Marama Café Band

About this event

A long time collaboration of three esteemed London musicians with many musical roots who have been honing a heady mélange of gypsy jazz, Hungarian czardasz, East European folk styles, dirty tango, French musette and swing together for over 20 years, performing at many venues and festivals in the UK and Europe. Managing to combine folky roughness, passion, slow Balkan decoration, evocative French style accordion, klezmer-like acceleration, dreamy ballads and the American songbook into their performances. “Music that lures you irresistibly - violin, guitar and accordion phrases dissolve exquisitely into each other, the band’s distinctive sound brings jazz, French, Argentinian and folk styles together with brilliant musicianship and panache ” London Jazz News “Definitely took me over to somewhere in Buenos Aires “ DJ Ritu Pete Watson – accordion/bandleader. Pete has played widely with jazz and world artists including Gilad Atzmon, Balkanatics, Hamza Namira, Madonna, and in theatre and feature films. David Ahmed – guitar. A Dylan-inspired folk mandolin/ tenor banjo player in his youth, David discovered the legacy of Django Reinhardt and plays with many Gypsy Swing ensembles in the UK and Europe. Fiery and melodic emotionalism is his style. Frank Biddulph – violin. Experienced performer in a range of music styles from Gypsy Jazz, Klezmer, Turkish and North African to Irish and UK folk music, he has recorded for BBC John Peel sessions and is arranger-in-residence for In Harmony Lambeth. Doors open 7pm, Music starts 8.30pm. The venue is mixed seated and standing. Tables are limited, and available on a first come first served basis, so if you’d like a seat, we recommend arriving early!