Master of boogie woogie returns to county
When Jools Holland arrives in Shrewsbury's Quarry Park tomorrow night, he'll be looking forward to one thing more than any other: the voices of the crowd.
When Jools Holland arrives in Shrewsbury's Quarry Park tomorrow night, he'll be looking forward to one thing more than any other: the voices of the crowd.
The master of boogie woogie has played in the Quarry twice before, to sell out crowds in 2005 and 2007.
Those concerts were both memorable for him, with more than 5,000 fans packing the picturesque venue each time.
For his July 10 concert, he'll be bringing with him an 18-piece orchestra and looking forward to the massed, singing voices of Shrewsbury fans.
He says: "Just being able to perform is the great thing and I love the opportunity the tour gives to perform in varied locations. It is fantastic to be performing in the open air on a summer evening. On a really hot summer's evening it is the best feeling, it lifts the spirits, which is what we want to do.
"I think the warm air lights everything up and creates an atmosphere of vibrant swingingness. So I hope people will come and swing with us throughout the summer. It is such a magical feeling being in an amazing location, creating fantastic music and feeling the crowd join in."
And what is he most looking forward to from the tour this summer?
"The magic that we create; the band and myself thinking with one mind and it is fantastic when the crowd join in, they start swaying and dancing and we are all communicating through the music. When you look out and you see the peoples' faces enjoying themselves, you can see how it affects people. And it feels great - because they feel the same way that I feel about the music. There is such an amazing physical personal affect to it. It is just magic!"
It was with a sense of inevitability that Jools Holland entered the music industry. He grew up to the strains of his uncle playing piano, a vivid childhood memory that remains to this day.
"I was influenced by all types of music. In my teen years I realised that there were some many different types of music and I was mystified by all of them. I found music really exciting and I started to appreciate that there was such a vast array of styles and influences and it was all so mysterious and fantastic."
He enjoyed his first big successes with Squeeze between 1974 and 1980, before branching out into his solo career. Later, he made the iconic music TV programme, The Tube. Holland was the straight man alongside the saucy Paula Yates.
When The Tube came to an end, Holland returned to our TV screens and since 1992 he has hosted Later With Jools Holland, plus an annual New Year's Eve Hootennany. Those shows have given him the opportunity to play with such artists as Sting, Tom Jones, Bono and David Gilmour.
Jools adds: "All my guest artists are fantastic and it would be too hard to choose one. There are still lots of people I would like to work with, but I would have loved to have played with the late Dinah Washington or Bessie Smith. Unfortunately it is too late now!"
For now, Jools is content to stick to his annual diet of TV programmes and concerts. He finds inspiration on his travels. "There is music everywhere and my inspiration comes from that music - in the wind, the music of traffic, on films, crisp leaves - it is my job to find the music everywhere and from that I get my inspiration."
He's proud of his achievements, though hopes to make great strides in the second half of his career: "It always makes me proud to hear other people playing my songs. Also, one of my proudest was writing the track What Goes Around with Sam Brown and performed by Dionne Warwick."
l Tickets for Jools Holland at the Quarry are still available from venues across Shropshire, priced £32.50. Call IML Concerts on 01603 660444 or log onto: www.imlconcerts.co.uk
