The story of FiddleBop

So here you are, at a FiddleBop gig, listening to FiddleBop's unmistakeable beggars-in-velvet jazz-folk music. "How did they get here?", you ask.

(You might also ask how you got to wherever you are standing or sitting, thinking philosophical thoughts, if it has been a lively sort of evening for you. But that is for you to remember .)

Whilst rain gently falls (see below), we'll tell you the FiddleBop story.

Backwards, from the present day into the mists of the past...

Right now, FiddleBop is:

• Dave Favis-Mortlock (violin, flute, and vocals)
• Joanna Davies (Spanish guitar and vocals)
• Graeme Lamble (fretless bass guitar and vocals)
• Ian Jones (cello and vocals)

And we're excited! Why? Because the amazing Ian Jones has just joined us, on cello and vocals! The current version of FiddleBop plays jazz-folk: Hot Club Gypsy swing, jigs'n'reels, traditional folk songs, and jazz of all flavours... on violin, Spanish guitar, cello, and fretless bass. We sing too, with four passionate voices in harmony.

There have been two previous Wales-based lineups of FiddleBop, both of which focused mainly on Gypsy jazz. Version 3 included percussionist Paul Midgley, and we had keyboard player Paul Stevens with us in version 2.

And version 2 of FiddleBop played lots and lots of gigs, pretty much every kind you can think of: jazz clubs, folk clubs, barns and fetes and garden parties, eateries of various kinds, back rooms of pubs, city squares, and quite a lot of festivals (there's a list of recent ones above).

What fun we've had at every one of 'em! And how we enjoyed pushing the boundaries of Hot Club Gypsy Jazz — just as we are now pushing the boundaries of jazz-folk!

Before that? Well, the first version of FiddleBop came to an end when Joanna and Dave moved to Powys (Wales) in 2017. This Oxfordshire-based incarnation of FiddleBop^[1] thrived for thirteen years as a very successful hard-gigging mainstream Gypsy jazz band.

FiddleBop v1 began when Jo and Dave started playing with masterly double bass player Roger Davis and then also with guitarist Martin Crowder. Memorable gigs by the first version of FiddleBop included:

• London's Le QuecumBar ("The World's Premier Django Reinhardt Gypsy Swing Venue", now sadly missed)
• Upton Jazz Festival
• Oxford University
• Regular Oxford Jazz Kitchen gigs at The Rose and Crown, Oxford
• Sunday Jazz at The Nag's Head On The Thames, Abingdon.

And we also played many other live shows, of all kinds, and with the occasional guest musician. On stages large and small, on haywagons, in street markets, at festivals, in sunshine and (thankfully not often) in pouring rain. In marquees and in gardens, at stately homes and universities, in pubs and in breweries, and even in a distillery.

Further back still? The Jo-and-Dave duo began way back (a rainy day — geddit? — in summer 2004, actually). Dave Favis-Mortlock and Joanna Davies were camping near beautiful Poppit Sands in West Wales when they tried playing some jazz tunes together, on violin and guitar. It sounded good, so when they returned to Oxfordshire, they kept playing.

Even before that?

Dave had been playing the violin since his teens, and had fiddled in lots of bands: mostly folk-rock (including supporting Fairport Convention at their Cropredy Festival and elsewhere) but also some early music. And guitarist and singer Joanna had been playing classical piano from a young age, and gigging as a singer-songwriter since her teens.

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