I am starting a new project called James Lascelles' Talking Spirits. I feel it's more in keeping with our musical ideals and tunes and more open to suggestion and possibilities. We keep basically the same personnel but new tunes and musical ideas pouring out.
Off to Womex in Porto, a meeting of world music minds with musicians and showcases plus Biz from promoters, managers, radio and TV folk and much collaboration. This is the way to go as we all have to review our methods and priorities after the extraordinary year or so of disruption and uncertainty. One thing is certain; since starting to gig again this summer both outdoors and indoors, it's amazing and very encouraging to feel the same passion from performers and audience. I guess we both missed each other and Spirits (there's that word) would've been severely raised worldwide had there been some kind of live interaction to go along with the streamed performances, which kind of fill the gap but only so far. Looking forward to performing for you very soon.
UPCOMING GIGS:
Sun Nov 7th from 3pm - Duke of Cumberland, Whitstable, Sans Souci (Richard Bailey's band with myself on keys, Richard on Drums, Mikey Bailey on Bass and Jake Elkan on guitar)
Saturday 18 December - Bexhill De La Warr Pavilion – Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel - De La Warr Pavilion
Friday 17 December - Forum Buildings, Bath - Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel - Forum Buildings, Bath
Thursday 16 December - Cheltenham Town Hall - Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel - Cheltenham Town Hall
Wednesday 15 December - Bury St Edmunds Apex – Steve & Cockney Rebel - Apex, Bury St Edmunds
Saturday 11 December - Leamington Spa, Assembly Hall - Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel - The Assembly, Leamington Spa
Friday 10 December - Royal Hall, Harrogate - Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel - Harrogate - Royal Hall
Thursday 09 December - Holmfirth Picturedrome - Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel - Holmfirth Picturedrome
Wednesday 08 December - The Princess Royal Theatre, Port Talbot - Steve & Cockney Rebel (Reschduled from 8th Dec 2020) - The Princess Royal Theatre, Port Talbot
Sunday 05 December - O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire - Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel - Shepherds Bush O2 Empire, London
Saturday 06 November - Lytham St Anne's
Friday 05 November - Lytham St Anne's
Sunday 24 October - Yarm, Princess Alexandra's auditorium
I have been having a lot of fun, pleasure and feedback with Global Tribal Music, which continues to flow every Tuesday from 9-11pm on - www.channelradio.co.uk - as we explore music from all over this great and very musical world of ours, guests and live music always welcome.
New album "Glasshouses" is released.
Click here to buy Glasshouses CD.
We have re-mastered and re-released "Aspects of Joy".
Click here to buy Aspects of Joy CD.
At NAMM, California in Jan, 2020, my kind of place!
Last gig at Duke of Cumberland, Whitstable 2019 with my compadres Richard Bailey, Bud Beadle and Michael Bailey
Stage set last September, 2020, Remenham, UK
Hootananny baby, 2019
Socially distanced festival in Ribble Valley, Lancs, Sep, 2020
Another amazing Womex '19 in Tampere, Finland, some more out-of-this-world performers and a chance to hob-nob with fellow musicians and promoters, record companies, agents, a whole world of world music lovers with time and space to hear your stories and vice-versa plus Finnish hospitality and good humour. Sadly, the proposed Womex '20 never happened in Budapest but we're hoping the world can rendezvous again in Porto this October for another round of fun and enlightenment.
At Womex 2019, Tampere, Finland with my co-producer Martin Adam and "Geordie" Chris Murtagh
Native Canadian Shoshone Kish and her band
Mart and I at Womex '18
With Sarah of Rafiki Jazz at Womex '18
With Uve Mullrich of Dissidenten at Womex '18
Radio Show
New 2 hour world music radio show on Channel Radio (Ashford, Kent) with your host James Lascelles. Every Tuesday my show "Global Tribal Music" will explore music from around the world. Come join me from 9-11pm.
Blessed with musical parents, James grew up in London and Yorkshire with music and musicians all around him and soon evolved from early classical piano and drum lessons with the notorious Fanny Waterman and Jimmy Blades to Jazz, Blues and Rock n Roll upon hearing John Coltrane, The Beatles, Cream and John Mayall. John Taverner "taught" him to improvise by duetting on a full size/3 console church organ and if James played anything too familiar, a great blast of atonal chords would shatter any complacency!! In the early 1970's, he formed his first band, Global Village Trucking Company, and 3 years of non-stop touring and living together established the band as one of the most sought after UK acts and their lifestyle was documented by the BBC and called "By way of a change".
James moved into the highly lucrative world of session music in the late 70's/early 80's, playing various keyboards (Acoustic Piano, Hammond C3, Fender Rhodes, Mini Moog) and recording and touring with the likes of Frank Zappa, Joan Armatrading, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Annette Peacock, Snowy White, Shusha, Paul Buckmaster and L. Shankar among others whilst all the time fronting his own bands. All this activity brought him into contact with international artists and greatly influenced James' approach and understanding of the great power of music as an international language! He started to jam with West Indian musicians as well as learning Persian and Indian scales and rhythms and turned to his second love, drums and percussion.as well as keyboards.
In 1980, he joined a pool of Caribbean, Japanese and European musicians that became The Breakfast Band, a legendary by-word for musical excellence throughout the country and they toured the UK and Europe, playing at the Nyon Festival, Capitol Jazz, Ronnie Scott's and recorded their new, innovative sound of Jazz/Funk with percussion and steel pan. Musicians and DJ's would queue and come in their droves to hear and watch these 7 virtuosos attacking their original material and Calypsos with sometimes break-neck speed but always with a broad smile on their faces!! They released an album that was big in Japan and spawned some hits on the club dance floors of London.
In 1983/4, James took a sabbatical from the music scene in London and drove himself and his family off on an 8 month trip in a converted Mercedes motor home to Israel, Egypt, Morocco and all over Europe. He absorbed music and culture like a sponge and started to collect instruments and whilst in Marrakech, recorded the annual Festival of Folklore in the grounds of the ruined El Badir palace. This cassette recording inspired him to follow his next dream, documenting and recording Tribal musics from around the world.
In 1984, James moved out to the US, settling in New Mexico, a mythical land of space, clean air, mountains, high desert and Native Americans! Buoyed by the interest in his Moroccan recordings, he started living amongst, recording and eventually releasing traditional Native American songs and dances on his own label, Tribal Music International. This activity attracted the local Albuquerque university station's interest and before long, he was resident DJ with his own show, Global Tribal Music, that explored the links and origins of instruments and tribes. He also started a group, It's a Small World Band, that utilised some of his growing collection of ethnic instruments and lectured on the subject of music(s) of the world.
This music is dedicated to Global Tribal Harmony.
On his return to Europe 10 years later, James had added depth to his understanding of music and the myriad of cultures that help to create the beauty in the world. He joined Footsbarn Traveling Theatre Company, a troupe based in France and with an international cast of actors and musicians that toured India, Costa Rica, Colombia, France, Spain, Ireland and UK for 2 and a half years with a production called "L'Odysee", the ancient story of Odysseus attempting to return home after the Trojan wars. It was the first production to allow each actor to speak in his or her native tongue, from Malayalam (S. India) to Polish!! Composing the music for the show was an amazing experience and here, all the influences of his global sensibilities came to fruit, not to mention all the unusual and exotic instruments and sounds at his disposal. As well as James playing dulcimer (a newly acquired addition), Keys, balafon, thumb piano and a host of percussion, there was an Indian flute, tabla, sitar, percussionist and a Polish violinist and the instruments on stage outgrew the actors props! (They were known as 3-in-one)! It also allowed him the opportunity to conduct music workshops in different countries, something James subsequently put to good use.
In the last few years, James has continued to record tribal/folk music from places like S. India and Surinam and plays with a smorgasbord of line-ups. He is part of Cockney Rebel that tours with Steve Harley in the UK and Europe and he has also been house composer for the London International School of Film, and composed tracks for "The Jackal" , a Universal release with Bruce Willis and Richard Gere, as well as commercials, radio plays and theatre.
Theatre work has included being the resident composer and performer for Tiata Fahodzi, a Nigerian run company specialising in staging new plays written by UK based black writers. One of the highlights is the annual Tiata Delights staged play-readings, for which he's asked to become part of the onstage company, so that the music and ethnic instruments are more like musical scenery. Also, worked for GLYPT, Greenwich and Lewisham Young Peoples Theatre, the Arcola Theatre in Stoke Newington and Half Moon Young People's Theatre where he's conducted workshops and performances in various Tower Hamlet schools.
Worked with RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts) composing music for their new production of Yerma to be shown from March 13th to 22nd. Should be a great show with live music from yours truly and an excellent cast of 3rd years on their way to becoming the start of tomorrow on stage, screen and radio! I'm sure the agents will be out in force at the shows, ready with pen and pencil to snap up the next big thing.
James has written music for an NHS promotional docu-drama about sickle-cell disease called Family Affair with more films on the horizon, something that James is very adept at and can bring the full range of his instrument collection to the fore.
He has written the music for his wife's film "Joy it's Nina", which is a very brave and original self-portrair of her life mixed in with other themes, including her friendship with Nina Simone, hence the film's title.
James was part of the Carnival Messiah big band production, a Trinidad carnival take on Handel's Messiah, with a steel band orchestra playing the Hallelujah chorus and various of those beautiful and well-known melodies re-arranged into Soca, Raggae and Bhangra beats! The band included 5 percussionists and was 12 strong.
He has also been much in demand teaching privately and running workshops for disempowered, disaffected youth around the UK in schools and estates. By showing them an alternative to their current self-destuctive lifestyle, James has turned their thinking to creating positive work in the Performing Arts dept through music/ethnic instruments workshops, listening and participation. He's worked with local kids in Leeds estates recording their original Rap songs and believes strongly in the whole range of the Performing Arts (music, acting, writing, design, movement) as a catalyst for setting the youth on the right track and to this end, he's joined forces with a like-minded organisation called Re:generate.
ASPECTS OF JOY
James has continued to play, perform and record with other artists but his love of composition and dream of keeping his own music alive led him to re-connect with musicians that he grew up with and form his own James Lascelles Quartet with a new recording imminent for 2017. He also recorded and released his first solo album "Aspects of Joy" in 2009.
GLASSHOUSES
New album "Glasshouses" is released.
Click here to buy Glasshouses CD.
I was invited to play in Seborga by a friend who was organising a Native American exhibition in the beautiful Principality of Seborga, on the French/Italian border in the mountains overlooking Monaco. I played a solo gig for the villagers and the elected Prince and his wife. Memorable!
Had a couple of wonderful reunion gigs with my old band The Breakfast Band at The Tabernacle and Hideaway in London. Courtney Pine came and blew a storm at one of the Tabernacle gigs and the band sounded like it never been away.
Original crew Kuma Harada, Winston Delandro, Ken Eley, James Lascelles, Richard Bailey, Annise Hadeed and Tony Maronie brought their irresistible original high energy mix of sounds and styles.
Breakfast Band live at The Tabernacle
Backstage in St Petersburg with Rolling Stones
Flew to Warsaw in 2007 for the first of 2 shows with Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel, supporting The Rolling Stones. One word for it. FRIGGING-AWESOME!! Even if you aren't a fan, and I followed them in the early days but not so much recently, you couldn't fail to be gobsmacked by the sheer scale and scope of the set-up. That stage! It has long, elongated wings and a centre where the musicians are mostly playing and then, halfway through the show, the middle part moves hydraulically forward, way, way out into the crowd until the boys are playing in the round. The Stones miss the sense of intimacy from a club gig, something they can never go back to, and so created this feat of engineering. There are 2 stages on the go during tours, so the next stage was being set up in St Petersburg, our future destination.
A word must go to the passionate Poles; they didn't really know Steve's songs but responded lustily and gave a grand cheer at the end of our show. It was just getting dark as we finished and 40.000 were crowded round the end of a horse racing track of a venue to hear the boys. And what an entrance. Fireworks and lasers coming out of the massive tower-block of a lighting rig and then, lit up on the big screen,was Keith, slashing out the chords to "Start me up". There was no holding back and Mick and the boys gave a consummate lesson in showmanship, Mick running and leaping around the stage like a teenager. He has to go into training mode weeks before a tour but they all looked lean and mean and delivered the template on rock n roll performances!
On to St Petersburg. The jewel of Eastern Europe and this time, we were pitching camp in the Tsar's winter palace, the Hermitage Square. The stage was surrounded by this beautiful green-walled palace and the square could accomodate 60,000, the number predicted. In truth, they could've let in many more.
Soundchecking on Rolling stones stage at Hermitage Sq, St Petersburg
It was harder work winning over those surly Russkies and we had some technical problems, but I still had to keep pinching myself that I was really here, playing in such surroundings! It being northern Europe, night wasn't scheduled to fall till around 11.30pm and I wondered how the Stones would look without those driving lights. Before their show, they graciously agreed to have a photo shoot with us and were very appreciative and thanked us for coming and being part of the tour. Charlie came into the dressing room (we were warming up) and personally thanked us all and commented on how much he enjoyed us the other night.
"Where were we?", asked Mr Watts.
"Warsaw, Charlie", we replied. "You guys were great! How was it for you?"
"Oh yeah, Poland, wasn't it? How was it? Dunno really, I just bash around for 2 hours and then move on to the next one!"
A real gentleman, that Charlie Watts, if a little forgetful! Ronnie Wood also came in and said hello; he knew Jim Creegan, who was playing guitar with us for the Russian show, from Rod Stewart days; Jim replaced Ronnie when he left to join the Stones. Small world!
CARNIVAL MESSIAH
Biggest show in the UK!! It was enormous fun, enjoyed by nearly 1000 people every night of our 21 show run, situated on the grounds of Harewood house, just outside Leeds. The cast itself was over 100 strong, with a 14 piece band, choir, community chorus, dancers, singers, actors not to mention the stage crew and steel band who nearly stole the show each night with their rendition of the Hallelujah chorus. Handel's Messiah will never sound the same!
PHOTOS
The Globs or The Global Village Trucking company was my first band
2nd band Cuckoo with Mike Storey, also known as The Ivory Brothers
My 3rd band The Breakfast Band
James Lascelles Quartet
Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel
Me and ANDAUNION in Mongolia pre TV show
Jamming with locals in Mauritius
Jamming in Cape Town
Jamming in Egypt
Jamming in Cuba with Saintiago locals
More jamming in Havana
With Roberto Fonseca
At NAMM, California in Jan, 2020, my kind of place!
Last gig at Duke of Cumberland, Whitstable 2019 with my compadres Richard Bailey, Bud Beadle and Michael Bailey
Stage set last September, 2020, Remenham, UK
Hootananny baby, 2019
Socially distanced festival in Ribble Valley, Lancs, Sep, 2020
