Tag: Joanne Shaw Taylor

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No 41, from Gazette & Herald

Joanne Shaw Taylor: Promoting new album Black & Gold at York Barbican

FROM blues guitar to saxophone solos, culinary festivities to Friends on song, Charles Hutchinson finds the ones to entertain you.

Blues guitarist of the week: Joanne Shaw Taylor, York Barbican, Thursday, 7.30pm

DISCOVERED by Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart at 16, and now 39, West Midlands blues rock guitarist, singer and songwriter Joanne Shaw Taylor showcases her tenth studio album, Black & Gold, on her return to York Barbican.

Known for her blazing guitar work and soulful voice, Shaw Taylor fuses blues, rock, soul and pop into her live set of new songs such as Hell Of A Good Time, fan favourites from past albums and nods to blues greats. Support comes from Ferris & Sylvester. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Skosh chef-proprietor Neil Bentinck: Cookery demonstration at St Crux Hall on September 27 at 1pm at York Food & Drink Festival

Festival of the week: York Food & Drink Festival, cooking until September 28

HIGHLIGHTS of this autumn’s York Food & Drink Festival include 70 street food and produce stands in Parliament Street; the Entertainment Marquee on Parliament Street, serving a bill of Live for St Leonard’s Hospice music acts; more live music in St Sampson’s Square, and demonstrations, events, tastings, and sampling at St Crux Hall.

Further events will be two taste trails; Bedern Hall Pork Pie Competition; the Food Factory in St Crux Hall and Museum Gardens; Chocolate Bar Challenge; Jorvik Viking Centre’s activities with an historic twist and the Meet The Makers drinks fair. For the full festival programme, head to: yorkfoodfestival.com.

Katie Spencer: Introducing new album What Love Is at Kirk Theatre, Pickering. Picture: Tom Arran

Folk gig of the week: Friday Folk Night presents Katie Spencer, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, September 26, 7.30pm

RAISED in the East Yorkshire flatlands on the fringes of Hull, Katie Spencer’s music is influenced by the landscapes that shaped her. Her songwriting and guitar playing reflect a sense of space and movement, drawing inspiration from Joni Mitchell, James Taylor and Michael Chapman.

New album What Love Is will be released on October 3. Produced by Matt Ingram, known for his work with Laura Marling, its ten compositions explore themes of love, introspection and personal growth. Her live performances are peppered with humour and storytelling. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.co.uk.

Tom Little: Headlining Hilarity Bites Comedy Club bill at Milton Rooms, Malton. Picture: Alexis Dubus

Comedy gig of the week: Hilarity Bites Comedy Club presents Tom Little, Seeta Wrightson and Kieran Lawless, Milton Rooms, Malton, Friday, 8pm

TOM Little, 2015 Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year winner and BBC Radio New Comedy Award finalist, plays the well-read fool, taking on diverse facts but refusing to deal with them conventionally.

Bradford-born Seeta Wrightson, 2025 Female Pilot Club winner, spins engaging stories with wit, drawing on her dual Asian and British heritage. From humble beginnings, she has wandered through life wondering exactly where she fits, having adventures aplenty figuring it out.  Nothin’ Butt Funny Comedy award winner Kieran Lawless is an Irish comedian based in Manchester. Doors and bar open at 7pm.Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

Snake Davis: Sax to the max at Helmsley Arts Centre

Saxophonist of the week: Snake Davis Band, Helmsley Arts Centre, Friday, 7.30pm

STILL highly in demand as a session player, cheering up records by Olly Murs and Shania Twain lately, and playing to  crowds of up to 70,000 with Japanese rock god Eikichi Yazawa, saxophonist Snake Davis gains most joy from performing warm, friendly venues such as Helmsley Arts Centre.

Leading his four-piece band, featuring guitar, bass guitar and drums, Davis plays “the floaty to the danceable”, from soul to jazz, Northern Soul to pop and world, original material to classic sax pieces such as Baker Street and Night Train. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Sir Alan Ayckbourn. Picture: Tony Bartholomew

Actors, Audiences And Ayckbourn, It’s All Relative, The McCarthy, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, Friday, 7pm

AN evening of Sir Alan Ayckbourn in two halves opens with Ayckbourn archivist Simon Murgatroyd exploring the creation of Relatively Speaking on its 60th anniversary. The second half is a chance to hear stories from a group of actors with years of experience of working with the former SJT artistic director and prolific playwright. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.

Dame Imogen Cooper: Piano concert at Helmsley Arts Centre on Saturday. Picture: Sussie Ahlburg

Classical concert of the week: Dame Imogen Cooper, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday, 7.30pm

AFTER playing St Peter’s Church, Norton, at July’s Ryedale Festival, pianist Dame Imogen Cooper returns to Ryedale this weekend to play Bach’s Nun Freut Euch, Lieben Christen G’mein, arranged by Kempff;  Bach’s chorale-prelude Nun Komm’ der Heiden Heiland, arranged by Busoni and Schubert’s Four Impromptus, D. 899 (Op. 90). Post-interval, her programme continues with Beethoven’s Seven Bagatelles (OP. 33) and Schubert’s Four Impromptus, D. 935 (Op. posth. 142). Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Apollo Theatre Company’s merry crew in Round The Horne

Nostalgia of the week: Apollo Theatre Company in Round The Horne, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, September 29, 7.45pm; September 30, 1.30pm and 7.45pm

FROM 1965 to 1968, no show on British radio was bigger than the ground-breaking Round The Horne. Classic comedy fans will be in their element as Apollo Theatre Company transports the audience back to the anarchic, boisterous atmosphere of the BBC’s Paris Theatre during the recordings, complete with a live band and sound effects.

Combining infamous movie spoofs with regular characters such as Julian & Sandy, Rambling Syd Rumpo and J. Peasemold Gruntfuttock, Round The Horne’s merry crew drew up to 15 million listeners per week and made stars of Kenneth Horne, Kenneth Williams, Hugh Paddick and Betty Marsden. Now take a step back in time to experience this vintage comedy live. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.

Alicia Belgarde (Monica), left, Daniel Parkinson (Chandler), Enzo Benvenuti (Ross), Eva Hope (Rachel), Amelia Atherton (Phoebe) and Ronnie Burden (Joey) in Friends! The Musical Parody, on tour at Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Pamela Raith

The one where they sing: Friends! The Musical Parody, Grand Opera House, York, September 30 to October 4, Tuesday to Thursday, 7.30pm; Friday, 5.30pm and 8.30pm; Saturday, 2.30pm and 7.30pm

NEW York and Las Vegas hit Friends The Musical Parody is a musical comedy packed with iconic moments from all ten seasons of the beloved television series, complemented by an original musical score. Join Rachel, Ross, Monica, Chandler, Joey, and Phoebe, the world’s most famous group of twenty-somethings, as they navigate love, friendship and life’s ups and downs in 1990s’ New York City.

“Whether you’re in a love triangle, trying to make it as an actor, or just can’t quit your day job, you’ll be laughing, crying, and quoting your favourite lines all night long,” the show promises. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Sue Ryding, left, recalling her 40-year comedy partnership with the late Maggie Fox (inset) in LipService in Funny Stuff at Pocklington Arts Centre

Reflections on grief: LipService in Funny Stuff, Pocklington Arts Centre, October 2, 7.30pm

SUE Ryding is one half of legendary satirical duo LipService. In March 2022, her comedy partner, York actress and writer Maggie Fox, died and Sue was left with a shipping container full of 40 years of stage props, costumes, wigs, hats, shoes, sheep, you name it.

This show looks at all the “stuff” we accumulate, hoard and hate to let go in her humorous and creative response to grief, wherein Sue struggles to part with a life-sized stuffed sheep, a badger onesie, some ruby slippers, a sinking bog, Charlotte Bronte’s knickers and a host of soft toys. Touring anecdotes are combined with archive footage from LipService shows. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

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More Things To Do in and around York when Wrong is the right choice. Magical List No.79, courtesy of The Press, York

Mind games: Beverley actor Rory Fairbairn as the Mind Mangler in Magic Goes Wrong, on tour at York Theatre Royal from Tuesday

MAGIC is on the cards in the week ahead, and you can’t wrong if you follow Charles Hutchinson’s tips for what else to do and see.

Mayhem in April: Mischief in Magic Goes Wrong, York Theatre Royal, Tuesday to Sunday, 7.30pm (except Sunday); 2pm, Thursday and Sunday, 2.30pm, Saturday

MASTERS of catastrophic comedy Mischief team up with deconstructionist American magicians Penn & Teller for Magic Goes Wrong, their most daring calamitous show yet.

When a hapless gang of magicians strive to stage an evening of grand illusion to raise cash for charity, magic turns to mayhem, accidents spiral out of control and so does their fundraising target. Penn & Teller will not be appearing on stage. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Kristin Hersh: Fronting her Electric Trio at The Crescent

Cult gig of the week: Kristin Hersh Electric Trio, The Crescent, York, tomorrow, 7.30pm

BOSTON songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and author Kristin Hersh, leader of indie rock band Throwing Muses and noise rock power trio 50 Foot Wave, is on the road with her hard-hitting super-group.

Joining Hersh, 55, will be 50 Foot Wave drummer Rob Ahlers and Throwing Muses bassist Fred Abong, who opens the night playing solo, promoting his Yellow Throat album. Expect Throwing Muses’s 2020 album, Sun Racket, to feature alongside material spanning Hersh’s 30-year career. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.

Improvising a musical: Showstoppers Ruth Bratt, left, Lauren Shearing and Pippa Evans with Duncan Walsh Atkins, on keys, and Chris Ash on reeds. Picture: Alex Harvey-Brown

Anything could happen: Showstopper! The Improvised Musical, York Theatre Royal, tonight, 7.30pm

OLIVIER Award winners Showstopper! return to York with…well, you decide! At each show, a new musical comedy is created from scratch as audience suggestions are transformed on the spot into an all-singing, all-dancing production.

From Hamilton in a hospital to Sondheim in the Sahara, you suggest it and The Showstoppers will sing it. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Blues power: Guitarist Joanne Shaw Taylor returns to York Barbican

Blues gig of the week: Joanne Shaw Taylor, York Barbican, Sunday, 7.30pm

WEST Midlands blues guitarist and singer-songwriter Joanne Shaw Taylor plays York as one of five British dates this month, performing songs from 2021’s The Blues Album.

That album showcased covers of 11 rare blues classics first recorded by Albert King, Peter Green, Little Richard, Magic Sam, Aretha Franklin and Little Milton. Expect selections from her albums Reckless Heart, Wild, The Dirty Truth, Almost Always Never, Diamonds In The Dirt and White Sugar too. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Gabrielle Sargent: Soprano soloist for York Guildhall Orchestra’s St George’s Day concert

Celebration of the week: York Guildhall Orchestra’s St George’s Day Concert, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, Sunday, 7.30pm

YORK Guildhall Orchestra make their JoRo debut under the baton of conductor Simon Wright, who turns the spotlight on English composers in an Anglophile programme of light music to mark St George’s Day.

“Come down for a springtime evening of joyful music and not a dragon in sight,” says Wright, who will be combining favourite pieces with lesser-known gems. Sullivan, Elgar and Handel feature; so do Strachy’s Party Mood (from Housewives’ Choice), Wood’s Barwick Green (The Archers) and Coates’s By The Sleepy Lagoon (Desert Island Discs). Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

One giant leap for Lee Harris’s Mr Toad during rehearsals for NE Musicals York’s York premiere of The Wind In The Willows The Musical

Family musical of the week: NE Musicals York in The Wind In The Willows The Musical, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, April 27 to May 1, 7.30pm; 2.30pm matinees, Saturday, Sunday

NE Musicals York transform the JoRo theatre into a riverbank and wildwood for director and designer Steve Tearle’s York premiere of Julian Fellowes’ stage adaptation of Kenneth Grahame’s story with a score by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe.

Join Ratty (Finlay Butler), Mole (Jack Hambleton), Badger (Tom Henshaw) and the impulsive Mr Toad (Lee Harris), whose insatiable need for speed lands him in serious bother. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Horse Chestnut Leaves, a watercolour by Selby artist Lynda Heaton, from her Village Gallery exhibition in York

Exhibition launch of the week: Lynda Heaton, Expressions In Watercolour, Village Gallery, Colliergate, York, Tuesday to June 4

SINCE retiring, Selby artist Lynda Heaton has spent much of her time painting in her home studio. “I’m passionate about watercolour painting and love the way the colours mingle and move across the paper, sometimes giving surprising effects,” she says.

“My works come from my imagination or from memories of somewhere I’ve been and the mood of that place.” Other pieces are inspired by the natural world, the colours, textures and rhythms found in nature.

Diversity performing Connected in their April 4 performance at York Barbican. Picture: Sarah Hollis

Quick return of the week: Diversity: Connected, York Barbican, Wednesday, 7.45pm

HOT on the heels of their April 4 visit, London street dancers Diversity return to York Barbican due to public demand as part of their 79-show 2022 tour.

In a show created by choreographer Ashley Banjo, the 2009 Britain’s Got Talent winners will be building their routines around the internet, social media, the digital era and how it connects us all. Their Black Lives Matter-inspired dance, premiered on Britain’s Got Talent to a flood of complaints to Ofcom in September 2020, definitely features. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

This woman’s re-work: Sarah-Louise Young in An Evening Without Kate Bush at Theatre@41

An Evening Without Kate Bush but with Sarah-Louise Young, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York,  Thursday, 7.30pm

THE “chaotic cabaret cult”, An Evening Without Kate Bush”, finds Cabaret Whore, The Showstoppers, La Soiree performer Sarah-Louise Young teaming up theatre maker Russell Lucas to explore the music and mythology of one of the most influential voices in British music.

Kate’s not there, but you are, for a show that is as much about fandom as Bush’s songs and wider cultural impact. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

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Comic Russell Kane, metalheads Saxon and blues queen Joanne Shaw Taylor confirm York Barbican gigs in super-signing day

Russell Kane: Pandemic pontifications in The Essex Variant! show

ON football’s January transfer deadline day, York Barbican made three big signings of its own: comedian Russell Kane, Barnsley heavy metal veterans Saxon and blues guitarist/singer-songwriter Joanne Shaw Taylor.

Enfield humorist Kane, 46, offers his “gut-punch funny, searing take on the two years we’ve just gone through” on December 14 in his new stand-up tour show, Russell Kane Live: The Essex Variant!.

Comic, writer, presenter and actor Kane presents two podcasts, Man Baggage and BBC Radio 4’s Evil Genius and is a regular on Channel 4, BBC and ITV. “I drink lots of coffee and I’m ‘like that in real life’,” he says.

He was the first comedian to bag the two most prestigious comedy awards on Earth in the same year, for the same show: The Dave’s Edinburgh Comedy Awards (formerly known as the Perrier) and the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Award, (formerly the Barry Award). “I’m also a raving bighead that likes listing my achievements,” he says.

Saxon invaders: Barnsley heavy metal veterans take over York Barbican in November

After 15 million album sales and four top ten albums in a career-spanning 44 years, heavy metal stalwarts Saxon visit York on November 23 on their Seize The Day tour.

Plugging new album Carpe Diem in 14 cities with Diamond Head as their special guests, Saxon frontman Biff Byford, 71, says: “Can’t wait to get out on a real tour again. It’s gonna be monumental.  See you all out there. Seize the day!”

Produced by Judas Priest guitarist Andy Sneap at Backstage Recording Studios in Derbyshire, with Byford and Sneap mixing and mastering, Carpe Diem will be released on Friday (4/2/2022) on Silver Lining Music, in the wake of two singles, Remember The Fallen and Carpe Diem (Seize The Day).  

Joanne Shaw Taylor has picked York for one of only five dates on her spring tour, performing songs from last September’s The Blues Album on April 24.

Joanne Shaw Taylor: Feeling the blues in York on April 24

Shaw Taylor, who will turn 37 on February 20, topped Billboard Magazine’s Official Blues Album Chart last year, when her covers record was voted #Number 1 Most Played Blues Album of 2021 by the Independent Blues Broadcasters Association. 

The Blues Album comprises the Wednesbury musician’s personalised covers of 11 rare blues numbers recorded by Albert King, Fleetwood Mac’s Peter Green, Little Richard, Magic Sam and Aretha Franklin, complemented by some “not obvious choices” by Little Village, Little Milton, The Fabulous Thunderbirds and James Ray.

“I’d known from the beginning of my recording career that one day I wanted to record an album of blues covers; I just wasn’t sure when the right time to do that would be,” she says. “I’ve always found it far easier to write my own material than come up with creative ways to make other artists’ material my own.” 

Tickets for all three shows go on sale on Friday from 10am at yorkbarbican.co.uk.