Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
A summer packed with stars
Adiverse programme to suit all musical tastes has been lined up at the Marlowe Theatre this summer. It includes X Factor winner Matt Cardle, legendary singer Elkie Brooks, ska and reggae band Toots and the Maytals, soul singer Jocelyn Brown and Radio 2 folk award nominee Sam Lee.
The season starts on Friday, June 24, in the Marlowe Studio with pioneering musician Sona Jobarteh, who plays a West African harp called a kora, which accompanies her distinctive voice.
On Sunday, June 26, guitar virtuoso Ernest Ranglin will be performing his unique brand of ska, reggae and jazz with his band. His musicianship has influenced some of the biggest stars and he tutored Bob Marley on his guitar technique.
Matt Cardle, who is at the theatre on Tuesday, July 5, won The X Factor in 2010 and has a series of hits.
Recently, his four-octave vocal range earned him the leading role next to Beverley Knight in Memphis The Musical in London, for which he won the Best West End Debut award.
One of the country’s most successful and popular singers, Elkie Brooks returns on Saturday, August 13. Now in the fifth decade of her career, she will be performing many of her well-loved, classic hits.
Toots And the Maytals take to the stage on Tuesday, September 6. Formed in Kingston, Jamaica in 1961, and now a five-time Grammy nominee, the band popularised the reggae sound with hits such as Do The Reggay – widely acknowledged as the first song to feature the word ‘reggae’.
The powerful, soul-shaking voice of Jocelyn Brown will fill the theatre on Wednesday, September 7. Her hits include Love’s Gonna Get You and club classic Somebody Else’s Guy.
On the same night in the Marlowe Studio, Mercury Prize and Radio 2 Folk Award nominee Sam Lee and his band will be performing hits from his second album. A former professional forager, he toured the world on the back of the Mercury nomination and is described as a new pioneer of folk.
There’s more folk in the Studio on Saturday, September, 24 with Spiro, mixing driving fiddle, accordion, mandolin and guitar.
Lovers of 80s pop are in for a treat with Go West, T’pau and Nik Kershaw in concert on Sunday, September 25.
Call 01227 787787, or visit marlowetheatre.com