Dave O' Higgins - Fast Foot Shuffle

O’ Higgins has completed five solo albums since he started recording, including ‘The Grinder’s Monkey’ and ‘The Secret Ingredient.’ His last work ‘Big Shake Up’ gave him a perfect opportunity to write for a new 10 piece band of my choice…trying to capture the spirit of (rather than the parody) the history of jazz. "I decided to do this in an original format, drawing on elements of New Orleans second line grooves, through jazz, funk, Latin and whatever," says Dave. "I ended up writing for three months and was very pleased with the result so recorded it while it was still hot."

His latest project Fast Foot shuffle is an eclectic, highly energized album, on which he leads a six-member band and the JazzzCotech Dancers. Full of fast bop and greasy funk, Fast Foot Shuffle is his best yet, with an effortless flow of toe tapping rhuthms and shifting harmonies, tailored to suit the jazz dance scene.

Though fully entrenced in his own music, O ‘Higgins has taught at London’s Guildhall and Royal Academy, the South Africa’s Universites of Natal and Cape Town, a place where he spends much of his time, and lectured in the Royal Northern College of Music. He has done workshops and performed with Jazz Squad, a program dedicated to bring out jazz to a wider audience, His academic musical background combined with his spontaneity and creativity makes him the cream of the crop according to Time Out.

Dave leads and explosive group comprised of Sam Burgess on acoustic and electric bass, Peter Eckford on percussion, Mike Outram on guitar, Tom Cawley on piano and Simon Lea on the drums – a band that can inspired even the most indifferent follow of music to take interest.