Back on Track

Only 100 tickets available for this exclusive event!

On 1st December, Dune Records takes over one of London’s most exclusive West End hotspots, The Parlour @ Sketch, Mayfair, to host Back On Track – an exclusive party to raise funds for the victims of the New Orleans hurricane disasters that struck the city earlier this year.

Spearheaded by the MOBO-nominated New Orleans trumpeter/vocalist, Abram Wilson – currently resident in London and Dune Records’ first non-British signing – Back On Track will feature private party performances by the award-winning ska/jazz outfit, Jazz Jamaica (currently touring their hit record, Motorcity Roots); alto saxophonist/rapper, Soweto Kinch; and Abram Wilson who performs with his sextet and also premieres a new band, the Londorleans Brass Band, formed exclusively for this event.

A raffle will be held during the evening with a host of great prizes donated by Dune, its artists and friends, including the chance to win An Artist For A Day where two lucky winners get the chance to have Soweto Kinch or Abram Wilson at their behest for an entire day! Other prizes include original prints by some of the world’s best jazz photographers; tickets to top jazz shows (including Brad Mehldau and the SF Jazz Collective with Joshua Redman, et al, at The Barbican, London donated by international music producers, Serious), plus CDs galore. Raffle tickets cost £10 each so the more you buy, the better chance you have of winning a great prize!


Dune will be donating all proceeds from album sales on the night to the fund, as well as £2.00 per album from all sales via their website between 1-31 December. Dune, through its education company, Tomorrow’s Warriors Ltd is also running a raffle for young musicians to win a lesson with a Dune artist of their choice (Tickets £10.00) and for schools and colleges to win a workshop with a Dune artist (Tickets £50.00).

Tickets for both raffles can be purchased online via secure servers at www.dune-music.com and www.tomorrowswarriors.com, and at the Back On Track event. Keep an eye on the websites as the list of prizes will be updated as more product is donated.


The Back On Track Fund will be administered by UK charity, Jazz Services Ltd (Registered Charity No 258044) and all proceeds will be forwarded to the Higher Ground Hurricane Relief Fund, the fund established by Jazz at Lincoln Center and its Artistic Director, Wynton Marsalis to benefit New Orleans musicians and their families affected by Hurricane Katrina and to provide general hurricane relief.


“New Orleans is the place where I grew up, marched in bands during Mardi Gras, played my first performance, and gained an insight to music I could not have gained from any other city on the earth,” commented Abram Wilson. “It upsets me deeply to think that so many of the less fortunate members of the community, a majority of them African-Americans, will not be returning to their homes because of the damage caused by Katrina and Rita. Most families forced out of the city now have no alternative place to live or resources to draw upon. These families, now living day to day, are spread across the United States. Those who are financially equipped may possibly return and rebuild their lives. Those who are not, do not have the option or the resources to rebuild. It is therefore imperative that all people in distress be given a helping hand in reaffirming their place in a city that has given so much to so many, musically and culturally. Now is the time for us to act,” said Wilson.


“New Orleans is the birthplace of jazz. The city's diverse population of Spanish, French, British, West Africans and Americans created an original music that embodies the fundamental principals of democracy. Jazz at Lincoln Center was established to celebrate jazz and so we are particularly moved to action by the destruction visited on the Crescent City by Katrina,” said Wynton Marsalis, Artistic Director of Jazz At Lincoln Center.


“The focus of the Fund will be to help those individuals and families evacuated from the greater New Orleans area as they address immediate concerns related to housing, food, education, health care and basic survival necessities. The Fund will also provide resources to assist individuals over time to rebuild their homes and livelihoods,” said Derek E. Gordon, President and CEO of Jazz at Lincoln Center.

The Higher Ground Hurrican Relief Fund will be administered and distributed through the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, a non-profit community foundation. The Baton Rouge Area Foundation is working with organisations in the region to ensure that services and resources directly reach those most affected.