Friday 10th August
£25.00 - £40.00
OLYMPIC CLASSIC JAZZ SERIES
In Celebration of the London 2012 Olympics, Ronnie Scott’s presents its Classic Jazz Series of concerts Friday 27th July – Sunday 12th August inclusive!
Each evening will start with a support set from our award-winning house band, The Ronnie Scott’s All Stars. The band will perform a set of classic jazz as well as recount some famous and entertaining stories that have gone on in the club’s 53 years history.
Then it’s on to the main event! Tonight's show features Gwyn Jay Allen performing the music of Louis Armstrong.
Gwyn Jay Allen's " I Love Louis" album is probably the only vocal tribute of its kind to Louis Armstrong. It is a celebration of all that is contemporary Creole Jazz from its roots in West Africa to its new home in New Orleans. Gwyn recently performed his album at Louis Armstrong's house in New York and the album has now been made part of the Louis Armstrong archieves. Gwyn's audiences have been blown away by the likeness of his persona and voice to that of Louis’and Jazzwise magazine describes it as "an album you cant help but fall in love with"
No one can dispute that Gwyn Jay Allen is a natural born entertainer. He served his musical apprenticeship singing and playing guitar on the train, and it wasn’t until 1992 that he entered the limelight with a residency at the Park Lane Hilton and later the world famous The Dorchester Hotel.
Gwyn went on to star as Cab Calloway in the in the long running smash hit West End Musical ‘The Blues Brothers’. Gwyn’s life long love of the work of Louis ‘Satchmo’ Armstrong propelled him to TV stardom when he became a finalist in the UK’s ITV ‘Stars in Their Eyes’ show. He has since gone on to make many more featured TV appearances.
Gwyn’s vocals, guitar and percussion has graced tracks recorded by musical giants such as soul diva Diana Ross, reggae heavy weight Maxi Priest, and dance icon Jamiroquai. His musical collaborations have included working with Basement Jaxx who produced his single ‘I Love U Babe’. Gwyn has also written and recorded with Latin Jazz Supreme Alex Wilson. He independently released his first solo album ‘Land of Milk and Money’ in 2001 touring and supporting gospel giant Kirk Franklin at venues such as London’s renowned Royal Albert Hall and The Jazz Café.
Mimicry is an art form mastered by many but what Gwyn Jay Allen does in his personification of Louis Armstrong, arguably the greatest Jazz figure of all times, exceeds any definition of this art form. Travelling the world over the years together with the appetite of his growing fans gave Gwyn the reason he needed to pen the musical ‘Satchmo’ from which his album ‘I Love Louis’ was born. Gwyn returns form his ‘I Love Louis’ tour of Melbourne, Australia, Malaysia, Trinidad and Tobago where he received rave reviews.
Gwyn made the New York Times and the main TV news on his debut American performance at the Louis Armstrong Museum House in New York on 4thJuly 2010 celebrating Louis’ birthday and The American day of Independence. The success of the tours has sparked up plans for next year’s New York performance, The St. Lucia Jazz Festival and The Satchmo Festival in New Orleans.
The Album ‘ I Love Louis’ which is Gwyn’s original songs about Louis and interpretations of Armstrong songs will leave you wanting more. It features Grammy Award winner trumpeter, Roy Hargrove of Verve Records. So listen, enjoy and allow yourself to be transported to back to the day when music was music and the world was simply wonderful. “I Love Louis” is now part of the Louis Armstrong archives.
Jazzwise magazine describes I Love Louis as ‘an album you can’t help but fall in love with’… His audiences have been blown away by the likeness of his persona and voice to that of Louis’…
Tell us what you think of Gwyn Jay Allen: ‘I Love Louis’ - Olympic Classic Jazz Series below..