The Correspondents at the Hi Fi Cub Leeds by Bill Moody

Love live Music welcomes new music blogger Bill Moody to our blog. Bill reports on his night out at the Hi Fi Club in Leeds.

I’m still trying to piece together how many musical genres are mashed up into this act and ‘act’ seems more appropriate in the vaudeville sense rather than ‘band’. Scat vocals, ragga chanting, lindyhop styles, a soupcon of jazz get a powerful backbeat which is just as eclectic. Mr Bruce is a longer skinnier Cab Calloway from the Golden Age of cinema. Mr Chuckles is master of the darker deck arts and makes it modern.
Brilliantly off beat and original they make the mash of 20s swing and Amen Break powered jungle a far more likely marriage than first thought. If Bertie Wooster was fed a litre of Lucozade this is how he would dance the Charleston. I don’t know what he’d have to be fed to make Bertie hang off a ceiling girder and stage dive from there but that’s what we got. Who knew that bluebottle iridescent leggings and Tudorbethan jacket and architect’s round glasses would work either? I’m lying about the leggings. I only saw those on YouTube. The dancing was so frenetic and the crowd were so tightly packed I ouldn’t see much but a blur of fringe and a big grin. Everything is so mixed up it can’t be given a genre. I’m not even going to try or I’ll end up with a word like Tesco. Techno/disco/90s. Remember? Answers on a robopigeon telegrammymail please.
The Hi Fi Club Leeds is a tiny basement (like trying to perform “on a skateboard” according to Mr Bruce) and the atmosphere is great. They have a fantastic mix of music with the emphasis on fun and funk. I haven’t been here since Marva Whitney and Osaka Monoaural about 18 months ago but you get the idea about the variety just from seeing Marva and these guys in the same review.

Jack Jackson: Rhythm and Radio Fun Remembered - Thank you Stephen Garner

Last Thursday, 27th October 2011, BBC Radio 4 Broadcast the following programme about my grandfather Jack Jackson and his legacy to our family. It was great fun making the programme and celebrates the musical and artistic legacy that he has created within the family.

If you have a spare half hour, have a listen on iplayer. International listeners can access the link too:

BBC Iplayer Link - click here

Here is the BBC Radio4 Programme description:

Exploring the legacy of musician and broadcaster Jack Jackson through the lives of three generations of his family.

Kenny Everett said of him 'He was the first person to have fun on radio', and although he inspired many broadcasters and musicians it is the incredible impact Jackson still has on his family over thirty years since his death which proves the most fascinating.

This programme uncovers another Jackson dynasty overflowing with musicians, record producers and artists all striving to preserve his memory and make their own impression on the world. His two son's established a recording studio, used by artists such as Elton John, Tom Robinson and Motorhead. His daughter is a successful artist and designer and several of his grandchildren are forging effective careers in the music business - one of which co-founded production group 'Bimbo Jones' which has taken numerous number ones to the top of the dance charts. His great grand children are all encouraged to be musical.

Jackson's career in entertainment spanned fifty years and he is recognised today in the Sony Radio Hall of Fame.

Jackson formed his band in the thirties and was a regular at London's Dorchester Hotel. He became a disc jockey in 1948 on the BBC Light Programme. His innovative programmes featured a mix of linking his voice with comedy clips and popular music. According to his grandson Marc he was the first broadcaster in Britain to introduce the technique of sampling and to present a "clip show" programme.

He is also cited as the man who gave the BBC the nickname 'Auntie' and the first voice heard on ITV.

Jack Jackson died in 1978, but over thirty years later his spirit is very much alive in the daily life of generations of Jacksons.

His memory has touched every branch of the Jackson family tree and as this programme reveals they all respond to his influence in a variety of interesting and different ways.

The programme is produced by Stephen Garner.