In collaboration with True Groove Recordsa very special night filled with Blues Royalty at Ram Jam Records with Tomás Donker, Marla Mase, Big Joe Louis and Lara Hebblethwaite.
Tomás Donker
Website | Spotify | Youtube| Instagram
Producer/Singer/Songwriter/Guitarist, and indie label CEO Tomás Doncker has long been a prime mover and innovator on the New York music, arts & culture scenes-establishing himself as a cross-genre innovator without peer.
For over a decade, his expansive creative endeavors have found a home with his label/production hub, True Groove Records. Projects have included work with; Meshell Ndegeocello, P-Funk alumni Bootsy Collins, and guitar hero Michael "Kidd Funkadelic" Hampton, hip hop pioneer/D.J. Keith Shocklee (Public Enemy/Bomb Squad), iconic bassist/producer Bill Laswell, Trumpet/Bassist/Producer Jonathan Read (Project Blackbird/The Specials), and, the legendary Ms.Patti Smith. Tomás will be embarking on a summer’24 UK tour in support of his upcoming remix collaboration project with the late Detroit hip hop/funk pioneer Mr. Amp Fiddler.
“This racially charged and paradigm-shifting record is a testament to his unwavering political views and decades of work in the music industry.”
— The Huffington Post
Most recently, Doncker and longtime collaborator Pulitzer Prize winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa joined forces with visual artist Floyd Tunson to create Endangered, an immersive multi-media experience addressing the historical conundrum that Black men in America are endangered. Endangered launched in 2022 with a series of Juneteenth weekend performances and companion album release. Inspired by Tunson's Afro-Futuristic, politically charged artwork and powered by lyrics from Komunyakaa, Doncker and The True Groove All-Stars have charted a sonic journey to freedom, a modern day revolution of the mind that has been referred to as '21st Century Psychedelic Soul,' and hailed as "a socio-politically charged audio-visual soundtrack of 21st Century dissent, discomfort and reclamation."
Doncker has received praise for his groundbreaking productions from such taste-making music, art & culture discovery destinations as CNN, Huff Post, Mojo, Spin, Brooklyn Vegan, NPR’s “All Songs Considered,” Guitar World, All About Jazz, The Source, Vents Magazine, Paste Magazine, and No Depression, American Blues Scene, Music Crowns, and Rolling Stone - to name a few.
Marla Mase
Her post-pandemic, pre-apocalyptic grooves sit just slightly on this side of disturbing and that side of fun but are all unflinchingly magnetic and unapologetically addictive.
Marla Mase is an innovative, unstoppable artistic force. A dynamic performer who's built a formidable career creating immersive entertainment experiences in all manner of the arts for almost three decades, she didn't emerge from her musical cocoon until the early 2000s. Since then, she's performed to rapturous audiences from the Bowery to Beijing and released multiple LPs. Her two latest EPs, STRIPPED.DOWN. and Truth Comes Down, reveal differing sides of the same coin.
Big Joe Louis
"One of the greatest British Blues Artists" - Jools Holland
Award-winning singer/guitaristm Big Joe Louis plays a solo set. Big Joe Louis was born in Jamaica, West Indies, and moved to the UK during the 1970s. His band The Blues Kings were formed 18 years ago and have taken their special kind of real down-home Blues to venues all over the world.
Lara Hebblethwaite
Lara Hebblethwaite has been in love with music her entire life. The 19 year old Singer/Songwriter from south London, was inspired from a young age by going to festivals and concerts with her family, and by further expanding knowledge as a manager at the legendary Eel Pie Records store (in Twickenham.) Her journey as an artist began when she found a guitar in her grandmothers loft and taught herself to play-making up chord progressions and jamming along with records. Lara’s vocal approach has been influenced by the likes of Grace Slick (Jefferson Airplane), Robert Smith (The Cure) and Kate Bush, to name a few. While working on her own original material, she also enjoys covering songs from an eclectic collection of genres that inform her own unique style.
Iconic speakeasy Ram Jam Records is hidden away behind the award winning Smok’d pub at The Grey Horse Kingston (and yes we serve all their award winning food and drink) ..
If you would like to book a table (for dining only) please contact the venue at greyhorse@smokd.co.uk and specify you would like to be seated in Ram Jam Records. or put the same request in the notes on your online booking.
9pm, Doors from 7pm