2 April 2024. 

My new album, ‘Bags Of Vibes’, is gearing up for release on May 13th & will be available here soon. It will also be available on Amazon & will also be available digitally via BandCamp. This is the album that was originally scheduled for October 2020 & it’s a good feeling to know that it will be out soon. The album features my regular quartet of Robin Aspland, Simon Thorpe & Winston Clifford & has the great Scottish guitarist Jim Mullen featured on three tracks.

In the last 2 years I’ve done a few gigs as a ‘Homage to the Vibraphone in Jazz’ where I talk about the history of the vibraphone (it’s about 100 years old), the mechanics of the instrument (as I regularly get asked)  & play tunes associated with the great vibists in jazz – from Lionel Hampton to Gary Burton & touching Milt Jackson, Bobby Hutcherson & Cal Tjader in between. There have been many other great vibists of course but in the limited time available these are the ones whose repertoire I concentrate on.

I have some more gigs with this theme coming up. Please check my gig page for details. 

I also have an 8 date tour in Devon & Cornwall with a trio featuring guitarist Neil Burns starting on April 28th.

As I mentioned earlier, I used to play with the pop band Fairground Attraction in 1988/89 & they’ve reformed. It was shock at first but I’m getting use to the idea now. We’re going to Japan  for some gigs in June & there’s a 14 date UK tour in the autumn. All the dates are on my gig page. They also have a new single out & there will be an album of new material released in the  autumn.

My T shirts are still selling when I remember to take them to gigs… I still get a kick out of seeing people wearing them!

 

Below is old news…

When I realised it was pointless releasing my new quartet album in 2020 I released a solo ambient album instead called “Dreamscapes”. That’s gone quite well & I sell the occasional copy. It’s not bad considering very few people know it exists… I thought it was appropriate at the time as it’s an ambient album & (people tell me) is great for relaxation, chilling out, meditation, mindfulness & yoga amongst other things. For the first time ever I decided to not press copies of the album so it’s only available digitally at https://rogerbeaujolais1.bandcamp.com/releases

And a reminder that I’ve digitised all my quintet albums, my Italian Trio album & the Vibraphonic album ‘Acid Jazzizms’ & they are all now available as digital downloads at Bandcamp. It’s also possible to download individual tracks. The links are;

https://rogerbeaujolais.bandcamp.com/

https://rogerbeaujolaisquintet.bandcamp.com/

https://rogerbeaujolaisitaliantrio.bandcamp.com/album/barba-lunga

https://vibraphonic1.bandcamp.com/album/acid-jazzizms

 

All the above are also available via my Gig Page. T shirts can be bought there too. 

The following is what I wrote in May 2020 & I’ve kept it here as it’s an interesting snapshot of what was happening then.

There’s not much to say that everyone doesn’t know already. I’ve had quite a few gigs cancelled & I’m fairly certain that a lot of the ones that haven’t been, will be soon. It’s hard to imagine how venues can open if the audience needs to socially distance. And they probably will till we have a vaccine.  Socially distancing in a venue would mean not so many people would be able to come along & there’d be less money taken on the door. As the clubs all work on a shoestring budget it’s difficult to see how they could survive like that unless us musicians all accepted less money. When what we get is pretty similar to what we all got 20-25 years ago when the cost of living was a fraction of what it is now. And of course, even if the audience could socially distance, it’s not possible for the musicians.

Please check my gig page for the latest cancellations (as opposed to the latest gigs).

Below is some info on my last album – ‘Barba Lunga‘ with my Italian Trio (released Jan 2019).

It features Giacomo Dominici on electric & double basses & Alessandro Pivi on drums & was recorded in Pesaro, Italy in May 2018.

We’ve had a couple of reviews & quite a few radio plays. Below I’ll put links to the reviews & also to a couple of radio interviews. In the radio interviews I talk about how the album came out & includes some background information on some of the tunes.

https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/the-roger-beaujolais-italian-trio-barba-lunga/

Interview with John Hellings for BBC Radio Hereford & Worcester & Radio Shropshire – https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p070mx4l

Interview with Walter Love on BBC Radio Ulster – https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0003130

You can buy ‘Barba Lunga’ right here on my website. Just go to the Shop. It’s also available as a digital download at Bandcamp (at the link above) & available through Amazon.

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