Jools Holland hits Liverpool this week with his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra

Jools Holland And His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra have announced a new UK tour for spring/summer 2024, which includes a show at Liverpool Philharmonic Hall on Thursday 16th May.

The music & television legend will bring his esteemed 19-piece Rhythm & Blues Orchestra to fifteen towns & cities across the country, kicking-off proceedings in Liverpool this week and wrapping-up with an evening at St Albans Alban Arena on 19 July.

The titular presenter of BBC TV’s long-running ‘Later… With Jools Holland’ will be ably assisted by a plethora of great musical talent, including his original Squeeze bandmate Gilson Lavis (who has now been drumming with Jools for more than 40 years) and 19-year-old hotshot Oxfordshire blues guitarist Toby Lee, with shows also featuring acclaimed guest vocalists Imelda May*, Ruby Turner, Louise Marshall and Sumudu Jayatilaka.

Full list of UK dates is as follows: 16 May Liverpool Philharmonic Hall / 17 May Scunthorpe Baths Hall / 22 May Coventry Warwick Arts Centre / 1 June Llandudno Venue Cymru / 6 June Malvern Forum Theatre / 7 June Wolverhampton Grand Theatre / 11 June Dartford Orchard West / 14 June Basingstoke – The Anvil / 15 June Hastings White Rock Theatre / 26 June Folkestone Leas Cliff Hall / 1 July High Wycombe Swan / 15 July Hull City Hall / 16 July Grimsby Auditorium / 17 July Lowestoft Marina Theatre* / 19 July St Albans Alban Arena*

* NB Imelda May will not appear in Hull, Grimsby, Lowestoft & St Albans

Tickets for all shows are available now here

The current 19-piece Rhythm & Blues Orchestra consists of pianist, organist, drummer, three female vocalists, guitar, bass guitar, two tenor saxophones, two alto saxophones, baritone saxophone, three trumpets and three trombones. They regularly tour the globe, dazzling in excess of 300,000 people per year with their exuberant live performances.

Jools Holland And His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra recently celebrated hitting No.1 in the UK Album Chart in March 2024 with ‘Swing Fever,’ a collection of timeless classics, reimagined with vocalist Sir Rod Stewart.

As the UK's most popular pianists and bandleaders, Jools Holland OBE has performed and recorded with some of the planet’s most talented musicians and songwriters, including Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Luther Vandross, Sting and Paul Weller, as well as the late, great blues guitarist BB King who famously remarked, “I didn’t think anybody could play like that. Jools has got that left hand that never stops.”

From playing pubs in London’s East End docks as a teenage greaser, to leading his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra and selling millions of records this century, it is his passion for music that has made Jools Holland into a doyen of the music scene. Jools was awarded an OBE in 2003 for his services to the British music industry.