Archive News: 2011
7th September 2011:
Just a bit of late-breaking news! Colin Towns' Mask Orchestra will be making a welcome return to Ronnie Scott's Club at the end of September - early October 2011. They were last there in August 2010, so it's a rare treat for those able to make the gigs. The actual dates are Friday 30th September and Saturday 1st October, when the Orchestra will be playing 2 shows per night - yes, 4 gigs in 2 days! For more info head over to the Ronnie Scott website
And while on the subject of gigs, Colin's latest musical adventure, Blue Touch Paper, has announced their debut performance. It will be at JazzFest Berlin on Sunday 6th November 2011, with tickets going on sale from 14th September. For more information go to JazzFest Berlin's website
7th May 2011:
Apologies for not being here for a few months, but .... Well, let's face it, no one's missed me anyway!
The good news is Colin's still hanging in there, working as hard as ever and delivering the goods on a regular basis.
Just this week he was in Wales scoring another play for Clwyd Theatr Cymru entitled The Taming of the Shrew. It runs from Friday 6th May to Saturday 4th June 2011, and ticketing details can be found here. I didn't realise Colin worked so close to deadlines before!
Colin then goes to Germany to start rehearsing for Hamburg Harbour Sound and Vision 1925-2011. This is a multi-media project about the life and times of Hamburg Harbour and will premiere at the ELBJAZZ Festival in Hamburg on the 27th and 28th May. Together with the German documentary maker (director Theo Janssen) a year has been spent preparing for this production, taking archive film of Hamburg docks from 1925-2011 to create a 50 minute programme. The NDR Big Band will play alongside the film covering 18 different subjects - starting with work in the busy and bustling 1920s docks, through the war into the 50s and 60s (including film of the Beatles), onwards to the present day and ending with a firework display on film. Should be an exciting couple of concerts! A TV documentary and possible DVD may be put together in support of the shows, but as of yet nothing has been finalised. Watch this space!
In late March 2011 Colin and the Bohuslän Big Band (from Sweden) eventually got round to releasing Don't Fence Me In, a collection of songs written by Cole Porter. The album was released on ACT in Germany 25th March and in the UK on 28th March 2011. To see The Guardian's glowing review of the disc, see here.
Earlier this year Colin scored the ident music for the new channel Sky Atlantic which started broadcasting early February.
Finally, as mentioned several months ago, Colin's latest project revolves around a six -piece band, known collectively as Blue Touch Paper. Their debut album Stand Well Back will be released in Germany on 13th May 2011, and already great reviews are starting to come in. Colin has given some interviews to big German magazines, so those of you in that part of the world keep your eyes peeled. There are plans to tour this band in Germany, but nothing concrete has been made yet. Sadly, the album won't be released until Spring 2012 in the UK, but a small tour is planned for March 2012 to coincide with the release of the album. I've been reliably informed (thanks Jo!) that the promo documentary has received many thousands of views on YouTube already, so if you haven't already seen it check it out on their official website. A full website is promised soon.
Well, that's it for now, see ya soon....