Blow the Fuse is an artist-led organisation formed in 1989 by jazz musicians Deirdre Cartwright and Alison Rayner.* Inspired by Alison’s experience of seeing Mike Stern playing in Bar 55, New York and stories of Ronnie Scott and Pete King in the early days of Ronnie’s; we decide to open our own jazz club night.
Beginning at the Duke of Wellington pub theatre on the Balls Pond Road, we subsequently had a long association with the ‘old’ and new Vortex and with David Mossman who was involved with the Vortex until his death in 2018. With the experience we gained as members of the Guest Stars who operated as a collective in the 1980s, we feel we have been more aware than many organisations of the uneven playing field that has existed for women jazz musicians in the UK.
Our PRSF funded seasons, Tomorrow the Moon and Tomorrow the World, feature double bills set in two iconic venues in London N16: the new Vortex jazz club in Dalston and the old medieval church in Stoke Newington Church Street. Where young meets old, where East meets West.
Directly as a result of the support we have had from the PRSF, our 2012 – 2018 seasons included groups led by composers Laura Jurd, Yazz Ahmed, Deirdre Cartwright, Vicky Tilson, Alison Rayner, Laura Cole, Diane McLoughlin, Dee Byrne, Nora Bite, Lauren Kinsella, Roz Harding, Nikki Iles, Shama Rahman, Daphna Sadeh, Flo Moore, Chelsea Carmichael, Camilla George, Alex Ridout, JFrisco and Nubya Garcia.
Our seasons “Tomorrow the Moon” one small step for women, was met with a very positive response. Then came the dreaded ‘lockdowns’ period but we managed to keep our club going online with “Blow the Fuse On Air”. Recorded live from the Vortex, our videos are up on our Blow the Fuse You Tube channel with more than 20,000 views.
Our new Blow the Fuse club nights take place at St Matthias Hall and Church in the heart of Stoke Newington London N16 and we’re also programming Jazz at Lauderdale House in Highgate following the sad death of Brian Blain. Jazz in the House is going from strength to strength and we’re now in our 6th season there.
*Deirdre and Alison met in a rehearsal space i.e. garden shed in Peckham in 1976. Deirdre was a ‘lead guitarist’ inspired by Jeff Beck and Jimi Hendrix. Alison had been playing the bass for 2 weeks and was about to fall in love with the playing of Jaco Pastorius. Their first meeting led to mutual suspicion which gradually blossomed into a musical relationship which has lasted for nearly 50 years.
