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Heat is on as club hosts a night of beats from Brazil

From the archive, first published Wednesday 5th Jan 2005.

SHUFFLING samba, mambo mayhem and bundles of bossa nova will be coming to Malvern next month as the town hosts a Brazilian night.

The event is the brainchild of student Barnaby Simons, who grew up in nearby Birtsmorton and has been DJing for about four years.

The 20-year-old will be teaming up with his brother George - a freelancer in the television and film industry - for the evening on Saturday, December 18, at The Great Malvern Club in Church Street.

The graphic design graduate will be providing visual accompaniment with projections of still and moving images.

"He tries to give things more of an organic feel as opposed to digital projections so he uses 8mm film and slides," said Barnaby.

Clubbers will be treated to a varied selection of samba, mambo, bossa nova, funk, soul, jazz , hip hop, house and drum and bass - all with a Latin flavour - as well as some Cuban salsa and the odd festive tune as Barnaby sifts through his eclectic record collection.

Among those artists and songs already pencilled in on his playlist are the massive Mas Que Nada and tunes from the likes of Jorge Ben - dubbed the Brazilian godfather of funk and soul - and DJ Marky - one of the pioneers of the Brazilian drum and bass movement.

Tracks by artists such as Sergio Mendes, Quantic and Drumagick are also due for an airing.

Barnaby - currently studying for an English and drama degree in Manchester - said he came up with the idea as he had been heavily influenced by the music scene in the city which regularly hosts Brazilian music nights and has brought people the likes of Oasis and the Happy Mondays.

"I just thought it would be nice to try a proper event instead of doing house parties and thought that Malvern, being on our doorsteps in the holidays, was a nice place to start," he said.

"Brazilian music has been huge here over the last few years and we've got a street in Manchester which has about 12 record shops and a lot of them feature Brazilian music so if I hadn't have been up there then maybe I wouldn't have such a record collection."

The brothers - together with friends Alex Fisher and Charles Vafiadis from Feckenham and Leigh Sinton respectively - have since been working tirelessly to promote the event.

The venue is set to be decked out with decorations to give it a South American, Christmas feel - with Brazilian flags adorning the walls alongside pictures of the nation's musicians.

Barnaby said he hoped it would be the first of many such events - and has his sights set on hosting an open-air set somewhere in Worcestershire in the future.

"I'm really excited and am really looking forward to it - we're all working frantically to get it sorted and it's been a real team effort," said Barnaby.

"I think Brazil is flourishing at the moment, both in music and film. It's really starting to break out. Hopefully we're getting this night out at the right time."

The event runs from 9pm until late, with no entry after 11pm. Tickets cost £4 on the door and, for more information or to send a request for the night, e-mail: malvernbrazilnight @hotmail. com

Up front and entertaining

WOLVERHAMPTON-born look-a-like and sound-a-like Ollie Hughes will be hoping audiences will "let him entertain them" when he comes to Worcester next month for a string of dates.

Ollie is currently touring the country with his Robbie Williams tribute show and is managed by Kidderminster-based Upfront Entertainments Agency.

Audiences can expect Ollie to perform a whole host of the former Take That star's tunes, including Let Me Entertain You, Angels, Strong and Millennium.

He will be playing at Bridges Carvery in Hindlip, near Worcester, on Thursday, December 2, Tuesday, December 7 and Wednesday December 8; and Caesar's Nightclub, off Hylton Road, Worcester, on Saturday, December 11.

Back and big

BIG vocals, big guitars...and even bigger licks will be coming to Worcester as Leonard take to the stage at the city's Marr's Bar tonight.

The band, formerly known as Indian Queens, were one of the finest and most exciting things happening on the Worcester music scene, drawing on influences such as Pearl Jam, Led Zeppelin and The Who.

They then split up - but have now reformed as Leonard and are aiming to wow audiences with their performance.

Tickets for the show are £4 in advance or £5 on the door.

Punk profit for charity

A CLUTCH of bands have raised more than £1,000 for Children in Need through a major fund-raising concert at the weekend.

Punk for Pudsey was held on Saturday at Worcester's Marr's Bar and was a day of alternative music ranging from punk and ska to hardcore.

The all-day event was the brainchild of heavy ska band Backwash and raised a total of £1,079.

Ska-punksters Kenisia headlined the all-day gig, with Worcester's B-Movie Heroes returning for a performance.

Featured bands

The concert also featured sets from Backwash themselves, melodic pop-punk band The Fallout Theory, more pop-punk from three-piece band Fargo and piano-led emotional punk with a difference from Alomo.

A CD featuring music from the bands performing was also sold on the day and one of the members of Kenisia had his head shaved on stage to further boost the charity's coffers.

"It went really well and was almost full capacity," said organiser Alec Cox.

"Everyone was there, from kids of nine right up to people in their 50s."

Copies of the Punk For Pudsey CD are available from Face The Music and Market Hall Records in the city, at a cost of £3.

Time to drive in with jump-jive

THE sound of swing and blues will be drifting into Worcester tonight as The Cadillac Kings perform at the city's Bamboo Club.

The band plays blues, boogie swing and jump-jive with the sound and look of the `40s and `50s.

Their set includes a mix of mostly original songs as well as a few choice covers from the likes of T-Bone Walker, Roy Brown and Champion Jack Dupree.

Their performances have made them favourites on both the blues and jump-jive scene and they came top in the categories for best live band and best instrumentalist (harmonica) in the 2003 Wychwood Brewery Blues Awards.

And recent changes have seen a new line-up including one of the harmonica players Gary Potts and guitarist Oliver Darling, who has previously played with Mike Sanchez (currently with Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings) and Dr Feelgood.

The band are fronted by Mike Thomas, ex-Poorboys frontman and a singer and slide guitarist with more than 20 years' experience of playing.

The rhythm section comprises "Uncle" Roy Webber on drums and Orlando Shearer on double bass and the band line-up is completed with experienced Cajun and Zydecco accordionist Mike Adcock.

The group released their debut album Lou Ann in January 2002 - which received considerable airplay across Europe and the USA - and have recently released their second CD Highway 17.

This year, they have played more than 100 dates including the Guisborough Blues Festival, the Black Horse Festival in Sussex and the Crawley Folk Festival.

Their Worcester gig kicks off at 9pm. For more information and tickets, call 01905 429800.

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