the first dates for the rest of 2011 have been released, and I’m thrilled to see that MB is again heading to the West End to play at the most sacred of  all jazz venues, Ronnie Scott’s.

Currently 3 dates are pencilled in, so make sure you head over to the Ronnie Scottt’s Website and  get your tickets. Last year’s gigs were absolutely fantastic and I am sure I am going to see plenty of you there again.

Cheers,

Dirk

Sounds quite enthusiastic!

due to the impressive demand the lovely people at the Jazz Cafe in Camden have scheduled a second gig for Matt Bianco on Thursday, 16th September. Tickets here.

Mark&Mark and their excellent band will be playing a home town gig on 17. September at the Jazz Cafe in Camden.

If going by Matt Bianco’s last gig in London at Ronnie Scott’s, it’s going to be a scorcher.

For tickets, click here.

It was a warm summer evening last July 1st when over 2000 people gathered for a wonderful concert in the courtyard of the castle of the Dukes of Savoy in the French alpine city of Chambery. Right behind the stage was a wonderfully lit old church that gave this concert quite a feel. The sky was clear, so all our fears of a sudden thunderstorm vanished quickly.

The crowd had been let in some 45 minutes when the band stepped onto the stage to give us a smooth version of Dancing in the street, just one day into July (“oh oh June…”) with Mark Fisher’s great keyboards. At that point everyone felt good, Mark Reilly was smiling and the whole band seemed happy to be there. When Don’t look back came up, no one was thinking about looking anywhere but forward. At the beginning of the concert, most of the audience were sitting, but when Sunshine day started, everyone was standing and dancing and no one sat down again.

Hifi Bossanova was a great success of course and gave Andy Ross (saxophone, flute) and Simon Finch (trumpet) a chance to shine brightly. Then came Always on my mind followed by Who’s side are you on. More than I can bear was a great jump back to 1986 for all us oldies that remembered it from then. The new version of Half a minute was wonderfully performed by all but naturally gave Hazel Sim the chance to honour Basia’s legacy vocals from 1984. Hazel Sim’s awesome voice flowed smoothly among the old stones of the more than 300 year-old buildings around us and let me tell you that it greatly pleased this listener’s ears! Don’t blame it on that girl gave us more of Simon Finch’s great trumpet notes.

Lost in you launched the quick rhythms for the next few songs and Tony Mason (drums) and Karl Van Den Bossche (percussion) gave it their all. Then came Good times and Weston Foster who had been pretty active as usual actually let go one of his maracas-style instruments and almost sent it into the crowd. Of course he took the lead for Wap bam boogie and showed the audience what a joyful fellow he is. He did try to tell us he didn’t speak French, but it wasn’t necessary, everyone understood what he wanted from the crowd and it was great fun to sing along. The last song was Yeh Yeh and really reminded most of us of the great beginnings of Matt Bianco. Throughout the concert, Nick Cohen (bass) and Tony Remy (guitar) did a marvellous job.

Of course, no one wanted the band to leave so we cheered them on until Mark Fisher came back on stage to introduce everyone. His French wasn’t all that bad and when he reminded us that Matt Bianco had not come to France for 15 years, we really felt lucky to have seen and heard them that night. The final song was Get out of your lazy bed reminding people they would actually be heading back to their beds soon… We were all pleasantly surprised to learn that the two Marks would be signing copies of Hifi Bossanova after the concert. There was no hesitation and my 9 year-old daughter was very proud to have her own signed copy and a photo of her between Mark and Mark – it made this concert very special for her! She couldn’t believe that “Matt Bianco” had actually touched her shoulders!

Overall, this concert was wonderful and will stay in most of our minds a very long time. The power and depth of Matt Bianco’s music will live on very long. Thanks to them for all these great moments.

An excellent recording of this Georgie Fame classic from 1994 recording for Japanese TV.

This is a lovely contemporary interview with two of the friendliest blokes in the music business. Well done TVN.

Hi all,

This month will see the release of a new Matt Bianco album in Germany and the UK. ‘Sunshine Days’ will feature their classic songs re-recorded with their excellent live band, some of the newer smash hits in the original and a Joey Negro remix of ‘Half a minute’. Mark and Mark said:

“As we have embarked on the live stage once again with concerts all around the world, we have come to enjoy playing all the Matt Bianco songs. When asked by Edel to release a Greatest Hits album, we wanted to do more than just compile all our old recordings which span over 25 years. Instead we’ve re-recorded the songs and presented them in a way that represents Matt Bianco in 2010, being careful to preserve the integrity of the originals. We hope you enjoy what we have done.”

The album will be available from 18.6.2010 in Germany and from 21.6.2010 in the UK.

Tracklisting:

1. Get Out Of Your Lazy Bed (New 2010 Recording)
2. Yeah Yeah (New 2010 Recording)
3. Don’t Blame It On That Girl (New 2010 Recording)
4. Half A Minute (New 2010 Recording)
5. Whose Side Are You On (New 2010 Recording)
6. More Than I Can Bear (New 2010 Recording)
7. Say It’s Not Too Late (New 2010 Recording)
8. Hifi Bossanova
9. Our Love
10. Dancing In The Street (New 2010 Recording)
11. Sunshine Day (New 2010 Recording)
12. Cha Cha Cuba
13. Good Times (New 2010 Recording)
14. Lost In You
15. Wap Bam Boogie (New 2010 Recording)
16. Half A Minute (Joey Negro Sunburnt Mix)

welcome to the, uh, 4th, version of the Matt Bianco blog. Just as before I have again managed to destroy the previous content with a simple mouse click and some nifty formatting of various hard disks, but what can you do. At least it looks better every time. Or so I make myself believe.

Anyway, Mark and Mark have again given me the key to the backroom at chez Matt Bianco where they have hidden the computer from me and have asked me to report on the news as it happens.

Thanks for your trust, chaps.

Dirk

P.S. Now what does ‘fdisk’ do?