Gigs for 2013: 

• TBA
  
  
  We hope to see you sometime, somewhere...  So please come and say hello !

Here's what I did in the Summer of 2012...

Hi - hope you have had an enjoyable summer - looks like the weather is making one last comeback for the weekend .... and what better time to share a few little things with you in this newsletter. 

All the very best, Julian

OK, So where was I ?   Oh yes, here's some of the highlights of my summer...

• CROPREDY FESTIVAL FRINGE with the COHEN BROTHERS - possibly the biggest audience we have played to date there must have been 1,000 folks taking in the wonderful summer sunshine at the BRASENOSE ARMS .... truly magical !

• Personally this summer, I have also been very lucky to play with some other amazing musicians - many of who played a big part in my musical upbringing as a young fella all those years ago.
  
  It all started with good friend and "guitarist to the stars" Tony Kelsey, who invited me to dep on keys and vocals in THE MOVE - feat Brums finest Bev Bevan on drums and Trevor Burton on guitar ... 
  
  After a week or two cramming Move hits "Flowers in the Rain", "Blackberry Way", "California Man", "Tonight", "Do Ya", "Fire Brigade" and "I Can Hear The Grass Grow" .... plus 60's classics "Somethin Else", "Hey Joe", "Shakin All Over", "Going Back", "Need Your Love So Bad", "It'll Be Me", "Hey Granma" .... 
  
  I was out on a handful of summer festival dates with the band - an amazing experience. More info on the band here - http://themove-live.com/
  
  Their regular keys/voc is due back soon - but I'll keep the tunes warm in case of future calls !!.... in the meantime, my final gig this summer with them is on:
     Thursday Sept 6th in HALL GREEN, hosted by Trevor Burton... see the flyer
  
  It's a charity show FEATURING -THE MOVE, KING PLEASURE AND THE BISCUIT BOYS, THE TREVOR BURTON BAND, SUZI AND THE BACKBEATS
     8PM start - doors open from: 7-30PM
      ADVANCE TICKETS (includes cold buffet) £20
         more info here ..... http://www.rgtperrybarr.co.uk/events/494/

• I also played a couple of lovely acoustic gigs with my friends in NORTHERN SKY http://www.northernsky1.wordpress.com
  
  ...including the last weekend at Worcester Music Festival, where I hosted Sunday afternoon at Huntington Hall's Arts House Cafe, .... 
  
  Tony Kelsey's band RED SHOES played songs from their forthcoming album (which features Fairport Convention, and many other musos ... read on below) ... KIM LOWINGS a young folk singer/songwriter from Stourbridge launched her new album there & played some wonderful new songs .... and VO & TYLER opened the afternoon with their mix of folk/roots and magical acoustic guitar interplay ... a great afternoon
  
  RED SHOES are using this innovative new web site Pledge Music to raise the funds & allow pre-ordering of the new album  http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/redshoes
  
  ... the album features guest musicians including many involved with Tony Kelsey's work with Steve Winwood's charity events (more later)

• In mid July I played at the Annual Nick Drake Gathering with NORTHERN SKY in Tanworth in Arden church - we will have a video of the event soon to join the video from last year's session - you can see it here http://www.northernsky1.wordpress.com/
  ... so keep an eye out & we'll have it with you as soon as we get the recordings from the organisers.

• I hot-footed it that evening, straight from Tanworth church into the deepest Cotswolds - where Steve Winwoods "charity" band (without SW !!) were holding a low key concert in a barn .... 
  
  On drums was MIKE KELLIE (from Spooky Tooth / Traffic - he played on Low Spark http://mikekellie.com    And on vibes/percussion was POLI PALMER, from Family: http://www.familybandstand.com/the-band/poli-palmer 
  
  On double bass the very jazzy TOM CLARKE HILL .... on accordion & keys BILL HUNT (a big fave of mine when he played in Wizzard in the early '70's)
  
  TONY KELSEY on guitar & mandolin and the whole show was fronted by GORDON JACKSON (close personal friend of Winwood and founder member of The Hellions - Jim Capaldi's pre-Traffic outfit) read review of the unearthed and re-issued album of Gordons on which TRAFFIC played http://www.sunbeamrecords.com/jacksonrev/jacksonrev.html
  
  In the 2nd half of the evening (after a few heads-together moments in the break) 
  I sat down to play & sing songs including "Low Spark of High Heeled Boys", "Little Wing", "Black Magic Woman", "Cant Find My Way Home" and "Gimme Some Loving" .... 
  
  ...so it was just as well Winwood wasn't there to play with them too ! ... these are all songs the guys have played over the years and it was lovely to listen to the interplay filling the barn and spilling out into the cool summer evening - the audience and local villagers seemed to love it almost as much as we did playing it.

So .... that's what I did on my summer break !! .... 

Now I'm looking forwards to getting back together with the COHEN BROTHERS and setting off our gigs for the rest of the year ... See the gig list above.

Best wishes - Julian & the Cohen Brothers

Events played by the band in 2010 included:

• Worcester Music Festival
• Malvern’s West Fest
• The Pyramid Party
• Upton Blues Festival
• Blues At The Fold
• Worcester Music Festival

And the prestigious...

• CBSO Centre in Birmingham, headlining a blues night for “ArtsFest 2010”

And opened...

• A “BBC Introducing” live broadcast...
   on BBC's Hereford & Worcester Radio, from Marrs Bar.

In 2011: The band are heading to various local festivals including:

• Upton Blues
• Worcester Music Festival

And will be supporting...

• UK blues legend Larry Miller in Cheltenham.

Such is their growing popularity...
They are booked in advance at many music pubs across the West Midlands, including:

• Cropredy’s Brasenose Arms

Here's what Andy O’Hare of BBC H&W Radio, had to say about the: Cohen Brothers

"There was complete and utter quality of the highest order from this supremely polished outfit... with their sparkling numbers like: Caledonia, Moving On & The Roof Blew Off.

Words fail me every time I see these guys, as they're completely different in terms of sound and sheer musicianship, from just about any other outfit doing the rounds.

If you've got the chance to see this lot live, in the next month or so, then you should grab it quick, as once again the general consensus was that the Julian Crook-fronted five-piece, deserve a far far bigger stage - like SXSW!" (March 2010)

What others had to say...

COX'S YARD IN STRATFORD-UPON-AVON:
“Superb Soul/Blues/Jazz/American fusion band.
Top class musicians who really let rip with a great sound.”

THE LAMB IN MALVERN: “Best band ever' and 'best guitarist ever heard live'.
Truly excellent set and we can't wait to hear you again.”

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