Home

alec dankworth’s world spirit

thursday 25 may

Alec Dankworth | bass guitar, Emily Dankworth | vocals

Julian Siegel | sax, Winston Clifford | percussion

Formed out of Alec’s love of music from the Iberian peninsula, World Spirit crosses the Straits of Gibraltar into Africa and beyond. Alec has joined forces with daughter Emily Dankworth, leading tenorist Julian Siegel and drummer Winston Clifford to explore melodies from Africa, South America and other continents from a jazz perspective. With tunes by Duke Ellington, Bela Fleck, Antonio-Carlos Jobim, Abdullah Ibrahim and WC Handy originating from Ireland, Venezuela, Bulgaria, South Africa, Mali and Brazil, World Spirit offers an evening of global song and improvisation.

Alec Dankworth has worked with artists as diverse as Stephane Grappelli, Abdullah Ibrahim and Van Morrison. After studying at Berklee College of Music, Alec became a member of various groups, notably Clark Tracey, Julian Joseph and Nigel Kennedy. During a period of residency in New York he played with the Duke Ellington Orchestra and joined the Dave Brubeck Quartet. As well as running his own bands, he is a member of Ginger Baker’s Jazz Confusion.

Emily Dankworth’s voice is forged from the DNA of Jazz royalty. She has sung in choirs all her life, and in 2011 studied jazz vocals at the Guildhall School of Music. She now sings in the acapella group Vive and has performed in the UK and Europe. She also sings with Alec’s Spanish Accents and works with her own group.

A concert of popular music from the beginning of the last century. Performed in style by this authentic ensemble consisting of string quartet, piano flute and oboe, praised for their lively interpretation of the genre.

The Aspidistra Drawing Room Orchestra is an orchestra that specialises in the type of light classical music that is usually referred to as “Palm Court Music” or “Salon Music”. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, there was an enormous appetite for light music. The Aspidistra Drawing Room Orchestra started, from very small beginnings: a group of friends and a folder of music. However, since the mid 1990s, they have steadily expanded their repertoire, continually hunting for new material.

Aspidistra made their Radio debut when the BBC used some tracks from the Best of Palm Court as background music for the radio play Tears of War on Remembrance Day 2002. Since then their recordings have been heard regularly on Brian Kay’s light programme and as background music for other radio plays. Their music was also used for The Producer Prince, a TV documentary based on interviews with Prince Alessandro Tasca di Cuto, the son of an illustrious Sicilian family. Sadly his father squandered the family fortunes and died penniless in 1927.

kofi/barnes aggregation

thursday 1 june

With John Turville | piano, Adam King | bass

Rod Youngs |drums

Now here’s a mouth watering prospect, two of the most accomplished and exciting saxophone players anywhere, coming together from very different backgrounds. This exiting new band showcases the contrasting alto saxophone talents of the co-leaders. Kofi is a heavier toned, blues drenched wailer of the Jackie McLean School, whilst Barnes has taken the lighter, crisply articulated phrasing of Art Pepper as his guiding light. Put the two different approaches together and the chemistry is instantly explosive, producing some of the most committed, yet accessible, hard swinging music around.

Barnes, arguably the UK’s most popular jazz musician, has had a career which has taken in every aspect of mainstream jazz from Humphrey Lytelton to composing musical theatre with the late Alan P. Plater and innumerable commisions for all kinds of Big Bands. Kofi, after studying at Berklee’s famous jazz conservatory, has played with many of the world’s leading jazz musicians such as Donald Byrd and Eddie Henderson. His own groups have won BBC and Parliamentary Jazz Awards…..and he is one of the few jazz players to have been nominated for a MOBO Award. The rhythm section is ‘new generation’ sparky and it should be an evening of genuine surprises.

ed jones quartet

thursday 8 june

With Ross Stanley | piano/keyboard

Riaan Vosloo | bass,  Tim Giles | drums

At the end of 2016, London Jazz News commended tenor saxophonist Jones for outstanding performances heard in the course of the year. Over the years he could have been heard with avantists in Finland, Herbie Hancock’s bass player Paul Jackson in Japan, a major voice in Incognito and Geoff Wilkinson’s US3. Even in the 90’s he was writing for electronica and strings and you might still catch him in some small venue playing standards and blues as well as anyone.

The rest of the band are equally versatile. Stanley must be in more bands than any pianist, while Giles, who juggles all kinds of groups, has recently been made an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music. This is jazz not to miss!

Would you like a bit of friendly help with your phone, laptop or tablet? Just head to the Highgate School Library for an afternoon of free, informal one-to-one computer familiarisation sessions over a nice cup of coffee. We do tea as well. And cake!

If you don’t yet possess any electronic gadgets, don’t worry, we do and we’d love you to come and play with them.

“This is so wonderful! It’s easy – when you know how! Thank you” says 75 year old Highgate Coffee & Computers friend, who has just worked out how to move all his pictures from his phone to his tablet.

If you want more info, give Stuart a call on 020 8347 2411 (quoting Highgate Coffee & Computers). You can also email us on highgatecoffeeandcomputers@gmail.com to tell us what you want to know more about.

Please note the volunteers at these sessions are pupils from the school, ranging in age from 11 to 18 years old.  The School has a duty of care to these young people and would be very grateful if you could be mindful of maintaining appropriate interaction with them. Please consider issues such as your language, your expectations regarding the type of matter you raise with the pupils, and the sort of information that the pupils may see on your documents or particular webpages.

If you have any queries then please don’t hesitate to raise them with the members of staff at the session.

If you plan to come, it would be helpful to know, though it is not obligatory.

Warm regards

The Highgate Coffee & Computers volunteers

Come and meet your neighbours and enjoy a glass of bubbly and snacks. All welcome

cabaret at tea time

In homage to our glorious past – after the House was restored in 1893 it served as the Waterlow Park tearoom for 70 years- we’re introducing Cabaret at Tea Time with a ticket offer that combines a high tea plus cabaret ticket. What better way to spend a Sunday than with a drink, food, and amazing cabaret!

Cabaret Tea A – £28.50

Glass of Prosecco

Hot smoked salmon with cream cheese and chive bridge roll

Free-range egg mayonnaise and mustard cress bridge roll

Rich chocolate brownie square

Cabaret Tea B – £25.50

Luscombe Wild Bubbly Elderflower Presse

Hot smoked salmon with cream cheese and chive bridge roll

Free-egg mayonnaise and mustard cress bridge roll

Rich chocolate brownie square

Host: Tim McArthur

Headline: Shona White

Shona White is an experienced Scottish actress and singer, who gained her post graduate qualification in Musical Theatre from the Royal Academy of Music in 1998. Just some of her numerous theatre credits include Florence Vassy in ‘Chess’ (Prince of Wales Theatre, Toronto), Rita in ‘All the Fun of the Fair’ (Garrick Theatre), Betty in ‘Shout’ (UK Tour), Elphaba/ Standby in ‘Wicked’ (Apollo Victoria Theatre), and Magenta/ Usherette in ‘The Rocky Horror Show’ (Playhouse Theatre). She has also performed many solo cabarets at venues including The Pheasantry, appeared in concerts including ‘An Evening with Elton John’ at The Royal Albert Hall, and has recently released a debut album, ‘I’ll Bring You A Song’, which is available on iTunes.

Support: TBC