GYPSKAZZ

With the release of their third album, Zig-Zag, all originals, Gypskazz have matured their blend of gypsy jazz, ska, Balkan, Arabic and other influences into a genre-crossing style that's truly their own. The sophistication of jazz and cabaret, the danceable grooves of gypsy jazz and ska, touches of punk attitude and mayhem make them an act that's hard to categorise, but instantly recognisable. Regular appearances at Kent's major festivals and recent sell-out shows in their home town at the Canterbury Festival and Cathedral Lodge have cemented their reputation as a band that guarantees a good time and will have everybody up dancing before the show is over.
With a line-up of vocals, sax, accordion, guitar, ukulele, bass and drums, there's plenty of harmonic richness, virtuosic improvisation and rhythmic heft. Bill Redfern's snarling vocals and skanking uke, Melzebra's ingenue vocals and blazing sax, the flying fingers of Andrew Hedges on accordion and the enchanting sounds of Dave Reay on guitar, the pumping engine room of Martin Virgo on bass and driving force of Catherine "CJ" Jones on drums, give a Gypskazz gig the feeling that the carnival has come to town and you're going to be swept up and carried away!
As well as originals, the band showcase their distinctive, sly take on the classics, Beethoven's Für Elise in multiple time signatures, Rodrigo's Guitar Concerto, renamed "Skaranjuez", Saint-Saëns' The Fish in the song "Aquarium" and Henry Mancini's The Pink Panther. Interpretations of world traditional folk also feature, the Russian Dark Eyes, Greek Miserlou, Italian Bella Ciao and a riotous Hungarian Mol Czardas.
The subject matter too, takes in quite a range, from the dark humour of Let's Rob a Bank, Soho Devils - about a boy who's trying to resist temptation among the fleshpots - and Zig-Zag, about a stormy relationship (or could it be about the band? Ha-ha!) to the more reflective Last Cigarette and Takiwatanga (a Maori expression describing autism meaning "in their own space-time"). The anthemic “There Must Be Time For One More Drink,” pretty much expresses the band's philosophy and has the audience singing along, as well as inspiring chants of "One more song" at the end of the night.