**606 Club Special** "All Fired Up!" Feat. (Amongst Many Others) Tommy Blaize & Derek Green

After their inaugural gig here in April I can absolutely guarantee that this band is unquestionably special. Put together by singer Tommy Blaize and bass player Trevor Barry from the Tommy Blaize and Strictly Come Dancing bands, along with their friend and studio vocalist Derek Green, this is a tribute to the great Maurice White and his iconic band Earth, Wind and Fire. To make this really special Tommy, Derek and Trevor realised they needed to get together some of the finest musicians on the studio scene, so that is exactly what they did. The amazing band they have assembled includes between them work with the likes of Stevie Wonder, Robbie Williams, Pet Shop Boys, Amy Winehouse, Kylie Minogue, Massive Attack, Courtney Pine, Simply Red, Will Young, Duffy, Celine Dion, Phil Collins, the Bee Gees, Steve Winwood...you get the idea. Over to Tommy to describe how it all came about: "After many years of performing the music of ‘Earth, Wind and Fire’ in other bands we felt it was time we did it for ourselves. We’ve loved this music from the first time we heard it, it means so much to us, and finally just over a year ago we decided to start putting it together. It was important to get a diverse mix of skilled players so we called friends that we’ve worked with and everyone without hesitation said “I’m in, let me know where and when”. After a second rehearsal, this time with an expanded rhythm section, they knew they "were on to something special… this band will play these songs with the reverence and burning passion they deserve". So now all it needed was a powerhouse horn section and the band was complete, and without question a powerhouse horn section is what they put together. Which meant all they needed now was a gig, and that's where we came in. There was the slight technical issue of how we would get 14 musicians on our band stand, but bassist Trevor assured me they would all think thin(!), and the gig was born. The music is exclusively EW&F material and is played with an intensity and excitement that makes this ensemble much, much more than just a "tribute" band. The musicians who will be performing in this amazing line up tonight include Tommy Blaize, Derek Green-vocals, Trevor Barry-bass, Dave Arch, Jeff Leach-piano/keyboards, Tim Cansfield, Tony Remy-guitars, Paul Booth-sax, Barnaby Dickinson-trombone, Karlos Edwards, Joe Crisp-percussion and Andrew Small-drums. The gig was intended to be a celebration of EW&F and a tribute to Maurice White, its founder and leader of more than 40 years, but has now also become a memorial to Maurice who sadly passed away earlier this year. This is a unique night of Groove filled joy featuring some of the finest musicians in Europe, and booking is definitely advised (particularly as we will have to remove tables to get them all in!).

“Tommy Blaize…oozes Soul and class” Jazz n Jazz;
"Tim Cansfield...great stuff" the jazzmann.com;
"Tony Remy... One of our premier fusion guitarists" Time Out;
"Barnaby Dickinson…world class player” BBC Music Magazine