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About FiddleBop

FiddleBop! Photo: Ruth Redmond-Cooper
In 2023, FiddleBop played at these festivals:
  • HowTheLightGetsIn at Hay-on-Wye
  • The 36th International Upton Jazz Festival
  • Landed Festival
  • Brecon Jazz Festival
  • Cwmaman Music Festival.

FiddleBop plays Gypsy jazz, re-imagined for the 2020s! On violin, Spanish guitar, keyboard, and fretless bass. And we sing too, with four voices in harmony. We love what we play, and it shows!

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 re-imagined" 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-flavoured classic pop, folk-jazz, and our own creations.

So what ties all this together? Why, our Gypsy-style zing, passion, and joie de vivre!

Gypsy jazz re-imagined

Jo Davies, FiddleBop's guitarist, in a mad moment Dave Favis-Mortlock, FiddleBop's violinist and fast-talker, at a gig. Photo: Judy Waldman

"Gypsy jazz re-imagined"? So what is this?

Well, for the long answer then take a look here. But the short answer is that FiddleBop plays Gypsy jazz — which was jointly created by Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli in 1930s Paris — updated for the 2020s. Re-imagined, updated, re-invented. Brought up to date, and very eclectic.

But still with all the pizzazz and excitement — the Gypsy zing — of the original.

Paul Stevens, FiddleBop's keyboard whiz. Photo: Jo Davies Graeme Lamble, FiddleBop's bassist extraordinaire. Photo: Ruth Redmond-Cooper

All of which is why (and please excuse us since we're about to blow our own trumpet and mix our own metaphors), audiences love FiddleBop's unique Gypsy-tinged flavour of jazz music.

FiddleBop on Radio Cardiff! DJ Andy Roberts played a live version of "Jo's Gypsy Jazz" on his preview of Brecon Jazz Festival 2023. We're at 1:07:47. Enjoy!

Music which can be sweet, chilled, even mysterious at times. And music which, with its roots in the fiery Gypsy jazz tradition, is hot unto cooking. FiddleBop will get your feet stomping and your heart thumping (in a good way, of course).

But don't — as the saying goes — just take our word for it: see our reviews.

So how about having FiddleBop make some "Gypsy jazz re-imagined" at your festival, your club or pub, your wedding, or your party? We're friendly, we don't bite, and we cost less than you might think. Why not check us out at Midsummer Music logo or Book Entertainment logo? Or you could email us or phone us (01982 560726 / 07968 950870) for a quote.


Next: FiddleBop's Gypsy jazz: updated

Gypsy jazz re-imagined!