Kansas Smitty's House Band is a London-based group that specialises in original

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

music. The band run their own bar on Broadway Market in Hackney, located in the

London Borough of Hackney The London Borough of Hackney ( ) is a London boroughs, London borough in Inner London, England. The historical and administrative heart of Hackney is Mare Street, which lies north-east of Charing Cross. The borough is named after Hackney, Lond ...

History

Kansas Smitty’s House Band was formed in 2013 by Jack Abraham and Giacomo Smith. The band are a 7-piece group who describe themselves as ‘a group of jazz-addicted twenty-somethings who run their own bar’ The current line up is: Pete Horsfall- trumpet Giacomo Smith- alto sax Alec Harper- tenor sax Joe Webb- piano David Archer- guitar Ferg Ireland- bass Will Cleasby- drums Past members: Reuben James- piano Ruben Fox- tenor sax Adrian Cox- clarinet Pedro Segundo- drums Theon Cross- tuba The band has collaborated extensively with Lewis Durham of Kitty, Daisy & Lewis. In 2018 the band has planned collaborations with

Curtis Stigers Curtis Stigers (born October 18, 1965) is an American jazz singer. He achieved a number of hits in the early 1990s, most notably the international hit " I Wonder Why" (1991), which reached No. 5 in the UK and No. 9 in the US. Career S ...

, Lewis Durham, and

Shingai Shoniwa Shingai Elizabeth Maria Shoniwa ( ; born 1 September 1981), known professionally as Shingai is a British singer, songwriter, musician, and actress, best known as the vocalist and bassist for the English indie rock band Noisettes. In 2017, she l ...

Notable appearances

The band has performed at venues such as Ronnie Scott’s, Wilderness Festival, Jazz Café,

Vortex Jazz Club The Vortex Jazz Club is a music venue in London. It was founded by David Mossman in 1988. Background The Vortex started as a jazz club in 1988 and was located in Stoke Newington Church Street, north London. But after the acquisition of that ...

Shoreditch Town Hall Shoreditch Town Hall is an independent cultural, live events and community space in Shoreditch, London. The building, which previously served as the headquarters of the Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch, is a Grade II listed building. History ...

, Rough Trade and the Vaults Festival. They have also hosted their own

Mardi Gras Mardi Gras (, ; also known as Shrove Tuesday) is the final day of Carnival (also known as Shrovetide or Fastelavn); it thus falls on the day before the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday. is French for "Fat Tuesday", referring to it being ...

events in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 and have produced their own events at The Peckham Liberal Club and the Dalston Pond. The band has appeared on

BBC Radio London BBC Radio London is the BBC Local Radio, BBC's local radio station serving Greater London. It broadcasts on FM broadcasting, FM, Digital Audio Broadcasting, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at Broadcasting House in Langham Plac ...

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

and

BBC Radio 6 The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current state ...

, including twice on

’s Friday Night is Music Night.

Kansas Smitty’s Bar

In 2015, Kansas Smitty’s House Band realised they needed a home for their music, and so, set up Kansas Smitty’s on Hackney’s Broadway Market. This intimate basement bar is a rehearsal space for the band as well as a

live music A concert, often known informally as a gig or show, is a live performance of music in front of an audience. The performance may be carried by a single musician, in which case it is sometimes called a recital, or by a musical ensemble such as an ...

venue. A musical community has been built around the bar which offers musicians such as

Reuben James Reuben James ( 1776 – December 3, 1838) was an American sailor who served as a boatswain's mate (United States Navy), boatswain's mate in the United States Navy. He is best known for purportedly saving the life of his commanding officer, Step ...

(pianist on

Sam Smith Samuel Frederick Smith (born 19 May 1992) is an English singer and songwriter. In 2012, they rose to prominence when they featured on Disclosure (band), Disclosure's breakthrough single "Latch (song), Latch", which peaked at number eleven on ...

’s world tour),

Howe Gelb Howard “Howe” Gelb (born October 22, 1956, in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania) is an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer based in Tucson, Arizona. Projects Gelb's approach to music is collaborative and he has recorded wit ...

, Louis Cole, Bruno Major,

Howard Alden Howard Vincent Alden (born October 17, 1958) is an American jazz guitarist born in Newport Beach, California. Alden has recorded many albums for Concord Records, including four with seven-string guitar innovator George Van Eps. Early life Ho ...

and Joe Stilgoe. Kansas Smitty’s has received positive reviews in a number of publications, including the

Evening Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free newspaper, free of charge in London, Engl ...

, Design My Night and the

Hackney Gazette Archant Limited is a newspaper and magazine publishing company with headquarters in Norwich, England. The group publishes four daily newspapers, around 50 weekly newspapers, and 80 consumer and contract magazines. The company is a subsidiary of ...

Critical reception

The band has been awarded four stars in articles in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' and been reviewed in the ''Evening Standard''. Their debut album was included in the ''

Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was foun ...

s 50 Best Jazz Albums of 2015 and was included in

The Arts Desk ''The Arts Desk'' (theartsdesk.com) is a British arts journalism website containing reviews, interviews, news, and other content related to music, theatre, television, films, and other art forms written by journalists from a variety of tradition ...

review of the best new vinyl in 2015. Their music has been played on

Jamie Cullum Jamie Paul Joseph Cullum (born 20 August 1979) is an English jazz-pop singer, pianist, songwriter and radio presenter. Although primarily a vocalist and pianist, he also accompanies himself on other instruments, including guitar and drums. He h ...

's and Clare Teal's

shows and was broadcast live from

Cheltenham Jazz Festival Cheltenham Jazz Festival is one of the UK's leading jazz festivals, and is part of Cheltenham Festivals' annual festival season, also including the Science, Music and Literature Festivals in Cheltenham Spa. Introduction and history The Chelten ...

Cerys Matthews Cerys Elizabeth Matthews (; born 11 April 1969) is a Welsh singer, songwriter, author, and broadcaster. She was a founding member of Welsh rock band Catatonia and a leading figure in the " Cool Cymru" movement of the late 1990s. Matthews now ...

BBC Radio 6 Music BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It primarily plays a wide range of alternative music, from established and emerging artists and bands. In 2002 it was the first national music radio station t ...

show earlier this year. Food critic, journalist, and author,

Jay Rayner Jason Matthew Rayner (born 14 September 1966) is a British journalist and food critic. He has worked as a freelance journalist for newspapers including ''The Observer'' and ''The Independent on Sunday.'' He was the ''Observer'' restaurant criti ...

, is a supporter of the band and wrote the liner notes on their most recent album, ''Kansas Smitty's Live''. He performed with the band at their

London Jazz Festival The London Jazz Festival is a music festival held every November. It takes place in London venues such as the Barbican and the Royal Festival Hall and in smaller jazz clubs, such as Ronnie Scott's and the Vortex Jazz Club. It is produced by Se ...

performance at

in 2016.

Discography

References

External links

* {{Authority control British jazz ensembles