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Scotland Folk Magazine and News

New CD Captures the Spirit of London´s Vibrant Jamming Scene

New CD Captures the Spirit of London´s Vibrant Jamming Scene

There is an other worldly cafe just off Brick Lane which many of the capital´s finest musicians call home. Alastair Caplin (fiddler from notorious John Langan Band) has made a small studio there and he invited 17 of the hottest musicians in town to come down and make some beautiful unscripted music together. Learn more about this fascinating project and the exciting London jamming scene....

THE BACON ST. COLLECTION – VOL. I


For nearly six years now, No.14 Bacon St (formerly The Vintage Emporium) has been right at the heart of music in East London. From beautiful intimate candlelit gigs to riotous all night long sessions, the venue/bar/recording studio/pottery workshop has provided the means and ways for both the wide spectrum of world class musicians who can call it their second home, and the local community that enjoys the music and art that comes from the place.
Although we´ve been recording most of the gigs and sessions that happen at No.14 with our crowd-funded in-house studio, The Bacon St Collection has taken this one step further …


We took 17 musicians, a mix of regulars and new faces, hooked up all our microphones into the studio downstairs, locked the doors and did nine hours straight of completely unscripted recording. The result at the end of that day was forty-four electrifyingly live songs and tunes that perfectly encapsulate the spirit and vibrancy of the musical landscape here.


For Vol. I, the musicians we brought in specialised in a mixture primarily of Old Time American folk music, and 30´s/40´s Swing and Jazz. This juxtaposition of these styles and players created wildly dynamic performances with a poise and creativity that you only get from musicians at the top of their game laying together for the first time.

The album has been condensed down into a double CD and booklet ofthe best bits from the session, with all the liveness and character of the day kept in!


On a more serious note, I feel this album comes out at a particularly poignant time… In London, and other cities around the UK, live music is in a very real way being herded beyond even the peripheries, and quite literally criminalised in places with noise complaints from new soulless developments. Beloved establishments that have for years and decades been a rich part of the cultural tapestry that binds our humanity together in increasingly subhuman environments are being eradicated and replaced with beige nothingness and canned Radio X Factor. In a world where iconic live music venues such
as the 12 Bar Club and Passing Clouds in London, and countless others all over, can be shut down so easily, and the culture that they harbour be destroyed so callously, reminders and records such as this album are important not only for posterity and nostalgia in later years, but also to serve as a reminder to people what it is that is being pulled away from under our feet.


So please take time to listen to the recordings we´ve created here, and to let the music tell you it´s stories.


Alastair Caplin
Producer & Sound Engineer at No.14 Bacon St

Release date 1/10/2016
Pre-orders are availbale from here

Vol. II recording in November 2016

Musicians involved in-

Adam Beattie - Vocals, Guitar
Alastair Caplin - Violin
Ben Somers - Double Bass, Vocals
Clara Delfina - Violin
Dominie Hooper - Cello
Ed Hicks - Vocals, Banjo
Grant Gordy - Guitar, Mandolin
Garance Louis - Accordion
Jaz Delorean - Vocals, Piano
Jerry Bloom - Violin
Jess Collins - Vocals, Violin
Jonathan Holland - Vocals, Guitar
Maisie Greenwood - Violin
Matan Rochlitz - Vocals, Mandolin
Molly Carroll - Vocals
Paul Martin - Guitar
Rachel Hayter - Flute
Stephen Mathers - Saxophone

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