Red hot Andy Fleet Band creates sultry melting pot gig at The Cellar Club

Fleet, who lives in Berkhamsted, will play with American trumpeter Andre Canniere, Joe Evans on drums and Zane Maertens on electric bass.

They put blues, rock, folk and jazz into a melting pot to create a rich sultry sound reminiscent of Tom Waits, Joe Jackson, Randy Newman, Donald Fagen and Lindsey Buckingham.

Fleet will be performing music from both his studio albums, The Night Falls Fast and Takin’ Aim, as well as new tracks from his forthcoming album Through Closed Eyes.

The band will also throw in a handful of cool covers by Leiber and Stoller, Allen Toussaint and REM amongst others.

Fleet has very fond memories of the Old Town Hall, he first started playing live at the open mic nights held in the Gallery Bar.

He takes his influences from the aforementioned musicians and also from others including John Lennon, John Martyn and Richard Thompson.

Fleet’s debut album, The Night Falls Fast (2009) is a collection of 10 beautifully crafted songs that tell tales of friendship, loss, nocturnal infatuation and recount long nights playing lounge piano. At it’s heart the album features the deeply affecting Fifty Four Candles.

Takin’ Aim, recorded during 2012, was his follow up and features trumpeter Canniere, Evans on drums and bass player Rob Rickenberg.

It’s a big dark luscious sounding record from the horns laden New Orleans vibe of the opening track Who’s Gonna Be Sorry, to the celebration of old friends and good times in Get The Boys Round, to the cinematic ode to the port of Hamburg in The Beast, to the frighteninglyhonest and personal finale where Fleet references John Lennon’s Mother by baring his soul and telling the tragic tale of the night his own baby son James died in Brave Little Soldier.

Fleet appears at The Cellar Club on Thursday May 14 at 8pm.Tickets cost £10, concessions £8, Dacorum card £7.50, Upstaged £5.

Buy tickets by phone 01442 228091 between noon and 5.30pm Monday to Saturday , or call in to The Old Town Hall in the High Street during the same hours. Or book online www.oldtownhall.co.uk