Hare And Hounds

Simon Green was born and grew up in rural Hampshire, escaping to Brighton aged eighteen. There he fell into the jazz/hip hop/funk/soul scene centred around Rob Luis and nights like phonic:hoop. An accomplished musician as a teenager, he began producing his own tracks, pushing at the template established in the sweaty little venues studding the Lanes.

Green’s first release came on Luis’ label, Tru Thoughts, when his track “Terrapin” was included on the compilation “When Shapes Join Together” in 1999. His debut album, “Animal Magic” followed the next year, completely self-produced and largely self-played, too. Hailed as one of the “new downtempo pioneers,” Green found himself attracting the attention of other labels and eventually signed to Ninja Tune.

In 2003 he released his first album for the label, “Dial ‘M’ For Monkey.” This was a time when Green was also focussing heavily on his DJing, playing banging dancefloor sets of hip hop, funk and drum & bass up and down the country and across Europe, a period which reached its apogee with the release of the mix album “Solid Steel: It Came From The Sea.”

“Days To Come” followed in 2006, Green opting for a lusher, more live sound than on his earlier records. To tie in with this musical development, he put together and rehearsed a live band that could bring the music of his records to life. As a result he has moved from selling out the Luminaire to selling out Koko to selling out Kentish Town Forum and the Roundhouse and producing the live DVD to prove it. “Days To Come” also scooped the Gilles Peterson listnerer’s poll for Album of The Year. At the award ceremonies he met the talented UK soul singer Andreya Triana. Not only did the friendship they struck up result in Andreya’s superb contributions to “Black Sands” but Si has produced the whole of her solo debut, coming from Ninja later in the year.

Over the last couple of years, Bonobo has become one of the premier artists on the Ninja Tune imprint and certainly one of the most listened to, with over 16 million plays recorded on LastFM. His combination of superb live shows and studio wizardry means that he is now perfectly placed to push on into a yet bigger league. With “Black Sands,” Bonobo has made the record to achieve

Jazzy Soulstress Lizzy Parks, now signed to one of the UK`S most prestigious indie labels Tru Thoughts returns to Birmingham for one night only!  Catching the publics attention with her involvement with the Nostalgia 77 Project and featuring on sessions for acclaimed labels including Ninja Tune, Lizzy spent 6 years of her musical life living in Birmingham.
Her debut album for Tru Thoughts ‘Raise the Roof’ in 2008 won fans including Laurent Garnier, Craig Charles (BBC6 Music) and Gilles Peterson (Radio 1). In 2009 Lizzy took her talent in a new direction with an acoustic album ‘This And That’. A collection of totally new and exclusive acoustic material, interspersed with gloriously re-worked acoustic versions of songs from her previous album.

Straight out from a run of gigs including support for The Quantic Soul Orchestra and DJ Vadim, 2010 will see Lizzy hitting the biggest venues & festivals in the UK.
Tonight Lizzy brings her acoustic duo featuring Birmingham based guitarist Tom Robins to play a selection of upbeat songs from her albums.