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SOLD OUT LIVE MUSIC: SHAKEDOWN
Fri, 2nd July, 2021 @ 07:30am - 21:30pm
£5 – £10
SOLD OUT
We are so happy to welcome some good friends to bring the music back to Sparc Theatre
Featuring music from Louis Jordan to Van Morrison in blues, jazz, swing and rock ‘n’ roll from this group of seasoned professionals with a fascinating mix of experience. As individuals they have worked with a large list of well known musicians and performers creating music to make you smile, tap your feet or even dance. A ‘good fun’ band.
The band was formed early in 2018 to support Saving Grace, Robert Plant’s new music project on many tour dates during 2018. Geoff Grimes keys/vocals well known in Shropshire is joined by another local Sticky Wicket percussion/vocals, Ted Bunting saxophones/flute from Tenbury Wells and Geoff Ockenden from Ludlow on bass.
Have a read of their stories below!
Geoff Grimes – Keys
As a London based session musician in the late 60’s early 70’s, Geoff played or performed with many well known artists including Van Morrison, Jimmy Page and members of AC/DC.
Working for Young Blood Records he also recorded on many hits by their artists whilst at the same time working as a plugger at Radio One.
Headhunted by WEA Records he became one of the best promo men in the business, responsible for the successful airplay of artists on Warner, Electra, Asylum, Atlantic and their related labels. Atlantic became his home during the 70’s working with business legends Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegun and Jerry Wexler.
More recently he played keys with Ricky Cool & The Hoola Boola Boys and in bands alongside artists such as Steve Gibbons and Robert Plant, with whom his relationship continues to this day, as Geoff and his band support shows for Plant’s current Saving Grace project.
Sticky Wicket – Drummer /Percussionist/Bandleader/Teacher
Former drummer with The Russ Ballard Band, Steve Gibbons Band, Steve Marriott’s & the DT’s plus Steve’s ‘Packet of Three’, Chris Barbers’ Jazz & Blues Band and The Lonnie Donegan Band. Working sometimes as percussionist as well as drummer he has played a variety of gigs, TV shows and recording sessions for artistes such as Van Morrison, Jools Holland, Bryan Ferry, Leo Sayer, Roger Daltrey, Joe Cocker, Rory Gallagher, Peter Frampton, Bryan May, Paul Young, Joe Brown, Paul Jones, Kenny Ball, Acker Bilk and many others.
In recent years Sticky has been drummer with the highly respected US ‘Blues Hall of Fame’ guitarist, singer and songwriter Beki Brindle and is regularly recording and touring with her in Britain and the USA. Beki Brindle Band CD’s include the very creditable ‘Blue For You’, the title track of which was written and produced by Russ Ballard. Other tracks included guests such as John Sebastien and Steve Gibbons.
Now living in Shropshire UK, Sticky enjoys playing locally with some fine musicians and is regularly seen with ‘Beez Neez’ or with ‘Shakedown’ supporting Robert Plant’s Band ‘Saving Grace’.
Sticky is also a much-respected Jazz player, drum teacher, vintage drum collector and his ‘Swing Orchestra’ is one of the most celebrated swing bands in the UK which is often seen at major venues, swing dance events and vintage festivals.
His recent on-line work has included educational Vintage Drums & Drumming videos to be found on the YouTube channel ‘Next Level Chops’. These have been so well received resulting in world wide acclaim for Sticky and inspiring him to issue the DVD ‘Classic Drums & Drumming Vol.1’ .
In 2018 some of Sticky’s vintage drums have were the centre piece of a major London exhibition ‘Jazz in Britain’ and he has also demonstrated them at many workshops and drum clinics in the UK.
Ted Bunting – Saxophones/flute
In the 70s Ted was a London-based musician working with Paul Kossof, Alexis Korner, John ‘Rabbit’ Bundrick, Arthur Brown, John Congas and several other artists. He was a full-time member of GT Moore and the Reggae Guitars, supporting Dr Feelgood on their first major UK tour in 1975, and continuing his collaboration with GT Moore into the 80s with the Rhythm Tramps. He also worked as a record producer, producing, amongst other projects, Polystyrene’s demos and her solo album ‘Translucence’, as well as playing on a number of successful Polystyrene and X Ray Spex tracks, such as ‘Identity’ and ‘The Day the World Turned Dayglo’. In 1983 Alexis Korner and Friends played two nights at the Marquee to celebrate the club’s 25th anniversary and Ted was a member of the all star band that included Bill Wyman, Charlie Watts and Ruby Turner. The shows were filmed and broadcast on UK TV later that year, and released on DVD in 2002. In 1986 he produced and played on Blake’s Three’s album ‘12 by 4’. In 1988 he and Damien Korner designed and built a studio in West London (subsequently bought by the well-known studio company, Sarm) where they recorded a number of high-profile artists, including the Pogues, Robert Plant, Jim Mullen and Zak Starky. In 1990 he teamed up with Mike Sanchez to form the original Hoola Boola Boys. When Ricky Cool joined the band in 1993 it was the start of a collaboration that has continued to this day, eventually leading to the formation of Ricky Cool and the In Crowd.
Geoff Ockenden – Upright and electric bass
Geoff is a seasoned session player with an extremely adaptable approach, which has seen him succeed in a professional career spanning more than 25 years. Whether delivering walking lines as the in-house bassist at Ronnie Scott’s jazz club, laying down scored parts for BBC commissions, playing with orchestral ensembles or rocking out on the festival circuit, Geoff’s feel and solid bass tone ensure whoever he plays for gets a great musical foundation to build on. His reliability and versatility has underpinned performances with artists including Beverley Knight, Nigel Kennedy, Sir Cliff Richard, Tony Christie, Roy Wood, The Average White Band, Steve Gibbons, The Real Thing, Womack and Womack, Trevor Burton and Ruby Turner.