Photography by Jules Annan Concert / Photography
www.concertphotography.co.uk

Info ‘borrowed’ from The Dance Brigade myspace page:

THE DANCE BRIGADE

In the late summer of 2007 Jen’s old mate LEE THOMPSON called her up to see if she would be interested in assisting him and his friend KEITH FINCH with a new SKA project. Always up for a challenge Jen of course said she’d give it a try.  Two months later Jen hooked up with Keith at his JA13 studio. Keith’s vast library of tunes meant that Jen could pick and choose her favourites.  Inspired by the beats and production, Jen took to writing the lyrics and melodies to quite a few tracks and by Christmas they had six tracks roughly finished.  Since then the trio have built on their ideas, selecting musicians they believe have the quality and right approach for the task in hand. 

LEE THOMPSON (saxophone - vocals)
Lee always adds a distinctive sound that only he is known for, Lee also writes and sings and is a highly confident humorous performer.

JENNIE MATTHIAS (lead vocals)
Jennie was chosen for her ability to perform, write and vocalise those creations; Jen and Lee have known each other since 1981.

KEITH FINCH (digital production, musician, vocals)
Keith is the band’s technical genius, he creates the tracks ready for the rest of the group to add their musical creations, he starts the track and finishes them off in production often adding his keyboard skills.

CHICO CHAGAS (keyboards, guitar, accordion)
Actually Chico plays most instruments really well and it’s fair to say he is a musical genius with great individual personality, Chico supplies the intricate keyboards and strings.

CHALKY (trumpet)
Chalky is already a friend of Lee’s and has played in many a band with Lee so it was only natural that he join the team. Chalky writes some great riffs and has a passion for playing SKA music.

DANIEL BURDETT (guitarist)
Daniel is a talented guitarist who doubles up vocally, has a knack for coming up with catchy riffs, is a confident performer and has a great singing voice; Dan is the youngest member.

DEBRA BARKER, (backing vocals)
Having helped Keith vocally in the past Deb's was chosen for her vocal reliability and endearing quirkiness, Deb's had been doing vocals for Keith for a few years as she was part of the JA13 package.

EXTENDED MEMBERS - Outside of the THE DANCE BRIGADE they also have rare appearances on their tracks and these people, although they may appear on the tracks, might not always guest at their live shows.

The Dance Brigade myspace page is now up with 6 tracks, 'Give it Some', 'Who's That Girl' and 'Musical Lesson', ‘Don’t Judge’, ‘Minds Made Up’ and most recently ‘Cocka Deafen’.

Check out the Interviews page for an interview with The Dance Brigade and news about their Debut gig on 17 September 2008 in London.  You can see some of their videos too on the Videos page.