INSPIRED by the great swing bands of the 1930s and 40s, Swing From Paris bring vintage gypsy jazz to three Dorset village halls from Thursday 19th to Sunday 22nd March at 7.30pm. Swing from Paris is a UK‑based all‑string jazz quartet whose Parisian‑flavoured sound has been delighting audiences for more than 15 years and are…
WEST End stars Lisa Pulman and Joe Stilgoe bring movie musical magic to Bath Theatre Royal’s Ustinov Studio from 23rd to 25th March. The two versatile and popular performers have put together a delightful mix of some of the best-loved songs of our movie-musical lives– from The Wizard of Oz to Wicked, West Side Story…
CHAMBER folk trio Three Cane Whale are familiar to West Dorset audiences with their occasional gigs at Sladers Yard, West Bay. Starting on Thursday 12th March at Ibberton village hall, the Bristol-based trio are on a short Artsreach tour, continuing at Powerstock Hut on Friday 13th March, and the village hall at Woodlands near Verwood…
PAGODA Project brings its unique blend of contemporary folk and improvisation to Bradninch Folk Club at the Guildhall, in Devon on 17th March at 7.30pm. This adventurous trio is Paul Hutchinson on accordion, Shaftesbury-based composer and clarinettist Karen Wimhurst and Hannah Cumming, fiddle and voice. The Project is inspired by the folk traditions of the…
CERYS Matthews, on her BBC Radio 2 show, described the Mark Harrison Band as “a bit different and kinda groovy too.” Find out more when the trio come to Dorset from 6th to 8th March, for three dates with Artsreach at Broadmayne, Shillingstone and Corfe Castle. Mark is a multi-award-nominated singer-songwriter, storyteller and virtuoso guitarist…
THE king of boogie-woogie piano Ben Waters is joined by his son, the brilliant saxophonist Tom, for an evening of boogie and blues at the Beehive Centre at Honiton on Saturday 7th March. From the moment he first danced his fingers across the keys, Dorset-born Ben Waters has been on a mission to capture the…
MOSCOW Drug Club are hard to pigeon-hole – but hugely popular, appealing to lovers of gypsy jazz, Berlin cabaret and French chanson. The late winter tour continues with four Take Art dates starting on 19th February at North Curry village hall, 20th February at Norton-sub-Hamdon village hall, East Quantoxhead on 21st and Caryford Hall at…
AWARD-winning Welsh folk trio VRi come to Langton Matravers village Hall on Friday 6th February, at the start of a three-date tour with Artsreach, Dorset’s rural touring arts charity. Twice winners of Best Album at the Welsh Folk Awards, VRï are Jordan Price Williams (cello, voice), Aneirin Jones (violin, voice) and Patrick Rimes (viola, violin,…
THANKS to Storm Chandra, audiences at The Exchange in Sturminster Newton were denied the chance to see Cabaret with Balls, but Artreach is delighted that the performance has been re-arranged for Thursday 26th February. Cabaret should always have a frisson of wanton wit, a hint of burlesque, some risqué songs … and even a pinch…
UP and down the country, people (often with no particular connection to Scotland) gather to celebrate the birthday of Rabbie Burns – but Dorset has its own dialect poet, and this year the annual Tea with William Barnes on Sunday 22nd February coincides with what would have been Barnes’ 225th birthday. For the past nine…