Voodoo Trombone Quartet Xmas Party 2011

This Saturday!!

The infamous VTQ Xmas Do has a new home, The Trafalgar Arms in Tooting. This year as well as two sets of our regular songs and some cheeky Christmas covers, they will also be traditional carols around the fireplace, accompanied by the VTQ Brass.

Well, as traditional as the VTQ ever get, anyway.

So say Balls! to X-factor and come out to where the real music is. The gig is free entry and the music is over by 11 for all of you running for the last tube, so there really is no excuse. Would you really rather be at your works Xmas Do with that berk from accounts?

No. Didn't think so.
Here's more details on the venue. See you at 8pm!

Laters x

May I direct your attention to...

...all the new stuff I've just posted up!

The gigs page has been updated with all the gigs for December, as you can see, it's going to be a busy month! Plenty of Ska to go round, with Ska Wars and a big pile of Big 10 gigs. If you've wanted to see me play with Big 10, but couldn't get a babysitter, you should check out the gig on 17th December!

I've also added a new track to the audio page, from the Big 10 gig in October 2011. It was the night we were supporting The Beat, and it was a very happy place to be. Thanks also to Gary Brown for that amazing introduction :-)

More blogs to come about the end of days with Popes of Chillitown and the recording of the first PoC album soon, and a couple of brill ska bands I've come across on t'witter recently.

Laters x

www.skasaxophone.co.uk

In my continuing quest to be the only ska sax player you'll ever need, I've bolted on a new page to this website.

If you go to www.skasaxophone.co.uk you'll find the special corner of the website devoted to my ska work, the repertoire and audio and (soon) video samples.

The main home page will still be my usual blogging about Voodoo Trombone Quartet, awesome gigs played and seen, and just music stuff I like.  And I'm going to be posting an awful lot this week as I've been pretty quiet these last few weeks.

Quiet on here, I should say. Out in the real world I've been a blue arse fly.

Laters

SaxyLiz x

I made 500 people smile on Friday night...

...by doing this.

Enjoy x

Last Chance to Dance

The time is nearly on us.

It's my last Popes of Chillitown gig this Friday 21st October, at Ginglik, Shepherds Bush. The home of some of the maddest PoC gigs ever, it seems fitting to play my last one there.

All the who/where/what info is here .

You always thought you'd be able to catch me perform with PoC at the next gig. For me, there won't be one.
This really will be the last chance to dance.

See you down the front.

x

Ultrazang - A final word

I recorded this performance at the Zang on Friday. Rob Castellani. Watch, be amazed, then be glad that X-factor has quite taken over the world just yet.

Ultrazang

Last Friday I gigged with PoC at one of my favourite nights in the country. The fantastic Ultrazang began a year ago when Chris Hollands got fed up with the same old club nights in Ipswich, and so decided to start one of his own. A night about real music for people who didn't conform to the cliche Friday night heels, fake tan and t-shirts with arrogant slogans.

Chris took over the back room at PJ McGintys and Ultrazang was born. PoC played it early on and we've been back several times since. We can't get enough. It has a great atmosphere, the crowd dance round like mad things, the sound is excellent and they have Giant Dancing Top Hats. What more could you want?

The greatest thing about the 'Zang is there really is no night in the East of England to rival it. It's unique. And Chris, being a music promoter genuinely in it for the music, is pretty unique too. Check out the facebook group for news of the next one.

Here is a video of PoC at Fridays gig, performing Dalking Man. Enjoy.

Ssssshhhhhhh....

.....here's a sneak preview of the Voodoo Trombone Quartet's third album.

Click here for the perfect summer track on this oddly summery day.

Enjoy.

x

Princess Limiter - A Ska Wars Adventure

In my quest to become the most sought after Tenor Sax ska dep in the country, I did my first dep gig with Ska Wars this weekend. A good bunch of mostly Northern lads, the set included such standards as Fatty Fatty, Nightboat to Cairo and Baggy Trousers, as well as the rarer Shame and Scandal. In another life (dressed as the undead) I gigged with their guitarist in the Texas Chainsaw Orchestra, but now it was out with the camp and on with the ska.

The crowd loved it, the venue did not. It seems we'd triggered a rather over zealous limiter before we'd even finished soundchecking, and by the end of 'Little Bitch' something had to give. We finished the gig with no brass mics, kick mic, or even monitors. Amps on 0.11 rather than 11, and only vox and keys through the front. Not ideal, having to hold back like that, but the audience enjoyed it, and no one had a hernia. No harm done.

I'll be depping with them again at The Nook in Holmfirth, on 29th October 2011. This is apparently a legendary Halloween gig, and it looks like I'll be dressed as the undead once again. Funny how things come back around.

All good things...

...must come to an end. And that time has come.

I've made the decision to leave Popes of Chillitown. PoC have big things ahead in the next year, touring with the new album and getting out there, and will need more time from me than I've got to give. Some of you know, myself and PoC have been in a long distance relationship for the past two years, and in end all the travelling and expense take their toll.

Like all bands, there have been ups and downs.  A 6 hour round trip for a 45 minute set, wandering through Brighton on Easter Bank Holiday in the snow looking for a Djembe, swatting wasps on an outdoor stage with whatever instrument you happened to be holding, and seeing an inane grin appear on the faces of young and old when the chorus to Bad Man gets going. Good and bad times, but that's banding for you. And I'll miss it. And them.

I'll be gigging with PoC for a few more weeks, and my last gig will be at Ginglik on 21st October, supporting Dub Pistols. It will be massive and you should all be there for the last hurrah. The album recording will carry on unabated, as we started it together, and we'll bloody well finish it together too. I'm so very proud of the songs we've made and the album will be an amazing legacy.

Musically I feel like I'm heading in a new direction, and ready for change, so it's slightly scary but exciting times ahead.

Big 10 - Big News

The Saxylizbeth Ska Train just keeps rolling through 2011, and is making a few amazing stops in the next few months. Stopping right alongside ska legends The Beat in fact.

When The Beat are touring the UK in October / November, Big 10 will be supporting them on the East Anglia leg, at The Junction in Cambridge and The Waterfront. The Cambridge gig is going to be such a special occasion that for one night only we're actually beefing up to be Big 11, with a bit of extra brass for a proper wall of sound.

I'm having a great time depping with Big 10, do check them out over on facebook for news on the events and where to buy tickets for all the gigs. The Big 10 Xmas Do is a bit of a Cambridge legend and does tend to sell out sharpish, so get booking early!

Teaching Enquiries - Waiting List

My teaching schedule for September 2011 is now completely booked.

If you wish to be added to the waiting list for sax/clarinet/flute/improvisation lessons, please drop me a line at info @saxylizbeth.co.uk with your preferred lesson day/time.

Champion!

Big 10 out of 10.

So I had my first dep gig with Big 10 last weekend, and it was too much fun. I've seen Big 10 a few times, and knew they were a great live band, but to be part of it is an amazing feeling.

With a set including all the hits, from Lorraine to Rudy, Rat Race to Monkey Man, the band love it, the crowd love it. Even their new sound guy loves it, which as luck would have it is the best sound guy in Cambridge, Rob Williamson.

Big 10's next pub gig is at The Dublin Castle, Camden on 28th August, with support from our mutual ska pals, The Skanx (here's the link) and it also just happens to be my birthday, so come to Camden, buy me a drink, then watch me work :-)

Upcoming Gigs

Popes of Chillitown have taken August off to get a shed load of recording done, and finish 4, yes FOUR new songs to be debuted in September. Eyes left everyone, and you'll see where.

PoC are heading to Reading on 2nd September to The Blagrave Arms and we hope to see a lot of the regular crowd there, especially as its FREE ENTRY. (Here's the link) So yeah, are you going to stay at home and watch Big Brother, or bounce round like a nutter?

Yep. Right Answer. See you down the front.

See you down the (sea) front?

Popes of Chillitown are going to the seaside! This Thursday (4th August) PoC are heading to the Guava Bar in Southampton for 'Reggae In the South'

Here's the event link for more details! Its only a fiver entry and its PoC only August gig so it would be great to see the place packed!

Chagstock - One more thing...

This is what our other halves were getting up to while we were perusing set lists and warming up...

Voodoo Trombone Quartet at Chagstock

I've just returned from Chagstock 2011, a music festival held at the foot of Dartmoor. A festival for hardy folk.

It doesn't rain so much as the clouds get so low you're stood in them, and the wind is bracing to say the least. But the selection of music is varied, supporting local artists as well as getting a few big names along.


The headline act on Friday night was the ever impressive Show of Handshttp://www.showofhands.co.uk/ whose cover of Don Henley's 'Boys of Summer' went down a storm. Saturday's music highlights included a fantastic Brazilian reggae band called Aluminio Roots, and an astounding set by John Otway. Despite his forward rolls and theremin antics, Otway was in danger of being out-charisma'd by his guitarist, Murray Torkildsen, whose asides, geezer demeanour and stylophone solo just about stole the show.

The big draw for Saturday night were The Magic Numbers. Now, I quite like their albums, but as a live act they were just so-so, a bit tame. But then without lead guitarists hanging off ladders and babies dangling from the stage, I suppose it would.

And so to Sunday. Gig day. Show time. And the cloud descended, a drizzly chilly day and we wondered if we were going to have anyone to play to at all. But whoever coined the term 'Southern Fairies' clearly hadn't met the hardy folk who live on Dartmoor. They turned out for us and bounced like mad things, despite it raining sideways for most of the set. Our special guest trumpeter (Paul VTQ's son Oscar) proved popular with the crowd during 'Edgar', earning an encore! They bounced,  cheered, and apart from a few wristband jobsworths, Chagstock made us feel very welcome. The Voodoo Trombone Quartet hope to return to Chagstock for 2012, and we'll bring better weather with us next time!

Teaching Enquiries

I have been receiving a lot of enquiries for lessons on saxophone, clarinet and flute recently. My teaching book is fairly full, but there are a few slots available, mostly on fortnightly rotations.

I'm currently having problems accessing www.musicteachers.co.uk so if you have recently sent an enquiry to me through this, please email me directly on info@saxylizbeth.co.uk

Thanks!

Big News!

I'm very chuffed to announce some gigs with the Eastern Counties biggest ska band, Big 10. A fantastic ska covers band, local to Cambridge, I've seen them a fair few times and always had a very enjoyable, but sweaty time.  I'll be performing with them on tenor and bari for the next 9 months or so, and will be adding the gig details on to my gig page. In the meantime, go check them out at www.bigtenska.com

I've also depped this weekend for top ska tribute act, Utter Madness. The best of the Madness set, plus a few cheeky extras, it was really well received and I hope to work with them again soon. Its the closest I'll ever get to jamming with the real Madness (or even the Violin Monkeys) but it's a start.

While the BBC were fawning over U2...

....the best act by a mile at Glastonbury 2011 was doing his thing over in the John Peel tent. It's difficult to get a sense of how mind blowing DJ Shadows' audio and visual set is, but this video certainly helps. This unassuming guy from California, humble, appreciative and in awe of John Peel, was a real treat, and far less vomit-inducing than the U2 footage on BBC Iplayer. Enjoy!!!

Jack Shalloo

A few weeks ago I did some recording for a new singer called Jack Shalloo. An actor and singer, Jack collaborates with former Voodoo Trombone Quartet guitarist Spesh Maloney. So when Spesh needs a horn section at pretty short notice, who's he gonna call?

Recording a live EPK for Live Nation, we performed three songs from Jacks' first album 'London Soul' (available here) and I have to say it's very good stuff. The honest lyrics pair beautifully with Speshs' arrangements, with hints of Stevie Wonder and Steely Dan popping up when you'd least expect it.

Jack Shalloo will be gigging in and around London over the next few months, go check him out! (and until then go get the album to tide you over)

www.jackshalloo.co.uk
Follow Jack @jackshalloo

Choooooons!

The audio page of my website is finally up and running, after a medium sized battle with Garageband and Soundcloud.

I'll be adding more as the week goes on, but this means you can finally here what I sound like and I can take one step nearer to kicking myspace to the kerb completely.

Let me know on the comments here or on twitter @saxylizbeth what you think!

Next London Show

Attached is the flyer for my next London gig, at Worlds End, with Popes of Chillitown.

Up til today I thought this was at the Worlds End in Camden, but noooooooo, its The Worlds End in Finsbury Park. That could have been embarrassing!

It's free entry so bring yourselves along and check out the live sound of PoC. And maybe even by a t-shirt!

Brought to you by...

...the people on the 'Links' page.

I've added a page today including links to the people who help to keep my business going, as it's very much appreciated.

PoC T-shirts

... in case your eyesight isn't that brilliant, you may have noticed the huge Popes of Chillitown banner at the bottom of the page.

Our new range of t-shirts are now available, and with some great offers with our previous CD releases.

Click the banner and check it out! They look great on people as well as on jpgs :-)

Longpigs & Being on the Beeb

I was recently invited to take part in the 'Record Detectives' slot on Nemones weekend show on BBC 6music. Nemone did a brief interview with me lamenting the fact I appear to have lost my copy of the Longpigs debut album, 'The Sun is Often Out'.

I know it's still available in all good record shops (and HMV) but a new CD could never replace the one I bought at the time when I first saw Longpigs live in the late nineties. It was great to hear 'She Said' played on 6music and from twitter activity it looks like there's still a lot of Longpigs love out there.

And so there should be. And here's why.

New Page

So I've finally got round to expanding the website a little, by adding my recording history.
On the Discography page, are details of all my recording experience (released) and links to various places around the internet.

If you like what you find and wish to book me for recording, drop me a line on info@saxylizbeth.co.uk

Happy Birthday Ginglik

In London, in Shepherds Bush, in an old underground public toilet, there is a club called Ginglik. I must have gigged there 10 times with various bands over the years, and I'm chuffed to say Popes of Chillitown have been invited to their 9th Birthday celebrations. We have to earn our keep, mind, and we'll be main support for the The Cuban Brothers.

She-Bu's best kept secret, a stones throw from the shopping-mecca monstrosity that is Westfields, Ginglik has a great vibe, awesome decor and one of the best sound systems around. And a broken pedal organ. We shot the video to 'I See Dub People' there, and they've been very good to PoC over the years, and we're proud to perform at their birthday celebrations.

The link to the facebook event is on my gig page, we'll see you down the front. Get there early, it's going to be a big one

One last thought on Glasto...

...here's how not to deal with those inevitable clashes.

Glasto

Good lord. I don't think I've ever jumped through as many hoops as I have to get hold of tickets for Glastonbury 2011. I've performed at the festival 2007-2009 so buying tickets is a new experience for me. The registration. The seetickets information deemed so important yet indistinguishable from spam. And then the resales! But this morning, I'm happy to say, I'm a lot poorer, and I will be pootling down the A303 to Shepton Mallet in 65ish days.

I'm not fussed about the headliners. U2? Coldplague? Bouncy Knowles? Meh.

Primal Scream, Jimmy Cliff, BB King, DJ Shadow (squeeee) Suzanne Vega, DJ Shadow (squeeeee), The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, oh, and did I mention DJ Shadow?

This is why we go to Glasto.

To see the artists we probably won't get to see anywhere else, and the artists we've never heard of but have a ruddy good time listening and dancing to anyway. I'm especially intrigued by the Guillemots acoustic set. I saw them on the World Stage in 2007 and they were amazing.

I'm desperately sorry for those who haven't got tickets. Its not a perfect system by any means and leaves many people disappointed. The same criticisms come round each year, and nothing is ever done. Maybe after next years year off, they may have a better way.

DJ Shadow. SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Ginglik Pics

The photos from the Popes of Chillitown gig are now available online, thanks to the marvellous work of Joe Brady. Check them out here, there are some great shots of us, and The Skanx and Truebeat.

Follow Joe on twitter @BradyJoe

Voodoo Trombone Quartet confirmed for Chagstock 2011

I'm happy to confirm that The Voodoo Trombone Quartet will be performing at Chagstock 2011. After last years set was so well received by all the people to your left, and around a thousand others, the VTQ have been invited back to provide music for people to bounce to.

We will be performing on Sunday night, warming up for the headliner, the awesome Bellowhead. Chagstock is a great festival, with a family atmosphere and amazing pies. Tickets are still available, this is their website if you want to be down the front at one of the biggest Voodoo Trombone Quartet gigs to date.

Popes of Chillitown Spring Tour - Dates Confirmed!

Popes of Chillitown and Truebeat - Spring 2011

Myspace - Byespace!

So an article on the BBC this weekend stated that Myspace has lost over 10 million users in the space of a few weeks earlier this year. This, you have to admit, is quite an achievement. So why? Why have so many people (including me) decided to abandon what was once our main outlet for muso connections, gig-getting and publicity?

We all loved Myspace. We could upload our music without having to have any html knowledge or web building info. We could tell the world about our gigs (especially important when you're not gigging in your own backyard) and we could hope that Myspace could give us the rise to fame like Lily Allen. How do you spell nepotism again?

But no, in the last few revamps, they've taken the power back. The pages are drowning in ads, making the pages load slower and slower on the fastest of machines. All the hard work building our profiles is disabled and deleted by them in one single upgrade. That was a massive f*** you to all its users. So guess what. F*** you back Myspace, you're not the only option anymore.

Soundcloud, Reverbnation, Bandcamp, and of course Twitter and Facebook are the weapons of choice now. And I think we're better for it. If I had the patience I'd set up a slate page on myspace, pointing everyone to my website here, but I as I don't really like tearing my hair out, I'll pass.

So long, myspace! Hope you make a huge loss for Mr Dur-doch.

Free song!

Ok, so don't say I never give you anything in return for reading my musings and post-gig brain emptying.
Popes of Chillitown are now under the wing of Strummerville, the fantastic music organisation that champions new music, in the memory of Joe Strummer from The Clash.

One thing they do is host us on their site and we can offer a free download! So here it is:

http://www.strummerville.com/popes-of-chillitown/

The free song to download is 'Dalking Man' one of our big crowd pleasers, and our set opener for the 2010 Ten Tone Tour. If you like what you hear, do let us know here or on twitter @popesofctown and @saxylizbeth

Bafe.

Been a while...

It's been ages since I last posted on here, lifes got a bit crazy all of a sudden. I've got loads of news, which I'm trying to sort into some sensible order then I'll post up bits at a time.

You will see the new ribbon under the banner on the website, yes, The Voodoo Trombone Quartet finally have a youtube channel. There are previews of the videos here, and more will be added to The VTQ channel shortly. Thanks to Milton for sorting that out x

I've also updated the gigs page. Loads of PoC stuff coming up in the next two months, including a few mini tours with the lovely Truebeat (our tour buddies from last year). We're playing all over the place so do come and check us out.

More news soon, don't forget to follow me on twitter for the instant gossip! @saxylizbeth

City of London Symphonic Winds

I've updated the gigs page too, with my first performance with City of London Symphonic Winds for a few years. They're one of the bands I had to give up when I moved from London to Cambridge, but for this concert I'm depping on alto sax, and really looking forward to hearing the swell of a Wind Orch from right in the middle of it. There's very little that can compare.

The programme includes one of my favourite pieces - 'Gallimaufry' by Guy Woolfenden. I was told that the first time you play it, you never forget it. Well, Mike Fowles, you were dead right. It's stuck with me ever since and I'm getting all giddy at the thought of playing it again at the end of the month.

The slighter downer of this gig is that I'm depping for a colleague whose suffering with similar wrist problems that I had mid-tour last year. They make playing so painful and suck the joy out of music making. I'm really hoping the physio goes well and you're back playing soon xx

Footprints on the ceiling...

...now thats the sign of a great gig!

PoC played at The Wildman in Norwich last night, and wild it was. A great crowd, all ages, all up for the punk. When driving into town I was a bit worried what reception we'd get, seeing people with dresses up to here and down to there. This crowd were in all in their punk/rudeboy finery, and bounced like a mad thing. Going into the bridge of 'Brave' the whole crowd were up and down in unison, it was very Reading.

This is the sort of atmosphere you can achieve with free entry gigs, and I wish more people did them. We can't wait to play there again!

Ch-ch-ch

Changes. To the gig page that is.
It turns out the gig that was to be the first Friday of the year, is in fact the first Friday in March. Oh well.
So I'll see you at the Duke of Cambridge in Hounslow on the 28th Jan for the first gig of the year.

In slightly unrelated news, I've bought a new clarinet today! Well, not new at all really, but a 1946 Selmer M series. It sounds lovely, though it may take a while to get the top end sounding mellow.  I'm really looking forward to getting to know my new clarinet, I'll post up a pic of it soon.

Laters

Lizbeth x