GWELHELLIN!
From Bad Provincial Boy to Square Danse-Macabre via Jazzz-Hattt
The cold: Short of a 'Tone.
Dec 1st
A memorable night; not just because the Balalaika bridge collapsed, the third valve intonation adjustment toggle fell off the trumpet and. the valley-bottom farm house of Antonius Apple was snowed in. All attempts to drive up the steep slopes that are the only way out failed in a flurry of spinning wheels and imaginative language.
Dangerous David in his tiny Toyota, Plucky Dickie's road-proof Volvo and JXC in his old barge of a Benz managed to make it to the gig and played Unamplified with the house piano – a Petrof of small tone and decrepit action that has seen no tuner in a decade and is thus decayed – to a merry crowd whose requests pulled from the hat included 'anything by: Bex Beiderbeck (sic), Acker Bilk (sigh), Leadbelly (!) Mozart (!!!) Brubeck's immortal Take Five and, er, the Vaughan Williams variations on a theme by Thomas Tallis. All within the band's compass, despite the sorely missed missing guitarist. Yes we struggled with the lyrics of clang clang clang went the trolley – who said that show tunes are Jazz-proof? Too right! but the star turn: Dickie and David with the novelty item 'Big Noise from Winetka' was the hit of the evening. With the personnel thinned out, one was reminded just what fine players Dickie and David are; David's drum solos are spectacular crowd-pleasers and JXC must be reminded to give him more of these when the Ensemble is up to complement with Antonius's dazzling guitar. A memorable night.
Gwelhellin Goth
Mar 3rd
This unique Cornish showband springs from the synergy of four highly talented professional musicians from wildly differing backgrounds who create an irresistible performance drawn from their world-wide experiences on the road and on stage. Look out for the blistering acoustic guitar of Antonius Apple, the dynamic drums, washboard and percussion of Dangerous David Painter, the extraordinary musical scholarship of one-man encyclopedia Plucky Dickie Neville on the Bull Fiddle and, the multi instrumental virtuosity of composer and showman Jonathon X. Coudrille. Raised backstage on the old Variety circuit by his famous Ventriloquist father (the creator of cartoon character Hank the Cowboy) Coudrille learned every vaudeville skill from music to knife throwing before his early career as broadcasting political satirist, and his wicked lyrics and revealingly beautiful melodies dominate the band’s four albums and new EP.
Drummer David also drives the cash register for the ensemble and offers the band’s social wing, subject to availability, for special functions including weddings, anniversaries, parties, corporate events and concerts. “We specialise” he says, “in providing the kind of music you require for your event, be it quiet background music or that “get up and boogie factor” for the dance floor. Do you have those special tunes you would like played at your event? Consult us and we will work with you to ensure a memorable occasion.”
Vintage classic and thoroughbred melodies, high mileage harmonies, country/county and western, urbane and eastern, jazz, low-down boogie, skiffle, rock n’ roll, gypsy roots, hairy solos, torch songs with a brand new battery and original reflections in the mirror of time.
