Playing 5th on Teeling on Friday 10 April the spirit of Bessie Smith and antique jazz is alive and kicking as Pigfoot make their first appearance in Sligo and Ireland at the inaugural Bright Side of Life comedy festival presented by Spike Sligo.

Part of a pulsating wave of new jazz outfits intent on tackling trad in all its forms rather than jumping on the bandwagon and going vintage Pigfoot subvert the form and the norm in their own ingenious way while respecting the quirks and mores and, above all, the joy of the 1920s style. Bringing their own customised version of 21st century acid trad to Sligo and Ireland for the first time, a concept zany enough, you would imagine, to satisfy former trad trumpeter Spike Milligan himself, the four piece of trumpeter/cornetist Chris Batchelor, pianist Liam Noble, tubaist extraordinaire Oren Marshall from the MOBO-winning Sons of Kemet, and drummer Paul Clarvis got together in 2013 to record their debut album live at London’s redoubt of the avant grade, the Vortex in Dalston. You’ll never hear anyone else play ‘Basin Street Blues,’ ‘12th Street Rag,’ ‘Jitterbug Waltz,’ or ‘Tennessee Waltz’, quite like Pigfoot do them. 

A trad band to make traditionalists blink and think again while at the same time challenging modernists to reassess just what their hang-ups about the music actually were in the first place.

Pigfoot’s appearance is part of the Bright Side of Life, Spike Sligo’s debut comedy festival, which runs from 8-12 April and includes the headlining appearance of Richard Herring. The Spike Sligo jazz festival club, presented in association with the Sligo Jazz Project who celebrate their tenth anniversary this year, runs over three nights at 5th on Teeling. Acts appearing include, in addition to Pigfoot, the David Lyttle band launching new album Faces and who perform on 11 April, while the Brian Priestley quartet featuring the Dublin City Jazz Orchestra’s Ciaran Wilde and David Lyttle perform on 12 April. (Stephen Graham)

For more details go to the festival website here

Pigfoot’s Oren Marshall above left, with Chris Batchelor, Paul Clarvis, and Liam Noble. Photo: Alex Bonney