Originally from Perth, Western Australia, Brandon Allen relocated to London in 2000.
Since arriving in the UK, he has worked with many high profile artists and groups / ensembles as a saxophonist.
An accomplished jazz composer and arranger, writing for other artists and for his various jazz groups.
His distinctive saxophone sound has been featured on film soundtracks including ‘Alfie’ (2004) and 'The Look of Love' (2013), featured on 4 Kyle Eastwood albums and numerous other releases.
He has performed with Eric Clapton, Paloma Faith, Kyle Eastwood, Mica Paris, Jools Holland, Gary Barlow, Neil Diamond, Gwyneth Herbert, Keith Tippett, Tony Hadley, Roachford, Candi Staton, US3, Carleen Anderson, James Torme, The BLOCKHEADS, Omar Kamal, Tony Christie, John Etheridge, Soweto Kinch, Noel McKoy, Guy Barker, Natalie Williams, The Laurence Cottle Big Band, Claire Martin, The BBC Big Band, Jesse Van Ruller, Stan Tracey, Peter King, Darius Brubeck, Ronnie Cuber, Lew Soloff, Mark Nightingale, Richie Cole, Benjamin Herman, Nigel Hitchcock, Sophie Ellis Bextor, Beverley Knight, Robin McKelle and the Czech National Symphony Orchestra.
Studio
£16
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Insta bdajazz77
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Julian Vickers and Dan Bovey make a welcome return. From Baroque to Jazz and with some Spanish flamenco, the Vickers-Bovey Duo’s programme will be a feast for all lovers of the guitar.
'They play with outstanding exquisiteness and unanimity' The Sunday Times
£20 | £15 for Maidenhead Music Society members | Under 18s free
See the full programme details via the link below.
One of Australia’s most captivating singers.
Her lyrical voice lends itself equally to the cool subtleties of jazz and the passionate styling of rhythm and blues.
Studio
£16
X Lily Dior
Insta lilydiormusic
Fb Lily Dior
Close your eyes, you're in Paris...
Oh la la! mixes Parisian folk music (musette), impressionist music, French chanson with unforgettable 20’s upbeat to 50’s smooth jazz, film noir/nouvelle vague film music and the occasional rearranged cool 60’s French pop tune as well as original material from their upcoming album.
The dulcet tones of Parisian born Fifi la Mer's voice and the evocative sound of her accordion blended with the talents of Oliver Wilby on clarinet will take you straight back to that little café by the Eiffel tower, before the exuberance and beautiful sound of his saxophone they will transport you to that buzzy jazz club by Pigalle with the cool feel of Simon Picton on guitar and the groove of Julian Bury on double bass.
Oh la la! have performed over 1200 concerts during the past 10 years in venues up and down the country including Ronnie Scott's jazz club, Upstairs at Ronnie's, the Brasserie Zedel (Piccadilly), the Royal Opera House (Covent Garden), Wilton Music Hall, the National Theatre, St Martin in the fields, the Ignite, Elgar room and Cafe Verdi @ the Royal Albert hall. They have also played on the Orient Express, the Belle Vallee on the river Seine, at London fashion week at Somerset House, music festivals such as London City festival, Richmond world music festival, Bloomsbury festival, Old Gaffers, Royal Ascott and at the residence of the French ambassador in London.
A very entertaining, fun and romantic evening assured.
Studio
£16
Duo performance in which Mario Bakuna invites Uccio Gaeta to present the repertoire of the album 'Where Rio de Janeiro Meets Bahia', recorded in Paris, which brings together the Afro-Brazilian rhythms of the Recôncavo Baiano and the charm and subtlety of Bossa Nova.
The show is a trip to Rio de Janeiro, cradle of Bossa Nova, and to Bahia, the city that best represents the powerful African influence in Brazilian music. The concert integrates the rhythmic roots of Brazilian music and its sophisticated harmonies in a beautiful duo show that celebrates great Brazilian composers such as Dorival Caymmi and Tom Jobim. Mario and Uccio promise to transport the audience to a place where the real and the imaginary are experienced and enhanced by poetry and music.
Mario Bakuna is a London-based Brazilian composer, arranger, singer and guitar player. A graduate of the Free University of Music in Sao Paulo, Brazil, he studied with musicians such as Olmir Stocker, Roberto Sion and Roberto Bomilcar (the pianist who played with Frank Sinatra during his visit to Brazil).
Mario's focus is on the development of a music repertoire inspired by the greats of Afro-Brazilian Music, Samba, Jazz and Bossa Nova. In addition to developing new arrangements of music by enshrined Brazilian artists such as Tom Jobim, Dorival Caymmi, Paulo Moura, and João Donato, in recent years he has been working on reinterpretations of Samba Jazz: a musical genre that emerged in Rio de Janeiro in the 1950s and was led by musicians like Luiz Eça, Tamba Trio, and Edson Machado inspired by the Post-Bossa Nova movement.
Since settling in London Mario Bakuna has become a prominent figure and a reference in the Brazilian Jazz music scene in England.
Mario widely performs in Europe and beyond at distinguished venues and festivals alongside artists such as Jean Toussaint, Liam Noble, Ricardo dos Santos, Cacau Queiroz, Edmundo Carneiro, Alain Jean Marie, Dudu Penz, and Filó Machado. In Brazil, Mario Bakuna has played alongside the trombonist Itacir Bocato, guitarist Renato Consorte, and pianist Nelson Aires, to name a few.
The concerts of his 2 albums 'Where Rio de Janeiro Meets Bahia' and 'Brazilian Landscapes' toured 18 European countries including: Brazil, Madagascar, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. Recently he has been in Canada for a few sold-out concerts with great acclaim.
'Mario Bakuna, a sparkling guitarist, plays with palpable feeling - his virtuosic fluency on the fretboard is controlled and flourishes are perfectly placed. His voice has a texture like heavy cloth.' Songlines Magazine
'Mario Bakuna, a man who exudes music. (…) ‘vocals’ doesn’t begin to do him justice: his expressive range and the precision with which he was able to deploy it was truly the band’s fifth instrument. (…) And he did this while playing guitar with precision and finesse.' The Whitman Review, Wakefield Jazz
Studio
£16
X Mario
Insta mariobakuna
Fb Mario Bakuna Musician