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Explosive energy with style and an unforgettable ambience. 1940s swinging Paris Jazz with a twist!

Holder and Smith are a violin and guitar Jazz/Gypsy duo comprising of one of the countries most respected acoustic guitarists Stuart Carter-Smith with the award winning violinist Ben Holder.Holder and Smith April 2019 530 380 s c1

This special night launches into tunes that comprise of the swinging Paris jazz scene of the 1940s also featuring modern pop classics played in their own contagious and energetic style. Expect the very highest level of musicianship that’s full of fun and energy while all along swinging hard. “Swing Jazz on Steroids”. The audience will get a chance to see the harmony between two outstanding acoustic musicians showing off the mastery of their instruments with apparent ease. The sound will feel energetic yet haunting, soulful yet jovial and will send them through a journey of Latin, classical, jazz and beyond.

Ben Holder

is one of the most gifted and exciting young jazz violinists in the UK. Taught classically from the age of six, he studied at the Birmingham Conservatoire. During his classical studies, Ben began listening to Jazz – classic masters such as Benny Goodman and Oscar Peterson and of course the great jazz violinists including Grappelli, Joe Venuti and the awe-inspiring Stuff Smith.

Ben Holder e1569933821380

Alongside his early studies and later at college he embarked on a detailed analysis of these musicians’ techniques and the way in which they merged this most classical of instruments into the jazz idiom.

Ben’s innate sense of swing rhythm stems from those early listening sessions – and his various awards bear testimony to his abilities. A first call jazz violinist for many of the North’s top bands and studios.

Stuart Carter-Smith

has a well earned reputation as a top class Gypsy Jazz guitarist.stuart carter smith

He started playing the guitar when he was 18 years old – rather late for a gypsy guitarist (most of his peers would have been playing fluently by the age of seven!) Although initially Stuart studied and performed the classical guitar, he soon fell in love with the music of Django Reinhardt and his post-classical studies took him to work with some of the finest names in that genre both in the UK and overseas.

Like many of his contemporaries, Stuart is a consummate improviser and master of pin-point rhythm accuracy. Typical of the genre, Stuart is always searching for new musical challenges and he is constantly developing new techniques. He experiments with new rhythms and styles of playing, but these are always delivered with the solid underpinning of his first love: the musical style of Django.

Stuart is also a permanent and integral member of Gypsy Fire.

Advance tickets for this electric  performance cost just £12.00.  On the door on the night they will cost £14.00

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