Well, the big news is we’re back! We never went away really. Alan had to take time out to care for his wife, who sadly passed away in late 2021 and of course in the previous 18 months everything went to pot during the Covid pandemic.
We were very grateful to Enrico Tomasso for stepping in for Alan so that we could keep the show going in the two year prior to that and indeed we ended up returning the favour as part of Rico and Joanna Eden’s “Louis & Ella” shows, and that will continue.
As quality gigs have at last started to return, we’re hoping to pick up where we left off. The band was extremely successful before everything closed down and let’s face it, nobody is going to tire of Louis Armstrong and his All-Stars! In the past few years we have added two new shows.
Our dedication to Louis Armstrong made our band the obvious choice to carry the flag for the UK trumpet maestro, Kenny Ball. Kenny’s band shared a lot of the same attributes as Louis’ band and a few years after Kenny’s death, we were given permission to create Kenny’s official tribute show. We called that show “Kenny Ball’s Greatest Hits”. It’s simply a show where we perform the many hit records of Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen. Authentically. Just like the records except that they are LIVE! The audiences loved the show and that is coming back too in 2023.
With all of the band members having played with the bands of Kenny Ball, Acker Bilk, Terry Lightfoot and Chris Barber, we are ideally placed to produce a concert in memory of their many hit records and the exciting times of the traditional jazz boom of the early 1960’s. So, we have produced another show called “Dad, It’s Trad!”. Like our other shows, it is very popular and always very well received.
You are more likely to catch these shows at jazz festivals, arts centres and theatres. Sadly, like musicians, most jazz clubs nowadays are also suffering from the aftermath of Covid. Rising fuel costs and the profusion of environmental charging practices in our cities are also a factor, especially with our band members coming from different parts of the UK. We will always try and make any gig work financially for everybody but it is not always possible. We have jazz musicians on our roster who are amongst the best in Europe and such quality doesn’t come cheap. Besides, our shows always sell well and are very well received, so we’re quite happy to keep things as they are/were in that department!
So, keep an eye on our concert dates page. You’ll see all the Bateman Brothers dates and the other shows that do not necessarily involve Alan sometimes and we look forward to seeing you on one of them sometime.
Ian Bateman – July 2023