Simon Little

Hello folks,

Just wanted to let you know that Clare’s new album ‘Get Happy’ is gonna be coming out February 25th on Universal records. It’s another great mix of well-known standards and originals and features the touring band; Jim Watson on piano, Chris Dagley on drums, Ad Chivers and Colin Ball singing bv’s and me on bass.

It’s already had it’s first play on Radio 2 on Clive Anderson’s show and we’ll be on the road touring again very soon, starting with the album launch at Ronnie’s on the 14th February.

You can pre-order the album on Amazon already so there’s really no excuse. The tracklisting is as follows:

1. All For Love
2. Cheek To Cheek
3. Love Hurts
4. Begin The Beguine
5. Breaking Up Is Hard To Do
6. Get It On Sam
7. Get Happy
8. Very Thought Of You
9. Love For Sale
10. Moondance
11. High Love
12. Time After Time
13. All The Things You Are

Hopefully see you at one of the shows soon! The dates are up the main page: there are a few more which I won’t be doing, you’ll be able to get those dates from Clare’s page soon I’m sure….

On another note, if you’re knocking about town this Sunday, don’t miss out on Lea Delaria’s show at the 606. Janette and Fletch are on it so it’s gonna be rockin’!

I’ve also wopped up a couple of new TDC vids for your viewing pleasure on YouTube. They’re from the Cambridge Folk Festival in 2004 and I’m sure at some point soon I’ll get told off for putting them on YouTube and have to take them down so keep it under your hats! It was when Squeezy (aka Ian Watson/Jonny Squeezebox) was with us…. ahhh glory days…. Hope you like them!

See you soon.

Si x

Hello folks.
Happy new year to you all (well, the ones who read this blog anyway…)!
After a fairly quiet Christmas period it’s time once again to spring into action and get stuck in to what may well prove to be a busy spell (my god…!).
I’m gonna be out and about with Beth doing a few one offs and starting out at her new residency at Cherry Jam on Porchester Road (www.cherryjam.net). Clare is soon to commence her busy touring schedule for 2008 and Maggie has got a bunch of shows lined up for the Spring in Germany and Scandinavia, I’ll post them when they’re all confirmed.
One little bit of exciting news (for me anyway), after much to-ing and fro-ing, Paul Eldridge and I have managed to revive our residency at PJ’s in Covent Garden (Wellington St, opposite The Lion King). We did this gig for years every Thursday night at 10.30, but it folded when the management changed. After a few odd gigs there over the last year, we have persuaded them to take us back on every week. So if you’re knocking about town in the wee small hours of a Thursday night, do drop in and say hello.

Also just got through a promo copy of Chris Difford’s new album ‘The Last Temptation of Chris” (great title!) which we recorded last year. Sounds bloody marvelous so keep your eyes peeled for that one: should be out some time in April. I’ll tell you nearer the time ‘cos you’re bound to forget…
Happy days.
See you soon.
Simon

Hello folks,
Well it’s been an awfully long time since I’ve posted anything on here and I’ve been cruelly struck down with some sort of hideous virus for the last few days so I thought now would be a good moment to fill you in on what’s been going down in bass town…
It’s been an incredibly busy couple of weeks for me and I’ve been lucky enough to have played on some great gigs with some great people (and it was the London Jazz Festival! Hoorah!).
This months ‘Wall To Wall’ with Lea Delaria at Pizza Express was a hoot. We were celebrating ‘Women In Jazz’ this time with a host of female jazz musicians (including Deirdre Cartwright, Michele Drees, Alison Neele and the mighty Polly Gibbons) playing tunes written by women. It was one of the most difficult shows so far in terms of logistics and material (anyone for 15/8? No thanks…) but the show as fantastic. We had jazz DJ Helen Mayhew (check out her show on digital station The Jazz) introduce the show and the place was packed out as usual. Really looking forward to our next show there on 19th February with Norma Winstone….
We did a live spot on “In Tune” (BBC Radio 3) on the 19th again which was great fun too playing a few of the tracks that Lea’s just recorded for her live album in New York
Had two fab shows with Clare Teal down south at Salisbury Civic Hall and The Concorde Club in Eastleigh (love that place!). We’re preparing for next year’s shows now so watch this space…
Did anyone spot me on the telly last week? I was on Children In Need in the middle of the night with ‘Songbirds’. Television Centre on Children In Need night is a real experience. The place was a total frenzy of people running back and forth with clipboards and radio mics but everything ran perfectly to schedule; it was an amazing night and a real experience. I’ve found a video of our performance on YouTube and posted it at the bottom of my page if you fancy a look…
And last but by no means least, I had the great fortune to be asked to play with Beth Rowley for a show at the Festival Hall Ballroom as part of the Jazz Festival. If you haven’t heard her yet (and believe me you should…) go check out her page here on MySpace, she’s up there with my top friends. She’s a fantastic singer with some great original material and she’s got a wicked band behind her, including Mike Gorman, saxophone supremo Ben Castle and guitarist Paul Wilkinson (of Duke Special). I had a great time playing with her and we’ve got a couple more things this year so hopefully I’ll get to do some more stuff with her next year when her album comes out. Seriously keep an eye out for her, she’s gonna be huge people…
Anyway, time to sign off for now. I don’t think many people read these bloody things anyway but it does amuse me to occasionally wop something up here just in case.
Feel free to leave lots of comments, it gives me something to read in my sniffling state…
Bye for now!
Simon x

Here’s a picture from the BBC3 website from Lea’s radio session…