Tucked down a dark street away from the Old Street hubbub, and named after an East End boxer who owned the place a half-century ago, this uncomplicated, late-opening Shoreditch favourite remains as mixed and welcoming as can be. In terms of food and drink, it lives up to its international billing. Taps offering Asahi, Früli, Oranjeboom, Leffe (blonde), Guinness line the bar, while behind them sit
bottles of Tusker, Black Asahi, Singha and Savanna dry cider. Wines and cocktails cover the standards, which is more than can be said for the forward-thinking jazz musicians who offer regular entertainment alongside frequent club nights (soul, funk, world music). The food, naturally enough, is Thai, with most mains priced around £6.
- Time Out Review
Listings:
NOVEMBER
23 Josh Arcoleo's 'Thunderdog'
Tonight saxophonist Josh Arcoleo, who has recently been turning heads throughout the UK having won both a 2011 Yamaha Parliamentary Jazz Scholarship and the prestigious annual Kenny Wheeler Jazz Prize, presents the group ‘Thunderdog‘. In the spring of 2012 Arcoleo will be releasing his debut record on Edition Records with a band including pianist Ivo Neame and drummer James Maddren. With a musical maturity and inventiveness that belies his relative youth, Arcoleo is quickly establishing himself as a key figure on the UK Jazz circuit.
'he has a commanding presence both as a writer and improviser, which fully justified this award in Kenny Wheeler's name' - Evan Parker.
27 Alex Hutton
"On his second album as a leader, Pianist Alex Hutton reveals a rich vein of composing skills in the ‘Songs for Seven Hills’ – a soundtrack to his childhood memories of life in and around the city of Sheffield. Memory often takes on a dream-like quality, and the music here reflects this, with echoes of children’s song, church music, folk song, and classical impressionism, but always with a jazz musicians’ sense of daring." Jim Mullen, March '08
30 James Allsopp
Saxophonist Allsopp is a prolific figure on the London Jazz scene, notably with his own projects, Golden Age of steam and Fraud, as well as his involvement with many "Loop collective" ensembles and his recent involvement with the Kit Downes trio. Tonight he will be performing with the 'James Allsopp Quartet,' of which James says "This quartet reflects my love of Jazz standards and compositions by my favourite composers such as Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk and Charlie Parker (to name a few). We have not tried to reinvent these pieces but play them simply and allow for the maximum amount of interplay between all the instruments." "there is impressive delicacy in Allsopp’s hushed, pointedly concise phrases" - Kevin Le Gendre, BBC Music Magazine
8pm Start, £5
http://www.charliewrights.com/
Previous Listings:
OCTOBER 2011
2 - Mike Chillingworth/Jim Hart/Calum Gourlay/James Maddren
5 - Rory simmons/Jim Hart/Dave Mannington/Anton Eger
16 - Nadim Teimoori
23 - John Turville/Josephine Davies/Robbie Robson/Mark Hodgson/Chris Higginbottom
26 - Alex Merritt/Sam Leak/Matt Ridley/Lewis Wright
NOVEMBER 2011
6 Martin Speake/Mike Outram/Jeff Williams
9 Henrik Jensen/Andre Canniere
NOVEMBER 11TH - 20TH - THE LONDON JAZZ FESTIVAL - Check http://www.londonjazzfestival.org.uk/ for all listings
