Joining the Later…With Jools Holland host on his 31-date itinerary will be special guest Roachford, the London soul singer and songwriter, now 61.
Since his chart-topping breakthrough hit Cuddly Toy in 1988, Andrew Roachford has recorded ten studio albums, been sought after as a songwriter by Michael Jackson, Joss Stone and Chaka Khan and built a reputation as an outstanding live performer.
Awarded an MBE for services to music, latterly Roachford has released Twice In A Lifetime and Then & Now.
Opening each night on tour will be Welsh jazz pianist and improviser Joe Webb, who has guested with Holland on several occasions and appeared on his latest BBC Two New Year’s Eve Jools’ Annual Hootenanny. His piano playing blends the flavour of Britpop with classic jazz idioms.
Holland’s exuberant live shows are built on the power and finesse of his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra as he delivers an evening of blues, swing, boogie-woogie and ska, packed with musical virtuosity and joyful spontaneity.
“I’m absolutely delighted to be heading out again with our big band,” says Holland, 68. “Having Roachford join us for every night of the tour is a real joy. He’s one of the great soul voices this country has produced, and every time he sings the room lights up. With the mighty orchestra, our wonderful boogie-woogie singers, and the brilliant Joe Webb opening the shows, we’re in for some very special evenings of music.”
Holland devotees will be delighted that boogie-woogie queen Ruby Turner, Louise Marshall, and Sumudu Jayatilaka will be on vocal duty again from October 29 to December 20. Further tour dates include Sheffield City Hall on November 18 (https://www.sheffieldcityhall.co.uk) and Bradford Live (trafalgartickets.com/bradford-live-bradford) on December 18.
Kara Tointon as Constance in The Constant Wife, on tour at York Theatre Royal
LAURA Wade’s new adaptation of The Constant Wife for the RSC leads off Charles Hutchinson’s latest selection of cultural highlights.
Play of the week: Royal Shakespeare Company in The Constant Wife, York Theatre Royal,January 26 to 31, 7.30pm plus 2pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees
SET in 1927, The Constant Wife finds Constance as a very unhappy woman. “Nonsense,” says her mother, who insists “she eats well, sleeps well, dresses well and she’s losing weight. No woman can be unhappy in those circumstances”.
Played by Kara Tointon, she is the perfect wife and mother, but her husband is equally devoted to his mistress, who just happens to be her best friend. Tamara Harvey directs the new adaptation by Home, I’m Darling playwright and Rivals television series writer Laura Wade. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Jeffrey Martin: Blend of folk, Americana and literary short stories at Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York
Folk gig of the week: Please Please You and Brudenell Presents present Jeffrey Martin and special guest Tenderness, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, Saturday, 8.15pm (doors 7.30pm)
PORTLAND musician Jeffrey Martin’s narrative-driven songwriting is a blend of folk, Americana and literary short stories with echoes of Raymond Carver. Before turning to music full time in 2016, he spent several years as a high-school English teacher, a profession he left to “chase his dreams at all cost.”
His lyrics are marked by his insight into the human condition, often focusing on the struggles and quiet dignity of people on the margins of society. Box office: bluebirdbakery.co.uk/rise.
Emily Stubbs: Exhibiting ceramics at Pyramid Gallery, York, from Saturday
Exhibition launch of the week: Carolyn Coles, Emily Stubbs and Karen Fawcett, The Sky’s The Limit, Pyramid Gallery, Stonegate, York, Saturday until mid-March
SOUTH Bank Studios artist Carolyn Coles and PICA Studios ceramicist Emily Stubbs will be on hand from 11.30am to 2.30pm at Saturday’s opening of The Sky’s The Limit, their joint exhibition with wildlife sculptor Karen Fawcett.
Like Carolyn, Emily has been selected to take part in York Open Studios 2026 on April 18 & 19 and April 25 & 26. Look out too for work by Pyramid Gallery’s Jeweller of the Month, Kate Rhodes, from Hebden Bridge. Gallery opening hours are: 10am to 5pm, Monday to Saturday.
Snake Davis and Sumudu Jayatilaka: Performing together at Helmsley Arts Centre
Jools’ partners of the week: Snake & Sumudu, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday, 7.30pm
SAXOPHONIST to the stars Snake Davis and singer-songwriter Sumudu Jayatilaka often meet up to perform with Jools Holland and His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra or to play together in arts centres.
Raised in Scunthorpe, now based in London, Sumudu has frequently toured as a backing vocalist, guitarist, keyboardist and percussionist for Sir Van Morrison. At 15, she made her TV debut on BBCs Pebble Mill At One, performing her own composition, accompanied by Snake on sax and flute. Later they took part in a Royal Albert Hall concert with Burt Bacharach and Hal David. At Helmsley, expect classic pop, original compositions and a touch of soul and jazz. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Shakin’ all over: Rebel Dean in Whole Lotta Shakin’, his tribute to Shakin’ Stevens at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre
Tribute show of the week:Whole Lotta Shakin’ – The Shakin’ Stevens Story, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, Sunday, 7.30pm
ENDORSED by members of Shakin’ Stevens own family, West End star Rebel Dean’s award-winning tribute to Great Britain’s biggest-selling singles artist of the 1980s tell the story of the rockin’ Welsh boy and his rise to chart-topping superstardom.
Whole Lotta Shakin’ combines a live band with rare footage and images in a nostalgic night of Shaky hits, Green Door, Oh Julie, You Drive Me Crazy and This Ole House et al, complemented by Eddie Cochran, Chuck Berry, Ritchie Valens and Elvis Presley numbers that he covered. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Anna Hale: Killer punchlines, musical flair and spiky resilience at The Crescent, York
Comedy gig of the week: Anna Hale: Control Freak, The Crescent, York, Sunday, 7.30pm
ANNA Hale, comedian, singer-songwriter and unapologetic control freak, has written the jokes and the songs, planned the lighting cues and even sold the tickets for her gigs. When life spins out of control, can one perfectionist keep the show together, and, crucially, not let anyone else have a go? Find out when encountering the killer punchlines, musical flair and spiky resilience of the 2024 Musical Comedy Awards Audience Favourite winner’s debut tour show. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.
Mike Joyce: Tales from his drumming days for The Smiths at Pocklington Arts Centre
On the beat: Mike Joyce, The Drums: My Life In The Smiths, Pocklington Arts Centre, January 28, 7.30pm
DRUMMER Mike Joyce has been asked numerous times, “What was it like being in The Smiths?”. “That’s one hell of a question to answer!” he says. Answer it, he does, however, both in his 2025 memoir and now in his touring show The Drums: My Life In The Smiths.
To reflect on being stationed behind singer Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr from 1982 to 1987, Joyce will be interviewed by Guardian music journalist Dave Simpson, who lives near York. Audience members can put their questions to Joyce too. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
Neil Sadler: Leading his blues band at Milton Rooms, Malton
Blues gig of the week: Ryedale Blues Club presents Neil Sadler Band, Milton Rooms, Malton, January 29, 8pm
NORTH Devon guitarist, singer, songwriter and record producer Neil Sadler has worked with songwriters and composers Guy Fletcher and Doug Flett, Don Black, Leslie David Reed and Tony McCaulay and honied his guitar style with blues and rock artists Larry Miller, Mike Farmer, Dennis Siggery and Malaya Blue, as well as running No Machine Studios for 30 years
Sadler has led his present line-up since early 2024 featuring drummer Ray Barwell and bass guitarist Kev Langman. In January 2025, his Past To Present album was nominated for UK Blues Federation awards for UK Blues Traditional Artist of the Year and UK Blues Album of the Year. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
The poster for Country Roads’ celebration of Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash, Glen Campbell et al at York Barbican
Country celebration of the week: Country Roads, York Barbican, January 30, 7.30pm
COUNTRY Roads invites you to a celebration of country superstar royalty featuring such hits as 9 To 5, The Gambler, I Walk The Line, Ring Of Fire, King Of The Road, Crazy, Rhinestone Cowboy, Jolene, Dance The Night Away, Walkin’ After Midnight and many, many more as the stars of fellow tribute show Islands In The Stream return in this new production. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Ancient Hostility: Passionate political and personal song in harmony at The Black Swan Inn, York
IN his first guide to the New Year, Charles Hutchinson picks out upcoming highlights on January’s calendar.
Navigators Art presents A Feast Of Fools III, The Black Swan Inn, Peasholme Green, York, January 4, 7.30pm, doors 7pm
WELCOME to A Feast Of Fools III, York arts collective Navigators Art’s sign-off to “Holiday’s end – the last gasp of Mischief” in a celebration of Twelfth Night and Old Christmas is packed with live folk music and a nod to the pagan and the impish.
On the bill will be: Ancient Hostility, performing passionate political and personal song in harmony, in the vein of The Young Tradition, plus fiddle and squeezebox, and North West folk duo Joshua Arnold and Therine, presenting vocal-led trad and experimental versions of songs in the British folk canon on hurdy gurdy, harmonium and DIY instruments.
So too are Pefkin, whose slowly unfolding, ritualistic hymnals draw heavily on the landscape and the natural world, using processed violin/viola, electronics, voice and field recordings, and White Sail, York’s multi-instrumental alt-folk legends, weaving sound-spells for the season’s final curtain. Box office: www.ticketsource.co.uk/navigators-art-performance.
The Hammonds Band: A blast of brass at the SJT, Scarborough. Picture: Lorne Campbell
The Hammonds Band, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, January 11, 3pm
THE award-winning Hammonds Band returns to the SJT for an afternoon of the best of brass music. Founded by mill owner Sir Titus Salt in Saltaire as an amenity for the workers, the band later had a long association with Hammonds Sauce Works under the baton of the legendary Geoffrey Whitham. Now, under Morgan Griffiths’s direction, the band performs across the world. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.
Danielle Long’s Prince Valentine and Alice Rose’s Snow Whitein Pickering Musical Society’s panto Snow White
Pickering Musical Society in Snow White, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, January 14 to 25, 7.15pm, except January 19; 2.15pm, January 17, 18, 24 and 25
INTEREST has been “extraordinary” for Pickering Musical Society’s January 2026 pantomime, directed for the tenth year by resident director Luke Arnold. More than 1,000 tickets have sold already; January 18’s 2.15pm performance has sold out and several others are close behind.
Written by Ron Hall, the show combines comedy, spectacle, festive magic, dazzling scenery and colourful costumes and features such principals as Marcus Burnside’s Dame Dumpling, Danielle Long’s Prince Valentine, Alice Rose’s Snow White, Paula Cook’s Queen Lucrecia and Sue Smithson’s Fairy Dewdrop. Audiences are encouraged to book early to avoid disappointment. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.littleboxoffice.com.
York actor Harry Summers: Wintering in panto villainy as Abanazar in Malton and Norton Musical Theatre’s Aladdin
Malton and Norton Musical Theatre in Aladdin – The Pantomime, Milton Rooms, Malton, January 17, 1.30pm, 5.15pm; January 18, 2pm; January 20 to 23, 7.15pm; January 24, 1pm, 5.15pm
BETWIXT York roles in York Shakespeare Project’s The Spanish Tragedy and Black Treacle Theatre’s Anne Boleyn, Harry Summers continues to corner the market in dark, dramatic and deliciously boo-worthy roles as wicked magician Abanazar in Malton and Norton Musical Theatre’s Aladdin.
Fresh from his villainous scene-stealing in The Spanish Tragedy, Thomas Jennings plays the Emperor, insisting he is “one of the good guys”, even if his idea of good includes execution and arranged marriages. Further principal players in the mystical land of Shangri-La include Harriet White’s Aladdin, Isabel Davis’s Princess Jasmine; Rory Queen’s dame, Widow Twankey, Tom Gleave’s Wishee Washee, Mark Summers’ Genie of the Lamp and Annabelle Free’s Spirit of the Ring. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Sue Perkins: Reflecting on stigma, humiliation and misunderstanding at the Grand Opera House, York
The Eternal Shame Of Sue Perkins, Grand Opera House, York, January 18, 7.30pm
YOU may know her as Bake-Off Sue, Taskmaster Sue, Just A Minute Sue, or the Sue that gives you travel envy, but stand-up Sue is full of surprises. In this new show, Sue Perkins shares the unlikely happenings from a career in the spotlight.
What’s the fallout when your pituitary gland goes haywire on live TV? How do you convince the public you didn’t really fall on to that vacuum cleaner attachment? And when intimate photos are splashed all over the internet, how do you switch the shame to dignity and joy? Find out in Perkins’ first live show in more than a decade, wherein she delivers a humorous treatise on stigma, humiliation and misunderstanding. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
The poster for Deadpan Players’ Star Wars spoof at the JoRo, York
Deadpan Players in Star Wars: May The Farce Be With You, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, January 23, 7.30pm, and January 24, 2pm and 7.30pm
IN a time of deep unrest, rebel forces are fighting for survival. Led by Garth Vader, the Empire has created a sinister network called The Dark Web, through which Vader could travel back in time to crush the rebellion. Plucky Princess Slaya has encrypted and uploaded the password, along with a desperate cry for help to cute droid R2Ai.
Can Fluke Skywalker decipher the message, find Only One Kenobi, enlist the help of rogue pilot Ham Solo and the legendary, if rather pungent, Gedi Master, the diminutive but powerful “Odour”, then rescue the Princess and save the Galaxy? Find out by attending this fundraising event, with all proceeds going to Yorkshire Air Ambulance and Candlelighters. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Snake Davis and special guest Sumudu Jayatilaka: Performing together at Helmsley Arts Centre
Snake & Sumudu, Helmsley Arts Centre, January 24 2026, 7.30pm
SAXOPHONIST to the stars Snake Davis and singer-songwriter Sumudu Jayatilaka often meet up to perform with Jools Holland and His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra or to play together in arts centres.
Raised in Scunthorpe, now based in London, Sumudu has frequently toured as a backing vocalist, guitarist, keyboardist and percussionist for Sir Van Morrison. At 15, she made her TV debut on BBCs Pebble Mill At One, performing her own composition, accompanied by Snake on sax and flute. Later they took part in a Royal Albert Hall concert with Burt Bacharach and Hal David. At Helmsley, expect classic pop, original compositions and a touch of soul and jazz. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Mike Joyce: Discussing his days on the beat with The Smiths at Pocklington Arts Centre
Mike Joyce, The Drums: My Life In The Smiths, Pocklington Arts Centre, January 28, 7.30pm
DRUMMER Mike Joyce has been asked numerous times, “What was it like being in The Smiths?”. “That’s one hell of a question to answer!” he says. Answer it, he does, however, both in his 2025 memoir and now in his touring show The Drums: My Life In The Smiths.
To reflect on being stationed behind singer Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr from 1982 to 1987, Joyce will be interviewed by the Guardian music journalist Dave Simpson, who lives near York. Audience members can put their questions to Joyce too. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
Jools Holland: Returning to York Barbican in December
BOOGIE WOOGIE pianist Jools Holland will make his annual trip to York Barbican with his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra on his autumn/winter 2024 tour.
Joining Jools on December 11 will be two special guests: Soft Cell and Marc & The Mambas singer Marc Almond and blues guitar prodigy Toby Lee.
Starting on October 31, the tour will take in 30 shows, including further Yorkshire gigs at Sheffield City Hall on November 23 and Leeds First Direct Arena on December 20. Tickets will go on sale on Friday (2/2/2024) at 10am at ticketmaster.co.uk.
Marc Almond: Special guest. Picture: Mike Owen
Holland last appeared at York Barbican on December 20 2023; Almond previously joined him on that stage in November 2018.
Guitarist Lee, described by Joe Bonamassa as a “future superstar of the blues”, first came to public attention aged ten when he posted a Get Well Soon jam for BB King that went viral with five million views in one week.
Since then, Lee has performed in West End productions, winning Olivier and UK Blues Awards and showcasing his skills in television and live performances around the world.
Blues guitarist Toby Lee
Once more, Holland’s autumn and winter shows will feature vocal solo spots for blues queen Ruby Turner, Louise Marshall and Sumudu Jayatilaka.
More immediately, Holland’s collaboration with Rod Stewart, Swing Fever, will be released on East West Records on February 23. Recorded with his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra at Jools’s Greenwich studio, this new partnership in swing revels in a 13-track salute to songs of the big band era.
The track listing will be: Lullaby Of Broadway; Oh Marie; Sentimental Journey; Pennies From Heaven; Night Train; Love Is The Sweetest Thing; Them There Eyes; Good Rockin’ Tonight; Ain’t Misbehavin’; Frankie And Johnny; Walkin’ My Baby Back Home; Almost Like Being In Love and Tennessee Waltz.
The cover artwork for Swing Fever, the February 23 album by Rod Stewart with Jools Holland and his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra
