The Actors’ Church will be presenting the three-part series of concerts ‘Festival of French Jazz’ to celebrate the considerable influence the European jazz capital has had on the global musical industry. Running throughout October and November, the festival pays tribute to three of the most influential jazz musicians of all time: Django Reinhardt, Richard Galliano, and Stephane Grapelli.

The Festival of French Jazz will bring together several leading British musicians for a rare opportunity to hear timeless music within the grade 1 listed, 400-year-old acoustic of the Actors’ Church – so called because of the church’s close historic association with the theatre community of London’s West End.

The festival’s three shows are:

John Etheridge’s Sweet Chorus (A Tribute to his Friend and Mentor, Stephane Grapelli) – 08/10/22. Doors: 7.30PM, Music: 8.00PM. Tickets: £22.50

Coloriage: The World of Richard Galliano (A Tribute to the World’s Greatest Accordionist) – 20/10/22. Doors: 7.30PM, Music: 8.00PM. Tickets: £15.00

London Django Collective (London’s Foremost Gypsy Jazz Musicians)
27/11/22. Doors: 7.30PM, Music: 8.00PM. Tickets: £18

John Etheridge’s ‘Sweet Chorus’ was formed as a personal tribute by John to his mentor and inspiration Stephane Grapelli following their extensive touring together in the 70s and early 80s. John rose to fame playing guitar with the rock/fusion band Soft Machine as well as the likes of John Williams, Yehudi Menuhin, and Dizzie Gillespie.

Coloriage: The World of Richard Galliano sees established members of the London Jazz Circuit Eric Guy – Double Bass, Harry Diplock – Acoustic/Electric Guitars, and Mike Guy – Piano Accordion, pay tribute to the world’s most renowned accordionist Galliano. Performing his greatest compositions and similarly inspired originals by the band, the group will host a night of Argentine tango, French musette waltz, gypsy jazz, and more. This performance will follow on from their previous shows across the Green Note, Toulouse Lautrec Jazz Club, The Vortex Jazz Club, Gypsy Jazz Festival of London, 1000 Trades Birmingham, The Parlour, and others.

The London Django Collective unites several of London’s foremost musicians of the style commonly known as ‘Gypsy Jazz’. Born of the desire to bring together artists inspired by Reinhardt, the London Django Collective innovate on their roots to create distinctly contemporary music which sits beside the very best of London’s thriving jazz scene.