The launch of our new weekly night at Balabam in Seven Sisters! We bring you new live acts every Tuesday in the beautiful Balabam with top sound and lights on stage, and delicious food on site.

WASSAILER

“The lone artist, going from door to door, singing songs and begging for wine and a sofa..”

This word, derived from wassailing / wassail, and found whilst looking for an anagram on a scrabble website, sounds suddenly so accurate, and probably tells you more about the man than the rest of this biography.

Arrived in East London’s Bow in 2011, WASSAILER spent his first years in the Uk touring from Glasgow to Manchester, via Bangor, Dublin, Liverpool and Brighton, with different bands supporting other indie pop acts. That’s how he fell in love with this peculiar culture, from Irish Folk songs to Grime, from Auden’s poems to indian cuisine, from the lake district to UK garage.

However, he ran away from Hackney to settle in South East’s Lewisham, and enrolled himself in the new generation of singer songwriters influenced by jazz, r&b, soul and electronic music, and yet won’t get rid of his acoustic guitar, just in case the world runs out of electricity.. After months of depression following an awful separation, to evictions, and yet probably the most productive year in terms of songwriting, WASSAILER decided to get back on his feet, launch the project and hit the road as soon as possible: roll on 2019!

DEMI MA

Demi DemiMa Mseleku is an AngloZulu word and sound artist from South West London.

Singer, Song writer, Poet and Co-creator of A L C H E M Y a monthly event honouring the art of WORD SOUND SOUL. DemiMa creates soulful multisensorial performances to provoke conscious dialogue. Inspired by themes of identity, spirituality, social dynamics, divine femininity and Afrofuturism, Demi Ma’s passion for improvisation enables her to freely channel sounds as a canvas for her poetry.

RUPERT GILLETT

One Voice, One Cello & A Mad Belgian is a unique collaboration between jazz-cellist and singer/songwriter Rupert Gillett and soprano saxophonist, melodeon player and singer/songwriter Jennifer El Gammal. They delve into jazz, rock, folk, pop and more using only a cello, soprano sax and voice, while at the same time singing songs about robots, space invaders, bogey men and other serious issues of the day. Their new album, "One Voice, One Cello & A Mad Belgian" is now available from Cabin Creations records.

Rupert Gillett is a highly active performer and session musician on the London scene and abroad. In 2018, he was a featured artist at the prestigious New Directions Cello Festival in Cologne, Germany. He plays in a unique 2 cello and violin jazz-fusion/crossover ensemble called “Arcopia” with renowned jazz cellist Gunther Tiedemann (String Thing) and London-based violinist Chris Haigh. As a double bass player, Rupert also regularly performs in a number of ensembles such as Dai & the Ramblers (Ace Records), The Boneshaker Band, She'Koyokh, The London Klezmer Quartet, The Niche London Quartet and many more. He has played at large scale events such as the 2012 Paralympics & the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations, and has performed for clients such as Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Jude Law, Sir Antony Gormley, Charles Dance, Orlando Bloom, the American Embassy and Buckingham Palace. He has featured live on BBC Radio London and BBC 6 Music with his own band Kuma Lisa (Chi-wara), as well as having performed live on BBC Radio 3, BBC 6 Music and BBC 2 television.

Musician, writer, comedian, sociologist, tour guide and magician, Jennifer El Gammal, aka "A Mad Belgian", was born in a tiny land named Belgium. There, she has worked extensively in theatre and music. She has worked with Théâtre Maât in Brussels as a musician/actor and as a theatre workshop facilitator with children & adults of various social, economic & cultural backgrounds. Her musical projects include the modern jazz trio Uživati and the unique folk band Virevoltes, featuring melodeon, celtic harp and percussion. She also runs the blog & podcast A mad Belgian. Jennifer is now based in London, but still travels around Europe on her fold-up bicycle with her soprano saxophone and melodeon. Master improviser and constructor of strange and wonderful musical sculptures, Jennifer's jazzy and melodic excursions need to be heard....

TICKETS

£5 on the door