Billy Jenkins (musician)

Billy Jenkins (born 5 July 1956)[1] is an English blues guitarist,[2] composer and bandleader. He was born in Bromley, Kent, England.[3]

Billy Jenkins
Background information
Born (1956-07-05) 5 July 1956 (age 68)
Bromley, England
GenresJazz, blues
Occupation(s)Guitarist, composer, bandleader
InstrumentGuitar
Years active1970s–present
LabelsBabel, VOTP
Websitewww.billyjenkins.com

Jenkins was a member of Burlesque, then Trimmer & Jenkins.[3] After a short period, he was a member of Ginger Baker's Nutters.[1] For several years, he ran Wood Wharf Studios.[1] He worked on his own VOTP Records label and led the Voice of God Collective,[1] a group which included Iain Ballamy, Django Bates, Steve Watts, Ashley Slater and other members of the group Loose Tubes.[3] The band released several albums, including Sounds Like Bromley and Uncommerciality.[3]

In the 1990s, Jenkins recorded several albums on Oliver Weindling's Babel Records, and led some seasons at the Vortex Jazz Club. He is now best known as a blues guitarist.[1] Until 2009, Jenkins was captain of Francis Drake bowls club on Hilly Fields, Lewisham. He masterminded a successful season of live music to accompany the 2006 FIFA World Cup at the Vortex Jazz Club.

In the mid-1990s, Jenkins and his band The Blues Collective,[1] took part in a parody documentary entitled Virus Called The Blues, produced and directed by Craig Duncan.

Discography

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Studio albums

  • Sounds Like Bromley (1982)
  • Greenwich (1985)
  • Uncommerciality Vol 1 (1986)
  • Scratches of Spain (Babel, 1987)
  • Wiesen (1987)
  • Round Midnight Cowboy (1988)
  • In the Nude: Standards, Vol. 1 (1988)
  • In the Nude (1988)
  • Motorway At Night (1988)
  • Uncommerciality Vol 2 (1988)
  • Blue Moon in a Function Room (1990)
  • Entertainment USA (1994)
  • East West (1996)
  • S.A.D (1996)
  • Still Sounds Like Bromley (1997)
  • True Love Collection (1999)
  • Suburbia (1999)
  • Blues Zero 2 (2002)
  • When the Crowds Have Gone (2004)
  • Born Again (And the Religion is the Blues) (2010)
  • I Am A Man From Lewisham (2010)

Live albums

  • Jazz Cafe Concerts Vol 1 (1989)
  • Jazz Cafe Concerts Vol 2 (1989)
  • Billy Jenkins / Fun Horns: Mayfest ‘94 (1995)
  • Billy Jenkins / Fun Horns: East / West (1996)
  • Songs of Praise Live (2007)

Compilation albums

  • First Aural Art Exhibition (2006)

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "Billy Jenkins - Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
  2. ^ May, Chris. "Review: I Am A Man From Lewisham". All About Jazz. Retrieved 5 December 2010.
  3. ^ a b c d Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. pp. 1277/8. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
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