Hello
Beautiful Summer days are turning into gorgeous Autumn as we announce our splendid BTF Autumn 2025 season. Celebrating Jazz Voice with three of the UK’s most talented, original and entertaining singers.
Now’s the time to book tickets as we’re offering Early Bird discounts and we expect all of these concerts to be hugely popular!
Also look out for Alison’s group ARQ with dates in London, Dorking, Deal and a South-West mini–tour – plus our new Jazz in the House season at Lauderdale House. All details below and our gigs page.
OCT 3 CAROL GRIMES ‘Wild, declamatory soulfulness’ John Fordham The Guardian
NOV 1 IAN SHAW ‘The leading male jazz singer of his generation in the UK’ Jazzwise
DEC 5 LIANE CARROLL ‘She seems in some magical way to be made out of music’ The Observer
Ian Shaw (Saturday Nov 1) and Liane Carroll (Friday Dec 5) will be performing with us and solo in the beautiful setting of St Matthias Church, Stoke Newington’s only Grade I listed church.
We’re offering Early Bird tickets for these two gigs so you’ll save 10% booking before Oct 1 2025.
BOOK IAN SHAW ***** BOOK LIANE CARROLL *****
Friday 3 October Carol Grimes & Friends BOOK CAROL GRIMES
The absolute legend ‘Grimesy’ aka Carol Grimes will be appearing with her all-star band of friends.
Carol Grimes is a towering presence in the UK music scene; from busking in the streets as a teenager to touring internationally with contemporary classical group The Shout. She celebrated her 80th birthday last year to a sold out Ronnie Scott’s club. This may be her last London gig!
Carol Grimes Vocal • Steve Lodder Pno • Deirdre Cartwright Gtr • Alison Rayner Bass • Winston Clifford Drums
‘Equal parts Marsha Hunt, Julie Driscoll and Merry Clayton, turning her song poems into seductive, hypnotic and terrifying incantations. A remarkable piece‘ Lois Wilson MOJO
St Matthias Hall
Wordsworth Road, N16 8DD
Doors & Bar 7.30pm | Music 8.30 -10:30pm
Easy ground floor access and street parking available. Drive down Belgrade Road from Stokey High Road.
Saturday 1 November Ian Shaw BOOK EARLYBIRD
Ian Shaw is one of the most recognisable names on the UK jazz scene, performing in the UK and worldwide both solo and in collaboration with an array of first-class musicians and ensembles. With eclectic influences from Aretha Franklin, Joni Mitchell and David Bowie as well as the classic swinging jazz repertoire, Ian is a huge talent with the most engaging personality and an ability to make every song his own.
“The leading male jazz singer of his generation in the UK” (Jazzwise, 2008), Ian delivers “shades of Mark Murphy and Jon Hendricks, artists in whose company Shaw very much belongs.” (All About Jazz, 2025)
Ian is the recipient of two BBC Jazz Awards and a Parliamentary Jazz Award. ‘Vocalist of The Year’
St Matthias Church
Wordsworth Road, N16 8DD
Doors & Bar 7pm | Music 8pm
Easy ground floor access and street parking available.
Friday 5 December Liane Carroll BOOK EARLYBIRD
Liane has enjoyed huge critical acclaim and is now considered to be one of the top jazz vocalists both in the UK and worldwide.
Her first four albums all enjoyed four-starred reviews, and ‘Ballads’ received ***** from Jazz Journal, while ‘Seaside’ won CD of the year at the 2015 British Jazz Awards.
A winner of the British Jazz and Parliamentary Jazz Awards, she received the 2016 Gold award from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors. Music commentators are unanimous in their praise.
‘One of the UK’s leading jazz vocalists… often matching raw emotion with jaw-dropping technique’. Jazzwise
‘A powerful, soul-inflected performer with an Ella Fitzgerald-like improv athleticism and an emotional frankness on ballads’ The Guardian
St Matthias Church
Wordsworth Road, N16 8DD
Doors & Bar 7pm | Music 8pm
Easy ground floor access and street parking available.
Mrs Dates Diary: Autumn 2025
- Sun 28 Sept The Casimir Connection Lauderdale House N6 BOOK
- Fri 3 Oct Carol Grimes & Friends St Matthias Halls BOOK
- Thurs 9 Oct ARQ The Lighthouse Deal, Kent CT14 7DX
- Thurs 9 Oct Pete Oxley | Nicolas Meier Group Lauderdale House N6 5HG
- Sat 11 Oct ELECTRIC LANDLADIES + DJ RITU Filia Women’s Conference Brighton Centre
- Tues 14 Oct Deirdre Cartwright/Steve Kirby Group Brecon Jazz
- Thurs 23 Oct ARQ Torbay Livermead Cliff Hotel, Devon BOOK
- Thurs 23 Oct Sarah Moule | Simon Wallace Lauderdale House N6 5HG
- Fri 24 Oct ARQ Lerryn Memorial Hall Lostwithiel, Cornwall PL22 0QB
- Sat 25 Oct ARQ Calstock Arts Centre, Cornwall BOOK
- Sat 1 Nov Ian Shaw St Matthias Church BOOK
- Thurs 6 Nov Andrea Vicary Quartet Lauderdale House N6 5HG
- Fri 7 Nov Deirdre Cartwright’s ORGANIK Hull Truck Theatre BOOK
- Tues 18 Nov ARQ Watermill Jazz, Dorking
- Wed 19 Nov ARQ London Jazz Fest Cadogan Hall, Lunchtime BOOK
- Thurs 20 Nov Monk & Mingus Malcolm Earle Smith Lauderdale House N6
- Fri 21 Nov Emily Saunders Lauderdale House N6
- Thurs 4 Dec Zoe Francis / Jim Mullen Lauderdale House N6
- Fri Dec 5 Liane Carroll St Matthias Church BOOK
- Sat 20 Dec ELECTRIC LANDLADIES XMAS PARTY Walthamstow Trades Club
Blow the Fuse ‘On Air’
In 2020 – 2021, we were awarded funding by the Arts Council of England to produce a series of online concerts recorded exclusively by Blow the Fuse from the Vortex Jazz Club in Dalston plus archive film footage and interviews. We’d like to thank everyone who’s supported us through these extraordinary times and to all of you who became a BTF Patron through donations. Your support was crucial and helped us to produce TEN shows in all. A very steep but rewarding learning curve.
All shows can now be viewed anytime on our You Tube channel HERE
Carol Grimes • Deirdre Cartwright • Liane Carroll • Annie Whitehead
D’n’A present vintage Guest Stars • Martha & Eve + The DaDa Dandies
Back to the 70s • The Casimir Connection + Add3io • Ian Shaw • ARQ
Please join our club by clicking here and receive links to the shows. Subscribe to our YouTube channel and look on our fb page for more updates.
See you at a LIVE gig soon.
Thank you to all our supporters and watch this space for more news…
‘Wild is the music of autumnal winds Amongst the faded woods.’ William Wordsworth