Poets Chris Fogg and Chris Waters and musicians Clive Ashley (sax) and Chas Dickie (cello) bring you an evening of poetry and jazz on the theme of journeys and homecomings, leavings and arrivals… a blend of humour and thoughtfulness that invites audiences to take a fresh look at the familiar.
Tickets £15/£30 with supper
Saturday 29th November 6.30pm. Performance from 8pm
Four outstanding performers and old friends come together to make music and poetry in a warm atmosphere of daring improvisation, humour and skill.
Chris Waters was born and grew up in London. He has worked as a teacher of English and drama at the Sir John Colfox School in the seventies and eighties, working closely with Bruce Critchinson, Rex Trevett and Pat and Norman Saunders-White: ‘We were lucky – they were very creative times’ he says, as well as working as a musician, story-teller and furniture-maker. He is well known on the Bridport scene for his drumming with Custers and the Colfox Big Band, and is now based in Totnes where he is a freelance writing tutor/poet/storyteller who has worked extensively across the south-west with young and adult groups and audiences. His poetry has won prizes in the Bridport and Plough annual competitions and has appeared in anthologies, including The Moor Poets (book and CD), Acumen and Poetry Scotland. He was Poet in Residence at the 2011 Appledore Book Festival. He has published two collections with Mudlark Press: Arisaig (2010) inspired by themes of memory, spirit of place and family memoir and Through a Glass Lately (2014).
‘Bridport will always be a special place for me and my family’, he says. Chris took first prize twice in the Bridport Prize. ‘I’ll always be grateful for the encouragement conferred by that prize,’ he says. ‘In terms of writing and music, I have a lot to thank Bridport for.’ He went on to study with Seamus Heaney at an Arvon Foundation Course.
Chris Fogg has worked as a theatre writer and director, with many successful credits, including as creative producer for South East Dance in Brighton as well as being an independent creative producer supporting other choreographers working in contemporary dance. He has also written and directed plays for companies such as Farnham Maltings, New Perspectives and Flax 303. His first collection of poems and stories, Special Relationships, was published by Mudlark Press in 2011.
“Stirring, brain-whirring and playful – chock full of delights…” Quentin Cooper, presenter of BBC Radio 4’s The Material World
Clive Ashley (jazz sax and bass player) and Chas Dickie (cello) will play well known pieces on the theme of travel and will also accompany the poets enabling them to present their poetry performance in live dialogue with their music.
Chas Dickie studied cello with Margaret Moncrieff and Rhuna Martin whilst at the Colchester Institute. While at school he took cello lessons with Delia Fuchs and played in the London Schools Symphony Orchestra. He also plays piano and double bass. He has played on soundtrack of “ Secrets and Lies” by Mike Leigh [Palme D’or award at Cannes] and with P.J.Harvey (Plants and Rags), Jacqui Dankworth (Field of Blue), Startled Insects (Curse of the Pheromones), Frank Perry (Planetary Peace), Robbie McKintosh (Unsung), Gordon Haskell (A Little Help from You, Freeway to her Dreams) and Sandi Thom (The Last Picturehouse).
In his youth he toured France, Holland, Belgium, Austria, and Switzerland with Van der Graaf in 1977/8, playing cello and keyboards. He has also played in the Seedbed Orchestra and Ovary Lodge with Keith Tippett and Frank Perry and in Maintenance with Lou Glandfield and Clive Bell. He is now part of the Pool of Sound String Quartet. He has composed 5 Big Life Library albums, and “9 Stones” the album by his own band Polygenes. His educational string compositions were published by Faber in the series “Fingerprints”. He has been giving workshops in improvisation for Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra since 1990, for E.S.T.A on various occasions, the
Cello Club of Great Britain 2003-07 and in Medellin and Bogota, Colombia in 2004 and 2008.
Clive Ashley is and has been a very well known and constant presence in the jazz and blues scene of the West Country and nationally (playing with Ben Waters Boogie Band, Ronnie Wood and numerous jazz ensembles) – known for his lyrical, energetic style and his ability to improvise with imagination and panache. He has a music degree from the Dartington College of Arts.
As well as reading from their own work, and from some of their heroes and heroines, Chris & Chris invite requests of works by other poets on the same theme of journeys – requests will need to be sent in advance to gallery@sladersyard.co.uk – and may be incorporated into the programme.
Sladers Yard Licensed Café is renowned for its wonderful home cooking. It was winner of The Taste of the West Gold Award 2014. The café specialises in fresh, locally grown ingredients cooked to delicious Moorish recipes.
To book your tickets at £15 or £30 with supper for Saturday 29th November please phone 01308 459511.
Sladers Yard, West Bay, Bridport, Dorset DT6 4EL
Sladers Yard Licensed Café is open 10am – 5pm every day.
