Jazz breaking news: Charlie Watts Goes Boogie-Woogie For Pizza Express Jazz Club Shows
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Having just turned 70 earlier this month Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts nonetheless shows no signs of hanging up his sticks just yet as he prepares to play two special nights at the Pizza Express Jazz Club in London on 24 and 25 June.
A longstanding lover of jazz, Watts for the Dean Street shows teams up once again with boogie-woogie piano exponents Axel Zwingenberger and Ben Waters with old school friend Dave Green on bass and Lila Ammons (granddaughter of boogie-woogie legend Albert Ammons) on vocals. The band occasionally gets together for short tours, but this is a first for the Pizza Express Jazz Club.
Watts has always had an interest in bebop and hard bop and in the 1980s and 1990s kept his own jazz groups busy with tours and albums such Live At Fulham Town Hall and Bird homage From One Charlie. More recently in 2004 his live album recorded just over the road in Ronnie Scott’s – Watts at Scott’s – is perhaps the pick of the bunch, but Watts has also teamed up to effect with jazz-influenced rock players such as drummer Jim Keltner. Watts’ interest in boogie-woogie goes way back to Rocket 88 in which he played with Stones co-founder Ian Stewart.
There are two houses for the Pizza shows each night and while tickets are a crisp £55 per head there’s sure to be considerable demand from Charlie’s legion of fans. – Stephen Graham
For more go to www.pizzaexpresslive.co.uk