Back To The Flamingo Nightat
The Bulls Head Jazz Club
373 Lonsdale Road,
Barnes, London SW13 9PY
A night of blues and jazz related music which pays homage to the famous Flamingo Jazz Club which ran from 1952 to 1967. In 1957 the club moved to Wardour Street from where it played an important role in the development of British R&B, blues, soul, ska, bluebeat and modern jazz. It was highly popular with West Indians, American servicemen and with an eclectic mix of musicians. In it's earliest days jazz artists such as Kenny Graham and his Afro-Cubists, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Tubby Hayes, Ronnie Scott, and Billie Holiday all performed there. In the 1960's it was run by ex boxer and bouncer Rick Gunnell and became dominated by R&B bands. Among the many bands featured regularly at it's now famous all-nighters were Georgie Flame & The Blue Flames, John Mayall's Blues Breakers (with Eric Clapton), The Animals and visiting acts Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, John Lee Hooker, T-Bone Walker; the list is a very long one indeed.
The Back To The Flamingo nights pay homage to an era of great musical diversity and creativity.
"...a visit to the Flamingo changed my life..." David Essex
