Jan Blake, Matt Chandler

Fusing song, fairytale and legend, the remarkable storyteller Jan Blake and blues guitarist, Matt Chandler, tell the blues.

From juke joints and brothels, to slave shacks and plantations... under the starlit sky of the deep Southern States emancipated slaves of the African Diaspora, dressed in indigo dyed denim and banned from singing their homeland songs, spirituals and field hollers, created, sang and lived the blues!

Join Jan Blake and Matt Chandler, for a night in the very fine company of those who've got the blues, those who defy the blues, those who cure them, and those who cause them.

This is a performance to raise the roof and bring the stars down to the windows to listen.

Folktales, fairytales, myth, epic... and singing the blues.

Jan Blake

Powerful and bold, Jan Blake is the Queen of Afro-Caribbean storytelling. An outstanding storyteller, she performs in theatres and festivals the length and breadth of Europe. Jan was born in Manchester to Jamaican parents. Inspired by recordings of Miss Lou (Louise Bennett) she came to telling stories in 1986, and rapidly gained an international reputation for witty and exhilarating performances. Specialising in folktales from West Africa, North Africa, the Arab world and the Caribbean, her repertoire is full of tales of powerful women and her versions of Ananse’s exploits are definitive.

Matt Chandler

Matt has worked with a diverse range of artists including Youth (Killing Joke, The Orb), Arno Carstens, Fake?, Poly Styrene and more recently accompanied Ozark Henry on his European tour. His innovative style is supported by a career that has spanned genres from jazz to punk, folk to electronica. Based in London, Matt's current projects include jazz group The Matt Chandler Trio with Jason Simpson on double bass and Sophie Alloway on drums, and electro-funk band Pest who regularly play live shows around London and have releases on Ninja Tune records. In 2009 Matt independently released his debut album After Midnight and followed this up in 2011 with It Goes Like This.
The Crick Crack Club

The UK's première performance storytelling programmer and promoter, working with the finest performance storytellers, developing audiences, supporting artists and collaborating with venues across the UK and Europe.

What are people saying

'Mesmerizing! The Crick Crack Club weaves a web of enchantment' Time Out

'Storytelling wizards' Londonist

'The UK's most vivid and exciting storytelling organisation' Ian McMillan, The Times
Find out more

Website: www.crickcrackclub.com