THE TV STAR
No rest for the wicked, observes Jools Holland’s bassist
As I write this, it’s a month since Lucy and I got married and I’ve been asked a lot where we went for our honeymoon. ‘Honeymoon? You must be kidding!’ is my reply. Our wedding didn’t cause me to miss any work; our honeymoon consisted of going into the studio to start recording a new series of Jools’ BBC Radio 2 shows. And they say romance is dead!
Looking back, the only time I’ve missed performances with Jools was due to serious illness. Under these circumstances, Jools likes to use two particular players to dep for me: Pino Palladino
– I think we’re all familiar with this chap – and Dave Bronze, Eric Clapton’s long-term bassist. I’m honoured to have two such illustrious bassists as my deps if I’m feeling a bit peaky.
Guests on recent shows have included the saxophonist, composer and broadcaster Yolanda Brown, producer and vocal artist Jack Lukeman, and English pop singer Allan Clarke, one of the founding members of the Hollies, as well as Rebecca Ferguson, who came to prominence on The X-Factor, and who I work with independently. Each show lasts an hour. The first half features Jools playing records of his own choosing while the house band chime in with quips and anecdotes. Jools depends mostly on me for additional banter, so I’m his sidekick, if you will. It’s all off the cuff – so I have to be the class wag at all times...
The second half features a guest, who chooses their own playlist. We play a song with them live, which can be a cover or an original of theirs. In the early days, we never knew the song in advance and had to learn it on the spot, just before the recording. A total roast! Now we receive the songs the night before.
We usually record two shows per day, two days per week, and there are still more shows to record – so now you understand why a honeymoon is yet to be had for the Swifts. Still, I’d better keep Pino and Dave’s numbers on speed dial just in case…
www.daveswiftbass.com