10/08/07 - News update!
Well a few things have happened since I last updated this site.
Firstly, with the new U.K band ,we had a great gig at The Jazz Café in London with a fantastic turnout of funky people. It was the first time this new lineup had played together as DTTB so it was great to see the crowd reactions with loads of people enjoying themselves and having a boogie.
Then it was off to Tokyo, Japan for a four night, two sets a night run of gigs. What a fantastic experience it was with the band playing great and good turnouts for each show. I think we made a new lot of fans in Japan so hopefully DTTB will be able to go from strength to strength there. Still can’t believe that after all this time it was our first visit, with DTTB’s first release there, with Supercharged.
Thanks to Sho Kamura from Swanky/Inpartmaint Records for setting up the gigs for us. Thanks also to everyone at The Cotton Club for making us feel so welcome there. Jun(manager),Hiroshi, Yayoi, Yosuke, Rune, Kanako and technical help, Taro,Sakamoto, Miya and Kohei. Also to Irie for the fantastic food.
The new, U.K, lineup consists of:
- Simon.T.Bramley -Bass and banter
- Jamie.M.Harris - Tenor and alto sax
- Tim Smart -Trombone
- Graeme Flowers - Trumpet
- Phil Nelson - Drums
- Tommy Emmerton -Guitar
- Neil Burditt - Keyboards
Gigs are still going well in the U.S with Shilts leading the band over there. Although dates have been a bit few and far between of late, so hopefully more dates will come in as we get into the New Year. There are still loads of destinations in the U.S we want to get to so fingers crossed some of those will get covered soon. Please keep checking back to the ‘live’ page from time to time for updates.
More positive news on the live side in the U.K. is that I should be teaming up with Clive Johnson from Time and Talent Agency as I am looking to have him represent the U.K band as the agent. So hopefully more gigs in the U.K will now start to appear...and hopefully in Europe.
On the release front Supercharged was received with raving reviews from everyone at press who received it. Such people as Blues and Soul, JazzTimes ,All About Jazz, Just Soul, Save Our Soul ,MundoVibes, Jazz & Tzaz (Greece), JazzMonthly.com,TomorrowJazz.com and many others. The album also received great support in the U.K, from Craig Charles on his Funk Show on BBC Radio 6. The U.S. radio single, “Parkside Shuffle” received great support from nearly all the radio stations, getting played on over 100 stations nationwide in the U.S.
Supercharged has since been released by Blue Note in the U.K, Spain, Germany, Switzerland and Japan. Blue Note have also re-released the first three albums “Staten Island Groove”, “The Urban Grooves” and “Spread The Word”. So all these three are now “officially” available again for the first time in nearly seven years.
Club promotion via the “Electric Vibes” remixed EP went very well. It was a DJ only release with remixes from DJ Spinna, Harry Coade and Speedometer each doing their thang. Giant Steps NYC took on the promotional chores and said the this EP was the best reacting product they worked on all year. Receiving high scores from most of their DJ mailing list.
I’ve just added a new Top 15 to the “Top 15” page. So if you want to see what’s getting the most turntable pressure with me at the moment go and take a look. It’s a list of old and new funky stuff from my collection that I play the most at the moment. Well worth picking up copies if you see them on your next record buying trip.
Please keep checking back on the “live page” for new shows, as I try to keep it as updated as possible. But also check the myspace www.myspace.com/downtotheb as that has loads more photos and is updated more regularly. So well worth a look.
There are also new pics on the live page of some of the Jazz Café and Tokyo gigs for you all to see.
Keepin it funky
Stuart |
