About us …
A Carnival Band concert is a kaleidoscope of instrumental and vocal colour, crossing continents, travelling through time, and bending the rules.
Between them the band’s musicians have a track record in folk, contemporary, classical, baroque, medieval and Arabic music. Moving effortlessly from one to another they add a sprinkling of rock, world music and theatricality for extra flavour. Their own songs draw on this rich palette, perfectly complementing the music of earlier centuries and other cultures and bringing their repertoire right up to date.
From the vibrant blare of shawms, bagpipes and electric guitar to the seductive tones of Turkish clarinet and fiddle and the enchanting delicacy of the renaissance cittern, The Carnival Band mix and match their collection of over twenty instruments, adding vocal harmony to create an astonishing range of sounds.
They have toured the UK appearing at festivals and giving concerts in venues ranging from village halls to London's Cadogan Hall. Abroad they have ventured as far as Japan, with visits to Sudan and the Middle East for the British Council.
Among their eleven CDs are several with First Lady of folk, Maddy Prior. Recently they have recorded with an impressive roster of singers including Nancy Kerr, John Kirkpatrick and Vivien Ellis for a major project documenting the 100 most popular ballads of the 17th century.
From toddlers concerts to choirs for adults, their education and community work embraces all ages. Their engaging humour belies a consummate musicianship, a deep love of the music they perform and a passion to share it with as wide an audience as possible.
The purists may have been squirming - the rest of us were having too much fun to care! (York Press).
Biographies
Jub (Andrew Davis) is one of the most sought after bass players on the classical and contemporary scene. He co-founded the Kreisler String Orchestra which won the 1986 Jeunesses Musicales competition, and has played with the London Mozart Players and English National Opera. He played with indie pop group The Band of Holy Joy and has worked with Youssou N’Dour, Tanita Tikaram, Abdullah Ibrahim, Loose Tubes, Brian Eno and Sting. He has undertaken world tours for choreographer Hofesh Schecter and taken part in the collaboration with Anthony Gormley on mixed media and physical theatre production ‘Survivor’.