The Jive Aces

The Jive Aces are a six-piece UK based,[1][2] swing band that was formed in 1989.[3] They were Britain's Got Talent semi-finalists in 2012.[4][5] They have released 11 albums, as well as compilations,EP's and singles[6] and have performed at numerous music festivals.[7][8]

The Jive Aces
The Jive Aces in concert
Background information
OriginBillericay, Essex, England
GenresPop, rock, swing, skiffle
Years active1989–present
LabelsRight Recordings, Golden Age Recordings
Websitewww.jiveaces.com
Members
  • Ian Clarkson
  • Ken Smith
  • Vince Hurley
  • Peter Howell
  • John Fordham
  • Alex Douglas

The band was founded by vocalist Ian Clarkson, drummer Peter Howell (who went to school together in Billericay), bassist Ken Smith and saxophonist "Big" John Fordham.[9] The four met in East London jive and jazz clubs. They cut their teeth street entertaining and soon were being offered shows in UK and Europe.

The band is long recognized as one of the top swing bands in the world,[10][11] something borne out by their extensive international travel (the band has performed in over 40 countries). The June 2015 issue of Vintage Rock magazine described them as the "UK's number one jive and swing band".[12]

They have received awards from Variety, the Children's Charity[13] and the City of Derry International Music Award in 2006.[14][15] On 12 September 2018 The Jive Aces won "Best Band" at the Boisdale Music Awards.[16] The award was presented by Jools Holland, who then joined the band for a boogie woogie jam session.[17]

The band is also notable for having strong links to the Church of Scientology[18] as members of the Sea Organization,[19] and for promoting the religion and its missions. Some critics of the Church of Scientology claim that The Jive Aces are used as a front group for Scientology; Mike Rinder, former senior executive of the Church of Scientology International and the Sea Organization, claims that the band is used for generating "positive PR" for the church.[19]

Career

On 9 July 2010, the band headlined at the first ever swing dance at the Royal Albert Hall.[20] They played to approximately 1,400 dancers on the 5,000-square-foot (460 m2) dance floor, with support from the Back To Basie Orchestra and Top Shelf Jazz.[21] In late August 2010, the Jive Aces performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in a show tributing one of their musical heroes, Louis Prima.[22] In February 2011, after recording in Los Angeles, they toured the United States, including opening for legendary singer Keely Smith, the former wife of Louis Prima.[23] Keely Smith has also sung with the band on a number of occasions, including shows in Los Angeles, Palm Desert,[24] Phoenix and at the Edinburgh Fringe.[25] The band played London's famous jazz venue Ronnie Scotts for the first time in July 2011 and sold out. The band has since played there several times a year, selling out every time.[26][27] In Spring 2015, the band did their biggest tour to date, 6 weeks of major theatres around the US (mostly 1000-2000+ capacity).[28][29][30][31] The tour was a huge success,[32] with biannual USA tours every year since.[33][34]

Viral video "Bring Me Sunshine"

In March 2011, the band produced a YouTube video for their cover of the Morecambe and Wise theme song "Bring Me Sunshine", in a Louis Prima, jive style. It went on to win several awards at film festivals,[35] and a Silver Telly Award.[36] The video is noted for its uplifting quality and has even been prescribed by a US doctor for depression, as noted in national media.[37][38]As of May 2019, the video has been viewed over 3.3 million times on YouTube.

Britain's Got Talent

In January 2012 The Jive Aces auditioned for Britain's Got Talent, with the audition airing on week 6 on 28 April 2012,[39] performing the band's version of the Jungle Book classic, "I Wanna Be Like You".[40][41][42] The band greatly impressed the judges, with Simon Cowell calling them "Absolutely brilliant"[43] and adding "That really put me in a good mood"! They went on to become the first live band to get through to the live semi-finals of BGT.

Performing for HM The Queen

On 15 May 2012 the Jive Aces performed for HM the Queen & HRH Prince Philip on their visit to Bromley as part of her majesty's Diamond Jubilee celebrations.[44] The band also performed as part of the Jubilee celebration in Hyde Park,[45] featuring alongside other BGT acts. In 2013 the band played 4 shows at Buckingham Palace for The Coronation Festival,[46][47] the first ever public festival inside the grounds of the palace.[48]

Glastonbury and other festivals

In May 2015 it was announced that The Jive Aces would perform on the Avalon Stage at the world-famous Glastonbury Festival.[49][50][51][52] This was the band's second appearance at Glastonbury, but their first on the Avalon Stage. The band's set was considered a highlight of this year's festival[53] and a short clip of a mid-set keyboard collapse and speedy recovery by pianist Hurley went viral with online features in the Mirror (who called Hurley "Brilliantly committed" and "a hero of Glastonbury")[54] and Telegraph,[55] and as far afield as Nigeria[56] and Singapore.[57]

The band has also appeared at numerous major festivals including Lovebox,[58] Montreux,[59] Hop Farm Festival,[60] Bearded Theory,[61] Ascona,[62] North Sea Jazz,[63] Jazz a Montauban,[64] Bansko Jazz[65] Cork Jazz,[66] Lunel Jazz,[67] Klaipeda Jazz,[68] Edinburgh Fringe,[69] Viva Las Vegas[70] and even in Thailand.[71][72]

The Jive Aces have also performed at many special events including the London Olympics at Trafalgar Square,[73] both Conservative Party and TUC Conferences and for a crowd of 15,000 at the "Moonwalk[74] " cancer charity fundraising walk in London.

The band has put on their own annual charity festival, "Summertime Swing[75] ", in the grounds of Saint Hill Manor, East Grinstead, since 2004. The event has featured many well known jazz and roots performers including Keely Smith, Kenny Ball, Acker Bilk, Laurie London, Chas McDevitt and Ray Gelato. In the last three years alone the event has raised £17,000 for charities including The Not Forgotten Association.[76]

The Jive Aces returned to Glastonbury Festival in 2017, with an appearance on the prestigious Acoustic Stage.[77]

Recordings

The band has released 11 studio albums, plus two EPs and various singles and contributions to compilation albums.

On 1 June 2015, the band released their ninth studio album Spread a Little Happiness, featuring the single "La Dolce Vita",[78] "Smile", "L.O.V.E" and nine other tracks including five original songs. This album, along with all of the band's releases since 2005, was recorded at Mad Hatter Studios[79] in Los Angeles, CA. Most of their recent recording projects have been done with Grammy winning mixer/engineers Brian Vibberts[80] and Buck Snow.[81]

In 2017/18 they released their tenth and eleventh studio album "Diggin' The Roots Vol 1: Rockin' Rhythm & Blues" and "Diggin' The Roots Vol 2: Hot Jazz". These two albums pay tribute to R&B influences such as Big Joe Turner and Louis Jordan in Vol 1 and Louis Armstrong and Fats Waller in Vol 2 and received great reviews.[82][83]

Collaborations

The Jive Aces have featured many guest artists on their recordings, including Chick Corea, Kenny Ball,[84] Mark Isham, Ray Gelato,[85] Mr Acker Bilk, Toni Elizabeth Prima, The Satin Dollz, The Flirtinis, Rebecca Grant,[86] and The Three Belles.

In live performance the band has worked with Van Morrison,[87] Keely Smith,[88] John Travolta,[89] Kenny Ball[90] (with whom they worked extensively on the Jazz Meets Jive theatre tour 2010-12[91][92]) and since 2014 have been featuring West End star Cassidy Janson[93] (Wicked,[94] Avenue Q,[95] Dessa Rose,[96] etc.) as guest singer at many shows.

Original songs

Although the band predominantly plays covers in their live performances, all members of the band have written songs for the band's studio albums. Some of the best known are "La Dolce Vita",[78] "Ukulele Swing","Christmas Is Where You Are" and "London Rhythm ", which was used as theme song for Jo Good's BBC Radio London show.[97] All of the band's albums feature some original tunes and the concept album "Amazing Adventures" (inspired by film noir and pulp fiction of the 1940s and 1950s) is entirely self penned.

Promotion of scientology

The band have been known to perform up to 300 times a year,[98] often promoting Scientology[18] or presenting an anti-drugs message.[99] They have been noted for their "energetic" and "confident" performances, which they attribute to "workable solutions found in Scientology religious principles".

The Jive Aces have supported the Church of Scientology's Say No To Drugs campaign since 1996,[100] performing to shoppers in city centres throughout the UK,[101][102][102][103] to give a message to young people[104] that it is "not cool to take drugs", through distribution of "Truth About Drugs" booklets written by the Church.

The self-produced materials used in these campaigns have been described as "discredited pseudoscience"[105] and without "pharmacological basis"[106] by health care professionals.

In April 2012, the band lent their support to the Multi-Marathon for a Drug-Free UK, a 130-mile run organised by the Church of Scientology; The First Annual Multi-Marathon for a Drug-Free United Kingdom[107] from London to Brighton in Crawley, West Sussex, not too far from Saint Hill Manor, a site regarded as the British headquarters of the Church.[108]

Discography

Albums
  • 1992 Jumpin' with the Aces (Mumbo Jumbo)
  • 1996 Our Kinda Jive (JA Recordings)
  • 1997 Bolt from the Blue (Right Recordings)
  • 1998 Planet Jive (Right Recordings)
  • 2005 Life is a Game (Right Recordings)
  • 2008 Recipe for Rhythm (Right Recordings)
  • 2009 Dance All Night (Right Recordings)
  • 2011 Amazing Adventures (Golden Age Recordings)
  • 2011 It's Skiffle Time EP (Golden Age Recordings)
  • 2012 King of the Swingers: A Salute to Louis Prima (Golden Age Recordings)[109][110]
  • 2013 Christmas is Where You Are EP (Golden Age Recordings)
  • 2015 Spread a Little Happiness (Golden Age Recordings)
  • 2017 Diggin' The Roots Vol 1: Rockin' Rhythm & Blues (Golden Age Recordings)
  • 2018 Diggin' The Roots Vol 2: Hot Jazz (Golden Age Recordings)

Singles
  • 2002 White Hot Christmas (Right Recordings)
  • 2006 Singing in the Rain (Right Recordings)
  • 2006 White Cliffs of Dover (Right Recordings)
  • 2011 Bring Me Sunshine (Golden Age Recordings)
  • 2018 Music, Music, Music (Right Recordings)
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