Gusts of Jazz, Baroque and Brassa Nova. Poems of people and potatoes. UTTER! Lutonia presents John Hegley’s long awaited poetry-jazz night at The Bear.
Mr Hegley was born in Newington Green, North London, and was educated in Luton, Bristol and Bradford University.
His first public performance monies came from busking his songs, initially outside a shoeshop in Hull, in the late Seventies. He performed on the streets of London in the early Eighties, fronting the Popticians, with whom he also recorded two sessions for John Peel, and has since been a frequent performer of his words, sung and spoken, on both local and national radio.
He has produced ten books of verse and prose pieces, two CDs and one mug, but his largest source of income is from stages on his native island. An Edinburgh Festival regular, he is noted for his exploration of such diverse topics as dog hair, potatoes, handkerchieves and the misery of human existence.
He is an occasional DJ, dancer and workshop leader, using drawing, poetry and gesture. He has been awarded an honorary Doctorate of Arts from what is now the University of Bedfordshire, and once performed in a women's prison in Columbia.
John will be joined by:
Chris Dowding (Trumpet)
Jim Rattigan (French Horn)
Jeff Miller (Tuba)
“Family life would be a lot easier if you could just open the cupboard and pull out your Hegley every time things got fractious, heated or miserable”
“Bleeding marvellous”
“Makes little sense”
As well as John and the Jazzers, we will also be blessed with the presence and music of:
Jack Sharp is perhaps best known for his singing and guitar playing with psych-rock band Wolf People, however he’s been quietly exploring folk music from the English tradition all the while, especially with songs from his local area, Bedfordshire, since you ask…
As a solo artist, his traditional material is plaintive and intense, dark and history-soaked: a unique English voice that gets right to the heart of it. His recent solo album Good Times Older was a perfect aural illustration of this connection.
Le Swing Electrique is a jazz duo gigging in and around London, with Konni Deppe on vocals and Martin Slade on guitar. We totally dig the standards - famous tunes up to a century old that never sound dated. Think Hoagy Carmichael's 'Skylark', 'Corcovado' by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Bobby Troup's 'Route 66'. For UTTER! Lutonia, we’ve put together a special quiz round surprise – have your pens at the ready.
“Enchanting. Suddenly it’s like there’s a butterfly fluttering through the pub”
“Top class”
“She sings and swings as if it was the most natural thing in the world”
Doors 7pm / Events start 8pm / Tickets £15 / £9 for members
All seating/tables are first come first served.
We will still operate at reduced (60%) capacity until further notice… or until it feels ok again to cram the room full of people with the doors shut.