Shakatak winging their way to Wirral (From Wirral Globe)

Shakatak winging their way to Wirral

3:22pm Monday 20th August 2012 in News Exclusive By Craig Manning

EIGHTIES soul-funk greats Shakatak come to the Floral Pavilion in New Brighton next week.

The group - whose hits included Down On The Street and Night Birds - promise an exciting night of smooth jazz, funk and soul their seaside venue on Saturday, September 1.

Joining original members Bill Sharpe (keyboards), lead singer Jill Saward, drummer Roger Odell and bass guitarist George Anderson will be a guitarist and backing vocalist/saxophonist.

Looking ahead to the Wirral date, Roger Odell told the Globe: "It's the first time we've played New Brighton and we hope to see people who remember us from the 80s as well as those who are discovering our music for the first time."

The band, which took its name from a London-based record shop, has enjoyed a level of success and career longevity rarely paralleled in contemporary music.

Because of the nature of their music their fan base is one that is far reaching while always retaining an "underground" element.

Roger Odet said: "It's more than 30 years since we started out and we certainly still enjoy playing.

"I think the reason for our staying power is that we never were in the pop tradition, our feet are firmly in the jazz camp. Perhaps jazz artists have a longer career than other musicians.

"Our early success was a complete surprise to us, because we were mainly an instrumental band.

"I would say Japan is still our biggest audience. When we first toured Japan it was massive. Our name is incredibly well known across the world."

Recent festival performances include headlining at the Bratislava Jazz Day in October '10 which was filmed for Slovakia NTV, the Kutchan Jazz Festival in Japan, the Hua Hin Jazz Festival in Thailand and the Cape Town International Jazz Festival.

Roger adds that the band’s musical influences are wide-ranging: He said:

"Everybody in the band is huge fans of Stevie Wonder, because he goes back to the period when we were starting out.

"We all have our individual music tastes, but personally, I’m into contemporary jazz.

"There are quite a lot of contemporary artists who have quoted us as influences. So it's nice to know that people are still very much interested in our music."

Previously the band played two headlining nights at Jakjazz, the Jakarta International Jazz Festival plus an appearance at the Bangkok International Jazz Festival.

They have also played UK's Wigan International Jazz Festival and the Midsummer Music @ Spencers Jazz Festival. The group has released more than 50 CDs plus three DVDs, and their latest recording "Across The World" was released in April 2011 on JVC Records.

There was also a "Greatest Hits Live" CD/DVD combo released in 2010. Most of the band's extensive back catalogue is now available world-wide on iTunes.

Roger said: "It's a changing world and the internet is certainly helping our sales.”

Tickets for Shakatak’s September 1 show, which starts at 7.30pm, are from the Floral Pavilion box office on 0151 666 0000 .