Huge thanks to Tauny Southwood who has come on board by bringing bands, ‘Jazz on Tap’ and ‘Tayz & the Drolls’ to the Garden Party. Read on for more details about the bands.
Jazz On Tap: jazzontap.org.uk
Think of your favourite jazz standards, and then add the energy and vitality of contemporary modern jazz – That’s Jazz on Tap. We have been playing gigs, having fun and charming jazz lovers around Birmingham and the West Midlands for 20 years. Our current line up includes Anne-Marie Vassiliadis (vocals), Nick Cooper (clarinet), Jo Miskin (piano) Jon Veal (bass) and Tauny Southwood (drums). Phenomenal jazz composers from the last century are the foundation on which Jazz on Tap builds its repertoire, including Harry Warren, Cole Porter, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Billy Strayhorn. Drawing its influences from across the modern jazz spectrum, Jazz on Tap owes its inspiration to world-class virtuosos such as Gene Harris, Scott Hamilton and Stan Getz.
Tayz & the Drolls: thedrolls.co.uk
Tayz & The Drolls formed in Moseley, Birmingham in 2019, dedicated to creating great songs, based on meaningful lyrics, strong melodies and complex but interesting arrangements. The band is led by the superb lead vocals of Kayt Easter with the experienced multi-instrumentalists Tauny, Chris and Steve creating a powerful and emotional sound. Most of the songs come from Kayt’s ideas and melodies, with the rest of the band creating the arrangements. It is really important to the band that the songs are meaningful and cover life’s important themes of love, loss and finding our place in the world.
The band have an eclectic range of influences, ranging from classical composers such as Bach and the originators of progressive rock including The Beatles, Pink Floyd and Jethro Tull.. With such a strong lead singer in Kayt, the band are heavily influenced by other amazing female artists such as Billie Eilish, Adele, Amy Winehouse and Florence & The Machine. They are not afraid to experiment with many musical styles including Soul, Indie Rock, Pop and even Jazz.
We record and write our music in our own recording and rehearsal studio (34 RR Studio) in Moseley, Birmingham, with all our songs engineered, produced and mixed by Ade, the fifth Droll. Playing and performing is a key part of who we are and we are desperate to resume playing live gigs soon. The band are all experienced and gifted musicians and enjoying showing what we can do by putting on a great performance.