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Paul Harris - Hammond Organ, Vince Lee - Guitar/Vocals, Keith Russell - Drums,
Al Wallis - Bass
The Big Combo's
ever expanding line up includes Vince Lee, Vocals/Guitar, Al
Wallis on bass, drummer Keith Russell and occasional guest
musicians Paul "Bomber" Harris on Hammond Organ, George
Comer on tenor and baritone saxes & Ian Petitt on trumpet. The
Big Combo recently celebrated their 11th year together. Choice of material ranges from the classic blues and hot
swing of the 20's and 30's through to 40's and 50's rhythm and blues and
contemporary roots music. The band have played countless shows around the UK
with performances at some of the country's biggest music festivals. They have
recorded sessions for the Paul Jones Blues Show on Radio Two and
released their debut album "Call it What Ya Wanna" in 2003...
As a result, Vince has spent the last five years touring Europe with Al
Wallis playing major festivals and venues in France, Belgium, Holland,
Luxemborg, Germany, Sweden, Finland and even Lapland. They finished off 2006 with a
two week tour of Europe backing Texas harmonica ace Gary Primich.
VINCE LEE -
GUITAR/VOCALS
VINCE LEE has been performing
live as a blues guitarist and vocalist since 1987. He displays a jaw-dropping
virtuosity and a deep understanding of the music with every note he plays, His
versatile guitar playing and rich blues voice draw influence from all
generations of blues & roots music to create something totally unique.
Audiences are regularly amazed and entranced by the endless energy and
conviction he displays at his live shows.
Vince is a well established musician on the
British and European rhythm and blues circuit.
AL WALLIS -
BASS GUITAR
AL
WALLIS
is a true blues bass player who knows how to create the perfect groove for the
tune instantly. He has been Vince’s right hand man for 12 years & the
duo have an almost telepathic connection between them. This insures that no
two shows are ever the same. Al uses a rare reso-phonic steel bass
which
gives a percussive edge to his sound. Together they beat out their infectious music
with a heavy foot-stomping rhythm that needs no drummer! They
have appeared at countless festivals around the UK and Europe. Including,
Holland, Belgium, France, Germany, Finland, Denmark and Sweden with
critically acclaimed blues & roots band ‘The Wildcards’
They
have toured with the Late Great Gary
Primich as his European road band and recently supported The
Fabulous Thunderbirds throughout Germany. The bands latest album
‘Raising Hell’ was voted 7th best blues album of 2007 by Blues
Matters! Magazine.
PAUL HARRIS - HAMMOND ORGAN.
PAUL
HARRIS was introduced to jazz at an early age by his father Tony, who plays piano
& vibes. By the time Paul was 15 he was playing gigs in the midlands area
with Tony & other local musicians. A move to the southwest prompted Tony to set up the first Plymouth Jazz
Club,
with Paul forming part of the backing band. It was while backing many of the
famous "names" from the British jazz scene, that he met up with Dick
Heckstall-Smith who persuaded him to move to the southeast and join his band.
There followed lots of high profile gigs, culminating in a week long residency
at "Ronnie Scott's" club in London. After moving to the southwest (again)! he met Martin Dale (saxophone) and
became part of the house band at The Barbican Jazz Cafe in Plymouth where he
backed visiting artistes as well as performing his own gigs to
enthusiastic audiences.
It was at one of these gigs that Paul first met Vince Lee who subsequently
asked him to play with his band "The Big Combo" - an offer that he
couldn't refuse! Look out for Paul's appearance on The Big Combo's second
album, due for release later in 2008.
THE
FULL HISTORY...
Vince Lee
has been a permanent fixture
on the live music scene in
the Southwest since 1987
when, at the age of 18 he formed his first band as frontman with the Vince Lee Blues Band, a straight ahead but
passionate Chicago blues 5-piece.
Playing with older musicians gave Vince the chance to learn his craft in
a time when being young, white and singing the blues was not so common.
The band worked together for nine years with line-ups which included some of
Plymouths best blues musician. Vince's playing and influences had moved on
from the restraints of the bands Chicago blues twelve bar formula, he had
become a confident performer in his own right releasing a solo album of slide
guitar blues in 1992' and developing a taste for swing, soul and R&B in
the process. When the band finally split in 96' Vince was already planning his
next venture, he wanted to form a smaller band that could capture all the
influences he had gathered through his years fronting the Vince Lee Blues
Band.
By the end of that year Vince's new band THE BIG COMBO were ready to play their
first gig. The band
were made up of drummer Sean May and present bass player
Al Wallis. The energy of these younger players from
different musical backgrounds and the diversity of the music itself
automatically made the band more accessible to a live crowd. With classics by
Cab Calloway, Pee-Wee Crayton, Louis Jordan and
Charlie Christian played along side songs by Tom Waits, James
Harman and Lloyd Jones, the band soon became a regular favorite on
the Devon and Cornwall music circuit.
After refining their style playing pub
gigs and music festivals in and around the Southwest for a couple of years,
the time had come to find a studio and record a demo to promote the band. The
obvious choice was to record it locally at the Plymouth Musicians
Co-operative, Vince and the band had been working on their own material
for the session the result of which was a six track CD with five originals and
a reworked version of Howlin' Wolf's, Howlin' For My Darlin'. The disc earned the band a session on
Radio 2 for The Paul Jones Blues Show followed by performances at
The Great British Rhythm & Blues Festival in Lancashire ,The
Gloucester Blues Festival and a showcase gig at the 2001
Bishopstock Blues Festival. One of the Big Combo's songs "Steppin'
in your Shoes" appeared on Blueprint Magazine's Best of British Blues 2001
compilation CD and the
trio opened shows for major blues acts such as
Joe Louis Walker, Canned
Heat and Otis Grand. The bands drummer Sean May
decided to quit at the end of 2000 to be replaced by current drummer Keith Russell a
veteran of the
Vince Lee Blues Band.
In 2001 arrangements were made for Vince Lee & the Big Combo to
return to the studio, this
time to record a long
overdue full album. The
songs were carefully chosen
from the bands live set
in an 18 track disc entitled
"Call it What Ya Wanna!"
At the
Big Combo's album
release gig in February 2003
the recently disbanded Nightporters guitarist
Martin Vowles and
drummer Kevin Crowe
were blown away by the Big
Combo's show. They
approached Vince after the
gig and explained their
plans to return to the
European blues and roots
circuit with a new line-up.
Vince and Al took up the
offer and a new band was
born.
The Wildcards...
With
appearances at many
blues festivals and venues,
including - The Blues on
the Farm Festival in
Chichester, The Night of
the Blues Festival in
Belgium and The Moulin
Blues Festival in Ospel,
Holland - 2004 was a very busy year for The
Wildcards who also released their debut
album 'On Fire' in November
2004.
The Wildcards have toured throughout the UK &
Europe and worked as Gary Primich's road band in 2006. The bands second
album 'Raising Hell' was released in 2007 and won them 7th place in Blues
Matters! Magazines best albums of the year. In 2008 The Wildcards
toured Germany with The Fabulous Thunderbirds and continue to win new
fans around the globe.
REVIEWS
"Vince Lee was simply stunning. He played guitar
entirely with his eyes screwed tightly shut. His playing was absolutely
superb, with a good mixture of fast and slow lead, Cajun, rocky blues and I
don't know what. He has what I might term a proper blues voice and stage
mannerisms that make people sit up and take notice. A star performer from the
West Country who will definitely go far" (Live review from Boogaloo Promotions)
"Vince Lee is a superb front man, with his gritty
vocals and stunning guitar work being quite eye-opening" (Blues Matters Magazine, UK)
"True jump and blues sounds played with capital-letter
Attitude and tons of talent" (Blues Revue magazine, USA)
"There's plenty of neat
guitar from Vince, heartfelt
backing from Keith and Al
and I'm sure on hearing this
that they are an exceptional
live act that really give
value for money and send
their crowds home well
satisfied at the end of a
varied evenings
entertainment that would endear itself to any age group or surrounding. These
guys deserve to be listened
to rather than stuck in a
noisy pub" (Blues
Matters Magazine)
"This
seasoned trio venture into
dark blues, lively r'n'b, and smooth-ish
jazz. This makes it hard to
call what they do, and this
collection, any one thing -
thus the title - yet it is
rounded and coherent" (Blues in Britain Magazine)
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