SEEKING
Vocalist, Acoustic Guitar, Keyboard, Piano, Background Singer, Other, Cello, Harp.ABOUT
FiddleBop plays Gypsy jazz plus! On violin, Spanish guitar, percussion, and fretless bass. And we sing too, with four voices in harmony. We love what we play, and it shows!
"Fiddlebop played an amazing set of wonderful music that delighted everyone" (Brecon Jazz Club 2024)
Wales-based FiddleBop's take on Gypsy jazz music is sophisticated but isn't stuffy or pretentious. Is danceable and exciting but not rhythmically boring. Has plenty of go-for-it improvised solos but is still tuneful and melodic.
All with a dash of — or sometimes a bit more — fun and good humour
And like the first Gypsy jazz bands, FiddleBop's "Gypsy jazz plus" is highly eclectic.
In the 1930s, the Quintette du Hot Club de France created amazing music based on current and past pop tunes, traditional Gypsy melodies, their own compositions, even some J S Bach... so FiddleBop's repertoire is similarly wide-ranging.
We play Gypsy-flavoured jazz drawn from all of the genre's century-long history. That's get-up-and-dance jazz from the 1920s, 1930s chilli-hot swing, and cool post-bop. Plus jazz-infused classic pop, folk-jazz, and our own creations.
So what ties all this together? Why, our love of this wonderful music, with its Gypsy-style zing, passion, and joie de vivre!
- Screen name:
- FiddleBop
- Member since:
- Jul 07 2025
- Active over 1 month ago
- Level of commitment:
- Very Committed
- Years together:
- 15
- Gigs played:
- Over 100
- Tend to practice:
- 1 time per week
- Available to gig:
- 2-3 nights a week
- Age:
- 72 years
Influences
Django Reinhardt, Stephane Grappelli, John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Stuff Smith, Jean-Luc Ponty, Jan Garbarek, Eberhard Weber, Keith Jarrett, Sonny Rollins, Jimi Hendrix, Pentangle, Fairport Convention, Clannad, and many others
Members Of Band
Dave Favis-Mortlock - violin, flute, vocals
Joanna Davies - rhythm guitar, vocals
Graeme Lamble - fretless bass, vocals
Paul Midgely - percussion, junk flute, vocals
EQUIPMENT
Own PA
