Andrew London Trio Featuring Neil Billington
7 Ruahine St, Paraparaumu, Kapiti CoastTicket Information
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Andrew London has spent the best part of 40 years touring New Zealand, first in pubs & cafes on the infamous Lion Breweries Circuit in the early 1980s, graduating to theatres and music festivals with his swing trio Hot Club Sandwich, country-rock band The Cattlestops or more recently his self-titled Andrew London trio.
His style defies categorisation, to the extent that he has headlined jazz, folk and arts festivals throughout Australasia, graced the stages of music clubs between Invercargill and the North Shore, and won high praise from Downbeat magazine in the USA for recordings in blues, swing and country genres.
His satirical original songs have formed the basis of his ongoing popularity, subtlely lampooning our Kiwi attitudes, foibles and idiosyncrasies in a gentle and witty way. John Clarke professed to being a fan and National Radio dubbed his trio ‘Flight of the Conchords for Rest Homes’.
Many of his performing and recording projects have involved Neil Billington, undoubtedly New Zealand's foremost harmonica exponent. He excels on both the standard diatonic 'blues harp' popularised by legends like Sonny Terry, Sonny Boy Williamson, Little Walter and our own Midge Marsden, and on the seldom-seen chromatic harmonica favoured by Stevie Wonder, Larry Adler, and Belgian jazz master Toots Thielemans.
Neil has featured at blues and jazz festivals with his own bands, and with other collaborations including a series of tours with acoustic blues guitarist Mike Garner. The duo made several trips to Japan, playing clubs and festivals, at one of which Neil was invited to sit in with the legendary American guitarist Sonny Landreth. On the same trip Neil was invited by Hohner, the world's leading harmonica manufacturer, to be a guest performer at the company's Tokyo festival in 2018, where he demonstrated his skills on both the blues harp and the chromatic harmonica - a rare accolade.
Neil and Andrew share a bond of mutual professional respect forged in the heat of battle at tiny bars in Hawera and Raglan, festival concerts in Wanaka and Waiheke, and unusual gigs in Riyadh, Sydney and Norfolk Island. They are also just good friends who enjoy a bit of banter on stage, and hardly ever stick to the set list, as stories are told and ridiculous situations recollected.
Kirsten London plays bass, contributes velvet vocals, prompts lyrics and tolerates nonsense.
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