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Appearing at this years festival

Sierra Alpha

The Band will be opening this year's festival at 12:45 p.m. It's a performance not to be missed. So come early.

Sierra Alpha


A mix of polished radio-ready pop/rock and unparalleled live appeal has made Sierra Alpha one of the most talked about new bands in South Wales.

Formed in August 2007, the band, consisting of Martin Goddard (vocals/guitar), Andrew Harries (keyboards/vocals), Stuart Davies (bass/vocals), Andrew Evans (guitar/vocals) and Simon Beecher (drums) toured exhaustively during their first two years on the circuit

On 1st June 2009, their debut release ‘Superhero EP’ propelled them into new territory, completely selling out its limited edition 2,000 physical copies within three weeks of its release. The lead single from the EP, "Superhero", peaked at No. 86 in the iTunes Chart and has been included on the latest version of the iPhone’s most downloaded game, Tap Tap Revenge 3. As it increased in popularity, online shopping monster Amazon.Com also made it ‘Single of the Day’ here in the UK and America.

In conjunction with a handful of debut festival appearances this summer, the band will release their second EP, simply titled ‘EP2’ and re-issue their first EP, re-titled ‘EP1’. Both EPs will contain 8 tracks.


Tommy Harris Quartet

Tom Harris has appeared most years since the festival'Tommys beginnings; his style of music being mainly Modern Jazz. He is one of South Wales's leading musicians, having a wealth of talent and experience playing saxophone and flute. During his career he has played with numerous big bands all over the UK and in Europe, has appeared in Ronnie Scott's and in its heyday London's Talk Of The Town, playing for famous artists such as Tom Jones, Pat Boone, the Four Tops, to mention just a few.

 


Newport City Jazz Band

This Newport based Band was formed way Newport Cityback in the last century when they were all much younger.

The Band repertoire runs through most of the New Orleans standards and well into the mainstream in an effort to play what the punters want to hear

Ian is the perfect front man oozing with personality, confidence and infectious enthusiasm makes a superb trumpet lead. In the daytime Ian attempts to teach sums to the young but mainly bewildered. 

Ted Topps is reedman par-excellence, and breeds sheep on the heights above Crickhowell. He teaches reeds in his limited spare time.

Gwyn Daniels is on his trombone .  In the day, he is a schoolteacher too.

Helen Giddings is the band's female member and despite or maybe because of her classical background, does a fine job on the keyboard.  She is a full time schoolteacher by profession.  

Mac Cambray the drummer comes from Caldicot, the posh part of Gwent and is the band's token country gentleman He is a human metronome and has never been known to cross a beat nor bend a nail as he builds a shed every night.  He can sometimes be persuaded to sing.

Dawn Sandells

Dawn who lives in Llanelli is an extraordinary jazz and blues singer who gigs at many venues throughout the area. This year she is appearing with her own blues band

 

Groucho Club

This popular local band has appeared at the festival several times in the past . They play a mixture of Jazz, Blues and Funkderek1derak3

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Aled and Friends

Aled has been the resident keyboard player at the Diplomat Hotel for many years, entertaining hotel guests and friends every Thursday and Saturday evenings. He is an exceptional keyboard player who has been a professional musician for most of his life. He has appeared on BBC television, worked in numerous venues and spent a number of years working on cruise ships.

During the festival he will be playing in the hotel lounge throughout the afternoon.


Master of Ceremonies for the Festival:     Mr Morian Davies

Andy Pandemonium
Folk - Jazz - Rock

The band who originally formed in the summer of 79 and gigged until 1983 are back after a break of twenty five years.They 've decided to re-emerge unleashing their brand of music on an unsuspecting public. Andy Pandemonium are from Llanelli and played their first gig at the famous Coach House in Wind Street in October 19andy Pand79. By Christmas that year they were a major 2attraction on the local scene and played numerous gigs at the Dublin Arms.. They also played a headline gig at Swansea Top Rank and followed that by taking second place in the Welsh National Rock Contest.. The band also appeared at the RCA Record Labels Battle of the Bands in London 1982.

Its impossible to label their type of music and sound but they are certainly a band to look out for

Morriston Big Band (MBB)

The Band was formed in November 1995. with its main ethos to ensure 'Big Band' music and traditions live on.
MBBSince its formation the band has gone from strength to strength and has a compliment of some 18 or more musicians, male and female vocalists and non -playing support members.

The band plays concerts or for dancing at numerous venues throughout the South and West Wales areas. These include local parks, clubs, hotels, Swansea's Grand Theatre. In 2006 they appeared at the BBC's "Proms In The Park" event in Singleton Park, Swansea. An event which attracted an audience of more than 10,000 and featured Michael Ball, Shan Cothi, Aled Jones and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

The band's library encompasses a wide range of music with something to suit all tastes including Jazz, Swing, Rock and Roll, Latin-American, and Pop music from the 60's to the present day,

http://www.morriston-bigband.co.uk/index.htm