and musicianship that brings the crackly old 78 rpm recordings back to vibrant life Keith Nichols Presents is for both the jazz fan and novice alike.
A Cheerful Little Earful - Fats Waller Tribute
A celebration of the master of stride piano who was also a great comic personality as well as a composer of over five hundred pieces. Amongst the hits featured are Ain't Misbehavin', Keeping Out Of Mischief Now, Honeysuckle Rose and Black And Blue. Keith Nichols, modern master of stride, also performs the great Waller piano solos such as Handful of Keys, Viper's Drag and Alligator Crawl.​
The Louis Armstrong Story
​A salute to the most influential musician of the century and one of the best known, best loved entertainers in the world. The show begins with the great 1923 recordings of King Oliver before moving on to the Hot 5 and Hot 7 masterpieces of a few years later. We follow his meteoric rise through the 1930's and the great years of his "Allstars" from the late 40's onwards. The show concludes with his number one hits from the sixties - Hello Dolly and What A Wonderful World.​
The Music of Bix Beiderbecke
​This show takes you back to the jazz age of the mid and late 20's and tells the story of Leon 'Bix' Beiderbecke, who surfaced from college jazz bands in Indiana to become the doyen of white jazz musicians, and the star of Paul Whiteman's thirty-piece orchestra. Great performances such as Singing The Blues, At the Jazz Band Ball, Davenport Blues and I'm Coming Virginia are recreated by Enrico Tomasso, playing the 1927 Conn Victor cornet, (the same make of instrument as used by Bix).​​
The Billie Holiday Songbook
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​​Billie Holiday's career lasted barely twenty five years but in that time she recorded some of the greatest jazz music ever commited to disc. She was one of the greatest singers of the 20th century and her records still sell in vast quantities over 50 years after her untimely death. Singer Joan Viskant captures the fragility, depth and contrasts of joie de vivre and melancholy in Lady Day's singing style. Amongst the songs featured are What A Little Moonlight Can Do, The Man I Love, Them There Eyes, Lover Man and That Old Devil Called Love.​​​
Jazz Classics Revisited
​A journey through the first half-century of jazz. It begins with the King Of Ragtime, Scott Joplin, and concludes with the King of Swing, Benny Goodman. Along the way presenting the greatest music of legendary names such as Bix Beiderbecke, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Jelly Roll Morton, Fats Waller and Louis Jordan as well as many others. A fascinating and entertaining retrospective of classic jazz.​​​​
Scott Joplin & The Ragtime Masters
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​​Ragtime swept the world at the turn of the century. The syncopated melodies of composers such as Scott Joplin and James Scott had an enormous influence on popular music. Keith Nichols, a highly respected authority on Ragtime, has been performing the music as a soloist and with an ensemble for over thirty years. His vast knowledge of the idiom has produced a show combining the familiar with curios and obscurities.​​​
Keith Nichols & The Blue Devils
​The 10 piece Blue Devils was formed by Keith in 2003 following on from his highly successful Midnite Follies Orchestra of the 70's and The Cotton Club Orchestra in the 80's and 90's. The band plays music gleaned from Keith's vast archive of music from the 1920's and 30's featuring the music of such greats as Duke Ellington, Fletcher Henderson, Louis Armstrong, Jean Goldkette and many more. Titles include Puttin' On The Ritz, Singing In The Rain, Button Up Your Overcoat, It Had To Be You, Anything Goes, Ain't Misbehavin' and Night and Day. The band can be booked with either of our featured vocalists Joan Viskant or Janice Day.​​​​
Buy the album or get the MP3 Download here
Reviews:
"Wearing his erudition lightly this is a man who should be touring every jazz conservatoire in the land."
London Jazz News
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"Oh to be in that most charming of resorts, Swanage, in early July when the beating heart of UK jazz takes over, with fifty bands; from the edgy sounds of Larry Bartley to a clutch of traditonal bands in the second marquee venue with Keith Nichols' Blue Devils, containing one of Britain's true greats, trumpeter Enrico Tomasso, flying high over Mahogany Hall Stomp, and its charismatic singer, Joan Viskant."
Brian Blain, Swanage Festival
