Art Themen, Pete Whittaker & I have a fun & feelgood organ trio. Our two albums are released on Hadleigh Jazz Records.
"A first-rate trio..an excellent set..Themen is one of the very few totally original, utterly engaging jazz musicians around" **** Dave Gelly - THE OBSERVER
"Just once in a while one chances upon a new album that is just perfect, and love at first listen. Thane & The Villeins is one of those rare gems." James Henry - BEBOP SPOKEN HERE
"Magesterial..Art's version of Willow Weep For Me is enthralling" Jack Kenny - JAZZ VIEWS
"Themen, a veteran master now, in such eloquent form"
**** Peter Vacher - JAZZWISE
"Cracking album...In any other country he'd be regarded as a national treasure"
Leonard Weinrich - LONDON JAZZ NEWS
"Boistrous and inventive as ever..funky and swinging"
HI FI NEWS & RECORD REVIEW
Order a copy of either CD from me for £10 plus £1.50 P&P, send me a message georgedouble.com/contact and I'll get one out to you straight away. Card payments accepted, we'd be thrilled to send you one!
Full Reviews here
THE OBSERVER www.theguardian.com/music/2020/feb/22/pete-whittaker-art-themen-george-double-thane-and-the-villeins-review-medieval#img-1
BEBOP SPOKEN HERE https://lance-bebopspokenhere.blogspot.com/2020/02/cd-review-pete-whittaker-art-themen.html
JAZZ VIEWS www.jazzviews.net/art-themen--pete-whittaker--george-double---thane--the-villeins.html
LONDON JAZZ NEWS https://londonjazznews.com/2020/02/26/art-themen-thane-the-villeins/
Gig Calender & Archive
2023
Jan 26th Cambridge Jazz Club
Jan 29th Kenton Theatre Henley-On-Thames 3pm
April 16th Wavendon Stables (lunchtime)
May 13th Jazz Brunch - Watford Jazz Festival
May 26th Chichester Jazz Club
June 17th Wallington, Oxfrodshire
July 7th Two Sisters Arts Centre, Trimley
Sept 10th Ipswich Jazz Club
2022
Jan 20th Jazz At The Front Room Croydon (lunchtime)
Feb 5th Hunter Club, Bury St Edmunds (eve)
March 27th Kenton Theatre, Henley On Thames 3pm matinee
April 11th Reform Club Pall Mall
April 22nd Saffron Hall Foyer
April 24th Colchester Arts Centre Jazz Club
May 4th Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds (lunchtime)
May 4th 606 Chelsea (evening)
June 14th Ronnie Scott’s Headline
June 18th Hadleigh Jazz Club (eve) as part of 'JATP'
June 24th Harwich Festival
July 4th Bexley Jazz Club
July 6th Concorde Club, Eastleigh
July 16th The Jazz Centre UK, Southend
July 26th Watermill Jazz w/John Etheridge's Blue Spirits
Oct 1st All Saints Church Dunsden
Oct 12 Scarborough Jazz Club
Oct 13 Leeds Seven Arts
Oct 14 Wakefield Jazz Club
Nov 11th The Bear Club, Luton
Nov 17th London Jazz Festival @ The Karamel Club
Nov 23rd Fleece Jazz
2021
August 21 Blue Room Lincoln (with John Etheridge)
August 25th Pizza Express Jazz Club, Soho
August 26th Aberjazz Festival, Fishguard
August 30th Oaken Grove Vineyard, Henley -on-Thames
Sept 11th Peggy's Skylight, Nottingham 5pm & 8pm
Sept 12th Market Harborough Jazz Club (with John Etheridge)
Sept 14th Norwich Jazz Club
Sept 22nd Guildford Jazz Club (with Marianne Windham)
Nov 4th Two Sisters Arts, Trimley
Nov 12th EFG London Jazz Festival - Bulls Head Barnes
Nov 15th EFG London Jazz Festival - Cadogan Hall
Nov 19th Birmingham Jazz at 1000 Trades, Jewellery Quarter
Nov 24th Fleece Jazz
2020
Jan 25th Fairycroft Arts, Saffron Walden
March 7th Hunter Club, Bury St Edmunds (with Chris Ingham)
2019
May 7th Annie's Jazz Club, Southend
July 5th Fleece Jazz
Oct 2nd Southwold Jazz Club (with Chris Ingham)
Nov 14th Elgar Room, Royal Albert Hall
2018
July 13th Cadogan Hall
Oct 21st Ipswich Jazz Club
"A first-rate trio..an excellent set..Themen is one of the very few totally original, utterly engaging jazz musicians around" **** Dave Gelly - THE OBSERVER
"Just once in a while one chances upon a new album that is just perfect, and love at first listen. Thane & The Villeins is one of those rare gems." James Henry - BEBOP SPOKEN HERE
"Magesterial..Art's version of Willow Weep For Me is enthralling" Jack Kenny - JAZZ VIEWS
"Themen, a veteran master now, in such eloquent form"
**** Peter Vacher - JAZZWISE
"Cracking album...In any other country he'd be regarded as a national treasure"
Leonard Weinrich - LONDON JAZZ NEWS
"Boistrous and inventive as ever..funky and swinging"
HI FI NEWS & RECORD REVIEW
Order a copy of either CD from me for £10 plus £1.50 P&P, send me a message georgedouble.com/contact and I'll get one out to you straight away. Card payments accepted, we'd be thrilled to send you one!
Full Reviews here
THE OBSERVER www.theguardian.com/music/2020/feb/22/pete-whittaker-art-themen-george-double-thane-and-the-villeins-review-medieval#img-1
BEBOP SPOKEN HERE https://lance-bebopspokenhere.blogspot.com/2020/02/cd-review-pete-whittaker-art-themen.html
JAZZ VIEWS www.jazzviews.net/art-themen--pete-whittaker--george-double---thane--the-villeins.html
LONDON JAZZ NEWS https://londonjazznews.com/2020/02/26/art-themen-thane-the-villeins/
Radio Interviews
Art Themen Organ Trio: 14th October, 2022 Wakefield Jazz Club
Posted by WAKEFIELDJAZZ on OCTOBER 17, 2022
Art Themen, tenor sax. Pete Whittaker, organ. George Double, Drums.
It is one of the glories of jazz that a trio (at least one of this calibre) can perform with such expressive range. It’s not just a matter of wide-ranging material, or the particulars of instrumentation or styles that cover the span of jazz history from Ben Webster to funk, It was the quality of the musicianship and the close working relationships between the players that carried the night. It was a delight from start to finish.
Art Themen’s command of the tenor showed in his beautifully crafted tone, whatever the style or tempo. There was plenty of power, but no bravura blasts, no empty histrionics. His emphasis was always on bringing out the qualities of a good melody. His soprano sax, which made an appearance in both sets, also deserves a mention. On the group’s unusual take on the old Nat King Cole number ‘The Ruby and the Pearl’ he wove around the melody like a
snake-charmer—a perilous thing to do on an instrument as wayward as a soprano—and with the kind of piercing clarity one might expect from an oboe or cor anglais. And his tenor sound went from rousingly soulful to the most delicate (and precise) high notes. When he played the Abdullah Ibrahim song, ‘Water from an Ancient Well,’ he was up against Ricky Ford in the original recording—and came out shining.
Pete Whittaker played unobtrusively and supportively throughout most of the first set, only coming to the fore in the second, providing the perfect, almost church-like accompaniment on the Ibrahim number and thereafter, given plenty of room to display his considerable talent. As though that wasn’t sufficient, he unexpectedly took to the piano for a beautiful duet with Art. As with all the best musicians, he has an abundance of talent but nothing to prove, ensuring that this is a trio by dint of more than just the number three.
Much the same can be said about George Double’s drumming. Serious musicians don’t need stage-filling drum kits: it’s refined technique, musical sensitivity and responsiveness that matter. Of course, he had a few welcome turns at tasteful and engaging solos—always musical and never self-indulgent.
Art Themen himself has a quietly engaging, unassuming stage manner, but the evident chemistry between him, Pete and George seemed to find extra-musical expression, too. By the end of the evening, it felt like we had been party to something more relaxed and intimate than a club gig. They weren’t going to get away without an encore, a delicate rendering of ‘Willow Weep for Me,’ which sent all of us out into the night, smiling.