Otis Gibbs is a songwriter, storyteller, painter, photographer, and planter of 7,176 trees. He once wrestled a bear and lost. He's been called the best unknown songwriter in music today, but if you ask him, hell just say he's a folksinger. The Trust Of Crows, his tenth studio album, was recorded at the iconic Columbia Studio A in Nashville, where Bob Dylan made Blonde on Blonde and Nashville Skyline. It's been closed to the public for decades, but Otis was given permission to record there. Gibbs storytelling extends beyond music to his YouTube channel, where more than 100,000 subscribers listen to tales and folklore passed down by legendary musicians. In an effort to preserve these personal stories before theyre lost to history, he single handedly built a living archive in the spirit of The Lomax Family, Studs Terkel or even Charles Kuralt. This deeply personal project reflects Otis reverence for history, lived experience, and the characters who shaped American roots music from the ground up. Gibbs has been likened to everyone from Guthrie to Springsteen but his is the rare voice that stands on its own ESQUIRE Gibbs songwriting is deeply personal and profound. It's plain to see Otis Gibbs is a man you should give a damn about ROLLING STONE Man, can this singer tell a story USA TODAY Back when Greg Brice played the pubs, clubs and bars of the West Midlands he'd often find some of the toughest audiences you could imagine hanging on his every word within a few bars. His intricate fingerstyle guitar and strident electric slide connected in the raw and immediate way that only proper roots music can. And that voice clear as a bell, powerful and pure. 'a virtuoso guitarist who sings like Lowell George, you're gonna like him' ANDY KERSHAW

Clemence Freschard grew up in a farm in French Burgundy. Aged 18 she moved to Paris, where she baked pies and cakes in a cafe. There, a local musician and regular customer called Stanley Brinks wrote a few songs for her to sing. Homeless in Paris, she saved up just enough money to get herself a ticket to New York. There she found an old electric guitar and started writing her own songs. Stanley Brinks began performing officially as André Herman Düne in 1999, sharing lead vocals, guitar playing and songwriting with his brother David in the band Herman Düne for a number of years. They released several albums and toured extensively in UK, gaining and owing a lot to great support from John Peel. He has used many monikers for various side-projects, but since leaving Herman Düne in 2006, he has been known solely as Stanley Brinks. Born in Paris, Stan has been living between New York, San Francisco, Malta and Berlin for about a decade, always on the move. He has recorded more than 100 albums, collaborated with the New York Antifolk scene on several occasions, recorded and toured with traditional Norwegian musicians, and played a lot with The Wave Pictures.

Vincent Cross is a singer-songwriter, essayist, and educator whose music bridges continents and generations. Born in Ireland and raised in Australia, he now calls New York City homea melting pot that fuels his unique blend of traditional Irish folk, American bluegrass, and contemporary songwriting. Over the past two decades, Cross has released five acclaimed full-length albums. With glowing international reviews, award recognition, and a growing touring profile, 2025 marked a high point in Vincent Cross's careera moment where his storytelling, tradition-informed songwriting, and transatlantic folk roots converge into a singular voice. His latest album A Place Where Songs Come to Live is out now. Americana Highways called it 'soul-stirring filled with values, memories, and the relationships that shape us, while Rambles.NET hailed Cross as a true artist teaching us there's room for more. Praised for writing bone-breakingly beautiful music. Kenan Flannery is a 24-year-old IYMA's award-winning folk songwriter from Dublin. Kenan at his core is a storyteller for the damned and broken, writing heart-wrenching songs and stories with a voice that hits you with the intensity of a hundred Irish poets and musicians. He mixes his upbringing of Irish folk/ballad music from the likes of The Dubliners with his love of American folk music and has been compared to the likes of John Prine, Townes Van Zandt and Blaze Foley.

The Too Bad Jims got their name from the seminal Fat Possum album "Too Bad Jim" by the hugely influential blues musician RL Burnside. The band plays a gritty high-octane mix of North Mississippi Hill Country blues and boogie. It all initially started as a casual collaboration between two veteran and multiple award-winning musicians, Little Victor and Son Jack Jr. and they shortly after rounded out the trio with the one and only Nick Simonon (brother of Paul Simonon of The Clash) on drums and things really started cookin! Their unique and unusual combination of dual rough and ready vocals, bare-bones electric guitars, slashing bottleneck, and a heavily rhythm-oriented groove, delivers a hypnotic, raw, and earthy sound typical of a North Mississippi juke joint.

Enjoy an evening of Burt Bacharach and Hal David songs performed by 8-piece band including The Tuppneny Bunters Fiona and Dave Dulake, Martin Cutmore, Tom Burgess, John Bennett, Ben Floyd, Madeleine Mehlum and Bethany Daltrey. They'll be performing all the hits performed by the fabulous Dionne Warwick, Carpenters, Dusty Springfield, Cilla Black and Gene Pitney, as well as a few rare gems. A beautiful evening is in store!

Basil Hodge - piano Tony Kofi - tenor sax Oli Hayhurst - bass Winston Clifford - drums Basil returns to the East Side with his fantastic quartet featuring Tony Kofi Tonight Basil is joined by top saxophonist Tony Kofi and in the driving seat a crack team of Oli Hayhurst and Winston Clifford Pianist and composer Basil Hodge has been a mainstay of the British Jazz scene since the early ninties. The band will play Basil's compositions from his critically acclaimed album 'A Point of Reference'. You will hear contemporary Jazz with a cohesive blend of swing Latin and funk rhythms. Basil's interest in music and the piano started at junior school. His quest to become a jazz musician started in earnest when he undertook classical piano lessons from a local teacher for a few years. He then went on to have private lessons with jazz pianist/composer Tim Richards from 1986 89. He rounded of his training at Goldsmiths College London in 1991. His professional career started in the summer of 1993 as a freelance musician and he steadily rose up the ranks to play with some of the leading UK players such as Jim Mullen, Tony Kofi, Dave OHiggins and Renato DAiello. In November 2003 Basil produced and released his debut CD My Guardian Angel featuring his original compositions, which led to a distribution deal with New Note Records. The CD received critical acclaim and air play. His second album Sound Reasoning was released in October 2009, distributed by Proper Note Ltd. The CD contained 10 more fresh and exciting originals from Basil's pen which confirmed his stature as an established composer. Sound Reasoning received rave reviews including a 4-star rating from Jack Massarik (Evening Standard). He appeared on Claire Martin's Jazz Line Up show (BBC Radio 3) to talk about his album and musical influences. He also performed a live solo piano piece for the programme. Three of the main jazz DJs from Jazz FM, Helen Mayhew, Mike Chadwick and Sarah Ward have all recently played his music. Basil has been leading his bands (trio, quartet and quintet) since 1995 and has performed in such venues as Ronnie Scott's, Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth and National Theatre Foyers, the Swanage and Ealing Jazz Festivals, The Vortex Jazz Club, The Crypt, The Hideaway, Boxford Fleece, Watermills Jazz, The Bonington Theatre and The Verdict Jazz Club. He has regularly played with Tony Kofi and Ed Jones. Tonight he is playing with Tony Kofi.

Gareth Williams - piano Iain Ballamy - sax This stunning duo of two world class musicians, saxophonist Iain Ballamy and pianist Gareth Williams will literally dazzle listeners with their original compositions and harmonically sophisticated new takes on jazz standards. They display a level of empathy and virtuosity rarely heard having shared their musical journey for over 25 years. Sparky interaction and energy guarantee their performances to be exciting and memorable bu never predictable. Iain Ballamy was featured as one of the world's all-time greats in BBC Music Magazine's "100 Jazz Legends". The Guardian described him as "one of the world's distinctive saxophone voices" He discovered saxophone in 1978 with three lessons and his first professional gig was in 1980. He played Ronnie Scotts as Iain Ballamy Quartet at age 20. He was a founding member of Loose Tubes in 1984. First recording with Billy Jenkins in 1985, his first solo album, Balloon Man, was released in 1988. Clive Davis' review in The Times described it as "possibly the most assured session so far by any player of his generation" During his career he has performed or recorded with a wide range of musicians including Gil Evans, Hermeto Pascoal, New York Composers Orchestra, Carla Bley, Dewey Redman, George Coleman, London Sinfonietta, Françios Jeanneau, Daniel Humair, Mike Gibbs, Randy Weston, Karnataka College of Percussion, Sax Assault, Jazz Train, Freebop, Nishat Khan, R.A.Ramamani, T.A.S. Mani, Clare Martin, Human Chain, Dr. L. Subramaniam, Tom Robinson, Charlie Watts Orchestra, Jeremy Stacey, Randy Weston, Joanna MacGregor, Delightful Precipice, Bill Bruford, Django Bates, Mark Wingfield, Jane Chapman, Bryan Ferry, Everything But The Girl, Food, Food for Quartet, Loose Tubes, Oxcentrics, Ian Shaw, Slim Gaillard, Ultramarine (band), Ashley Slater, Hungry Ants, Ronnie Scott, Gordon Beck, Britten Sinfonia, and Gay Dad. Pianist Gareth Williams has been a somewhat quiet presence on the UK jazz scene. Often working as a sideman, he has perfected the technique of making others sound good. When he does step into the spotlight with his own projects and recordings it often wondered why we dont hear a lot more about this unassuming but consummate musician. Between 1994 and 1999 Gareth worked as pianist/MD for internationally acclaimed jazz singer Clair Martin (several times winner of the British Jazz Singer of the Year Awards). He was also involved in arranging her music, writing original compositions for her band, singing and playing guitar. He appears with her on 'Offbeat' (Linn Records, UK/Honest, US) as well as 'Make this City Ours' (Linn records, UK/Honest, US) which was recorded in New York and stayed at Number One for three weeks in the Gavin Radio Play Charts. Gareth has also worked with many international jazz greats, including Art Farmer, George Coleman and James Moody, plus top British musicians such as Martin Taylor and Tim Garland.

Julian Siegel tenor & soprano sax, bass clarinet, compositions Liam Noble Piano Oli Hayhurst - Double Bass Gene Calderazzo Drums With the Julian Siegel Quartet, the BBC Jazz Award winning saxophonist and composer Julian Siegel can be heard alongside some of this generation's most distinctive voices, creating an in-demand Quartet on the UK and European Jazz scene. The band features inspirational pianist Liam Noble, his fluid touch and dazzling imagination perfectly complementing Siegel's music and playing, and providing a perfect foil for the many directions the music can turn. With the creative spark of dynamic drummer Gene Calderazzo and the deep groove of bassist Oli Hayhurst dove-tailing perfectly with Siegel and Noble this is unquestionably one of the UK's most exciting and powerful quartets. Following up from their London Jazz Award winning album Urban Theme Park (Basho Music), 2018 saw the release of VISTA, the second album of the Julian Siegel Quartet and the first on the Whirlwind Recordings label. The album features ten of Julian's compositions plus an arrangement of Bud Powell's Un Poco Loco. This new acoustic set of music moves freely through varied sound worlds and colours, from undercurrents of bop to searching ballads and joyful melodies. Since the release of VISTA, the band has performed internationally at Jazz Festivals including INNtöne Jazz Festival in Austria, Made in The UK at the Rochester International Jazz Festival, the Jazz Standard NYC, JazzFestival Goettingen in Germany, Limerick Jazz Festival Ireland, UK's Love Supreme Festival 2019, Bristol International Jazz and Blues Festival, Manchester International Jazz Festival and many other UK shows included in an extensive 2018 2019 Arts Council England UK Tour. The Quartet was featured on the cover of UK's Jazzwise Magazine in February 2018 and VISTA was included in Jazzwise's Top 20 Jazz Albums of the year.

Hailing from Rome, The Blues Against Youth is a one-man band project led by Gianni TBAY who performs vocals, guitar, bass drum, hi-hat and whistle simultaneously. Country blues primitive he calls it. TBAY's sound, although being deeply rooted in the Outlaw Country and the Delta Blues, has developed over a ten years career, in different directions. All those trails have been hit, throughout countless tours that brought Gianni TBAY to play over 1,000 shows in the whole of Europe and part of the USA. This relentless live activity allowed him to build a solid fan base, gaining a name in the scene and a reputation as a rambling man, constantly travelling as a modern troubador driven by some kind of spiritual vocation and a daemonic possession. ...Never has a native Italian played country blues this well, the bar had been raised and I will not be at all surprised if the name Gianni Tbay is a household name in the future, especially across the Atlantic where his type of bluegrass country blues will be lapped up. MMH The Home Of Rock Radio UK With a hollow-bodied electric six-string guitar, kick drum, voice, whistle, hi-hat, and an unusual piece of stomp percussion he calls his "invisible iron snare," he has developed his sound from a slower, more organic and traditional one to what it is now - raw, gritty blues coupled with dirty, primitive rock'n'roll and outsider country." NO DEPRESSION King Size Slim is the stage name of Toby Barelli, an award-winning British roots musician known for his powerful vocals, road-worn resophonic guitar, and a sound he calls Heavyweight Acoustic Roots. Whether performing solo or with his full band, King Size Slim delivers raw, resonant performances rooted in tradition but driven by innovation. His music is as much about rhythm and soul as it is about storytelling, making him a standout figure in the UK's contemporary roots scene.

Just keep it simple, says Jeb Loy Nichols. He's talking about both his music and his life on a remote small holding in the Welsh hills. If you keep it simple, he says, there's less to go wrong. You take a little country, some soul, some old friends and a few good stories, and what can go wrong Born in the American mid-west, Jeb Loy Nichols was raised on a diet of bluegrass and county music. At 17 he moved to New York where he fell in love with the emerging hip-hop scene. From there he went to London where he lived with Neneh Cherry, Ari Up (from the Slits) and Adrian Sherwood. 20 years ago he left London for the Welsh hills. He's recorded 13 critically acclaimed solo records and, before that, 5 records with the band Fellow Travellers. Adrian Sherwood, says Jeb Loy, taught me everything I needed to know about the music business. He had three rules: dont be a bastard, make music that means something, dont worry about what anyone says. He was the first person I met that was my age making important music. Jeb Loy has spent the past 30 years making music, writing novels and exhibiting his artwork. "Jeb Loy Nichols has ploughed his own unmistakeable furrow between art, music and the ups and downs of life. Consumately brilliant at every task he undertakes, he's a light house, keeping the listener off the rocks and directing them to better place" Max Reinhardt (BBC Late Junction) "The high priest of country cool" RollingStone "This guy is good. Believe it. REALLY GOOD" Nashville Chronicle "I like him very much. He's very special. He's singing with a voice I never heard before..." Townes Van Zandt "Stands alongside Willie Nelson and Tony Joe White" Charlie Gillett "You're doing now what we were doing back then" Spooner Oldham

Sam Glaser - Alto sax James Copus - trumpet Tom Barford - Tenor sax Olli Martin - Trombone Will Barry - piano Will Sach - bass Will Cleasby - drums Alto player Sam Glaser has put together a great septet to bring to the East Side It's four front line (trumpet, alto, tenor, trombone) with the concept of celebrating some of the seminal jazz albums with four front line (I.e., Blue Train, the Soothsayer, SF Jazz Collective, Mode for Joe, Blues and the Abstract Truth etc.) All the players are well known to the East Side , except perhaps Sam himself. Should be a cracking night

For so many years a keystone of the bands of Nick Lowe, Van Morrison, Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings, Dave Edmunds and countless more, Geraint Watkins is also a revered creator of his own sublime music, much of which has already been perfectly captured in a handful of solo albums. Attempting to designate a musical category for Watkins is not without its challenges, but the perspicacious Nick Lowe once observed that he could be filed as the missing link between Paulo Conte and Howlin' Wolf. Another beacon of taste - Bob Dylan proclaimed himself a fan by playing two solo cuts on his Theme Time Radio Hour saying (without a hint of irony) that Geraint Watkins is my favourite English piano player. There you have ithigh praise indeed...

Indiana's trash-blues outfit Left Lane Cruiser is back with an album of high-energy R&B. Claw Machine Wizard is a return to the band's two-man format, and features corky barn burners like Claw Machine Wizard and Booga Chaka, alongside punked-out blues numbers such as Burn Em Brew and High Maintenance. The album even includes a reggae/soul-influenced ballad titled Lay Down, showing that the boys can step out of their comfort zone. Headed by slide guitar extraordinaire Freddy J IV, and backed by drumming machine Pete Dio, Left Lane Cruiser have been making records for over a decade, and along with their music being featured in many hit television series such as Banshee, Breaking Bad and Nashville, they have been receiving critical acclaim across the globe.

Eddie Gripper - Piano Clem Saynor - Double Bass Patrick Barrett - Donlon - Drums Eddie Gripper played at the East Side last year with Alex Clarke . He brings his trio to the East Side this time . Performing music from his second album Americana (released April 2025), Eddie Gripper tells the story of an 8,000 km hitchhiking journey from Alaska to California, completed in under two months during the summer of 2022. The music captures the vast landscapes and unforgettable moments along the way - from sleeping in the Alaskan wilderness to cycling down Santa Monica Pier - offering a vivid, hopeful, yet unflinching reflection on American life. Having already garnered comparisons with the greats (Jazzwise) after the release of his debut album Home, pianist Eddie Gripper has rapidly established himself as a young contender on the national jazz circuit. He has worked as a performer, promoter and producer alongside top musicians in his field such as Nigel Price, Simon Spillett and Alex Clarke. As a composer, he has collaborated with vocalist Elijah Jeffery, releasing a self-titled album in 2025 songs that explore the intersections of jazz, singer-songwriter, classical and folk traditions. In 2024, Gripper embarked on a 29-date tour across the four nations of the UK and Republic of Ireland, and remains active on the national and international scene (having played at venues such as Crazy Coqs, Pizza Express and various festivals, both under his own name and with other projects).

Adam Glasser (piano & harmonica) Ant Law - guitar Steve Watts - bass Corrie Dick - drums South African harmonica player, pianist and educator Adam Glasser is internationally as a specialist in township jazz and chromatic harmonica. One of the few remaining veteran UK based exponents of South African township jazz, he toured and recorded with Dudu Pukwana in the mid 80s, played keyboard for Pinise Saul's SA Gospel Singers, was for 16 years musical director of legendary SA vocal group The Manhattan Brothers producing their album Inyembezi for EMI South Africa. He has performed Hugh Masekela and his harmonica can be heard on the title track of for Abdullah Ibrahim's recent album The Balance. A first call session harmonica player Adam has performed with Sting, Eurythmics,Incognito, Joe Zawinul and recorded for many film composers and played with leading british jazz musicians from Jason Yarde to Gareth Lockrane to Pino Palladino to Chris Batchelor with whom he co led the Township Comets Adam has led his own bands at the Cape Town, Grahamstown and Johannesburg International Jazz Festivals and released two critically acclaimed albums - 'Free at First' (2010 South African Musica Award Best Modern Jazz Album) and 'Mzansi' (nominated 2012 SAMA Best Jazz Album), head lined Brecon Jazz Festival and performed often at Ronnie Scott's. With Adam alternating on piano and chromatic harmonica, Steve Watts on bass, Corrie Dick on drums and the cutting edge and highly respected Ant Law (Tim Garland) on guitar Expect a compelling mix of South African jazz standards, original compositions and more! Adam's forthcoming album South African & Beyond ( due out 2024) includes compositions by Bheki Mseleku, Themba Mkhize, Jimmy Dludlu, Kippie Moeketsi and Winston Mankuku.

Anyone interested in contemporary British blues/roots music will be aware of Errol Linton. The Brixton born, raised and resident singer, harmonica player and songwriter has earned his spurs as leader of the most dynamic live band in the UK Linton and band take the stage night after night, making music that gets audiences dancing and cheering. This is the funky stuff, blues with a reggae tinge and jazz flavours. Black British music with roots in Mississippi and New Orleans, Kingston and London. Linton creates a dynamic, original sound like no other artist anywhere. Linton started out busking and, for years, played in the London underground for tips. At the same time he led a band who played pubs and clubs, shebeens and parties, winning fans night after night. Now that reputation is worldwide Linton won the UK Blues Challenge 2023 and represented the UK Blues Federation both at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, USA, and the European Blues Challenge in Braga, Portugal. The band regularly play in Belgium, Holland, France, Spain and Poland, have appeared at Glastonbury and Wilderness festivals.

Sam Glaser - Alto sax James Copus - trumpet Tom Barford - Tenor sax Olli Martin - Trombone Will Barry - piano Will Sach - bass Will Cleasby - drums This collaborative septet features a stunning line-up of leading musicians on the UK jazz scene who come together in this format for the first time to celebrate seminal septet recordings from the classic jazz canon. You can expect to hear arrangements and transcriptions of compositions by Joe Henderson, Art Farmer, Thelonious Monk, Wynton Marsalis, and many more, with these incredible musicians putting their own stamp on the music, drawing from influences far and wide. Sam Glaser, James Copus, Tom Barford and Olli Martin have known each other as friends and musical colleagues for over 15 years. Having studied together at the Royal Academy of Music, and having been house-mates for several years, this collaboration is long overdue. Each have pursued their own path musically and received recognition for their playing, and with the four of them at the front of this septet, you can expect a high-octane performance. They are joined by a tour-de-force rhythm section, comprising Will Barry, Will Sach, and Will Cleasby. These musicians, each renowned individually for virtuosic playing and limitless creativity, often come together to form one of the notorious rhythm sections in the UK. Between them, they have toured internationally with the likes of Wynton Marsalis, Jerry Bergonzi, Joe Farnsworth, Eddie Henderson, and Kurt Elling.

High Energy Americana from Seattle USA. Think Replacements meet early REM. ou know only good things can come from a band that named itself after a farm-equipment company. But Seattle's Massy Ferguson is not as hayseed as you'd expect. Their songs are steeped in the classic Americana of the Uncle Tupelo, the Jayhawks, and the Backsliders. Rich with imagery of highways, truck-stop coffee, whiskey, road-weariness, and bad motels, Massy Ferguson make cinematic roots music about the blue-collar aspects of our nation. This is what Jay Farrar might sound like without his thesaurus Singer-bassist Ethan Anderson says the sound is Americana that leans more toward rock than country, and that's a pretty good description. Think Drive-By Truckers or some combination of Son Volt and The Hold Steady. Think Springsteen's "Greetings From Asbury Park" or "Nebraska." Those influences, 1970s Southern rock and good-time classic rock bands like Thin Lizzy, have also helped them to land gigs at festivals and clubs in Australia, Iceland, Germany, England and Mexico.