A music club is preparing to celebrate a milestone.
‘Music Spoken Here,’ a jazz, funk and fusion night launched in May 2022, will mark its fourth anniversary with its 73rd show.
The gig will feature Tomorrow’s New Quartet, a London-based group led by drummer Rod Houghton.
Named after an album by British guitarist and jazz-fusion pioneer John McLaughlin, Music Spoken Here was created to challenge perceptions of jazz.
Dave Fuller, the Evesham-based founder, said: “People often say to me after their first visit, ‘I don’t really like jazz, but that was really cool!’
“When you dig a bit deeper, they are usually referring to something quite specific that they once heard and didn’t like.
“It’s a bit like saying you don’t like fruit because you once had a bad experience with a gooseberry.
“It’s those people, rather than a typical ‘jazz crowd’, that we’re trying to reach.”
He deliberately uses the ‘jazz club’ label sparingly, aiming instead to appeal to a range of audiences.
Some of the bands and artists who have played at Music Spoken Here over the last four years (Image: Carl Freeman/Tyler Rook)
The night has showcased a mix of established and emerging talent, including artists with links to legends such as Lenny Kravitz, Paul Weller, Robbie Williams, Sting, Jeff Beck and Steve Winwood, as well as members of bands like King Crimson, Jethro Tull, Incognito and Brand New Heavies.
Up-and-coming musicians from London, Bristol, Manchester and Birmingham are also regularly featured.
Performances have drawn influence from Latin, Afrobeat, funk, rock, hip-hop and electronic dance music, rooted around a jazz core but branching far beyond traditional expectations.
The Marr’s Bar in Worcester, just around the corner from Foregate Street station, is integral to the Music Spoken Here identity, said Fuller.
“Jazz is often associated with elitism and snobbery. A couple of years ago, a local radio producer declined covering a regional jazz artist development scheme because they believed jazz is not relevant to their ‘predominantly working-class audience.’
“Using an established, old-school rock ’n’ roll venue, full of character and local, grassroots music history keeps the focus on the music and the local community.”
The club initially ran on a ‘pay what you can’ model, and now offers a membership scheme priced at £20 per month, which includes entry to all gigs and reserved seating.
Fuller said: “You see a lot of posts on social media banging on about the importance of buying tickets in advance, as, understandably, many venues and promoters are cancelling gigs if the pre-sales aren’t going to cover the costs.
“Rather than trying to change people’s behaviour, we observe and adapt to it.
“For me, it’s about building a supportive community, not selling out a gig.”
He funds and curates the entire programme himself, which increased in frequency from monthly to fortnightly in January 2024.
Since it started in 2022, the audience has grown by an average of 17 per cent each year and the club has earned praise from the wider jazz community.
Ian Mann, an award-winning jazz journalist based in Herefordshire who has been reviewing gigs for TheJazzMann.com since 2023, said the club is “bringing a strand of jazz to Worcester that is not represented at any of our other local jazz clubs, which are far more straight ahead.
“MSH really does offer something unique for the area and we have had the pleasure of seeing some absolutely brilliant musicians in Worcester over the course of the last three years, musicians who in many cases are rarely seen and heard outside London, although the Midlands and other regional jazz scenes have been featured too.”
The special anniversary gig featuring Tomorrow’s New Quartet is at The Marr’s Bar in Worcester on Thursday, May 28. Doors open at 7.30pm for an 8pm start.
Entry is free for Music Spoken Here Club Members, or £15 on the door for non-members.
More details are available at musicspokenhere.club.