Jools Holland and His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra

Jools Holland, OBE was born Julian Miles Holland on January 24, 1958 in Blackheath, South East London.

At the age of eight, he could play the piano fluently by ear, and by the time he reached his early teens he was proficient and confident enough to be appearing regularly in many of the pubs in South East London and the East End Docks.

At the age of 15, Jools was introduced to Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford; together they formed Squeeze, and shortly afterwards they were joined by Gilson Lavis (who had already played with, among others, BB King, Chuck Berry, and Max Wall) – who still drums with Jools.

In 1987, Jools formed The Jools Holland Big Band – comprising himself and Gilson Lavis. This has gradually metamorphosed into the current 20-piece Jools Holland and His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra, which consists of pianist, organist, drummer, three female vocals, guitar, bass guitar, two tenor saxophones, two alto saxophones, baritone saxophone, three trumpets, and four trombones.

Jools and the Rhythm & Blues Orchestra play to audiences in excess of 200,000 each year.

As well as formidable live performances, Jools has maintained a prolific recording career since signing to Warner Music in 1996, which includes the multimillion selling Jools and Friends series. Notable ‘friends’ have included Sting, Chrissie Hynde, George Harrison, Norah Jones, Eric Clapton, David Gilmour, Bono, Joe Strummer, KT Tunstall, Robert Plant, Smokey Robinson, Ringo Starr, Peter Gabriel, Solomon Burke, and many more.

Jools’ achievements were formally recognized in June 2003, when he was awarded the OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List.

Jools is joined at The Gate To Southwell by his Squeeze cohort Chris Difford as special guest vocalist, with soul veteran Ruby Turner contributing guest vocals.

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