Finally happy to announce that we have a residency in London! Tea & Jam @ The Tea House Theatre is a new jam/open mic session taking place on a Thursday, Vauxhall (South West London). Hosted by the jazz quartet featuring Rory Duffy on alto saxophone, flute and vocals, and Chris Roe (from the Open Session @ O'Shea's) on piano.

The night will be a wonderful regular opportunity to try out new material with a house band, including existing songs, half-finished songs, and (in Rory's case) transcriptions of obscure jazz and Brazilian music compositions, a workshop to gig new arrangements that have never been gigged, and a great chance to meet and mingle with eclectic musicians from London's jazz and alternative music scene! All styles will be welcome, plus interdisciplinary and spoken word.

As the night develops, we envisage that sessions will be hosted by alternative artists. This will connect musicians with new disciplines, new styles of playing, and it will enable artists to recruit musicians in a safe, pressure-free environment. Artists will be able to open up their repertoires and bring their pads along so that musicians can get an inside experience at playing their charts.

Audiences will be able to engage with artists in new ways. Tea & Jam @ The Tea House Theatre allows listeners to interact with the artists and request songs. There is also plenty of tea, cakes, beers, wines and spirits to enhance the experience!

We have started up a blog on the Red & Black Music website, which will update you on all of the latest happenings, and which will also feed through to the Dates section of this website.

More info below. Don't forget to Like the Facebook Page:
www.facebook.com/teaandjam

Painting by Julia Coyne
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• Tea & Jam is a scene for musicians showcasing new material.
• Open to any styles - jazz, folk, pop, rock, theatre, world, electronic, experimental, spoken word - vocalist, instrumentalist, DJ, multi-sensory artist - come along and discover your music.
• Bring chords, lyrics and ideas and showcase new material, or simply turn up and jam with the house band.
• Tea & Jam also welcomes solo artists and bands looking for a regular guest slot. Simply let us know before the night!
• Led by saxophonist Rory Duffy (www.roryduffymusic.co.uk) + house band. Rory Duffy will be hosting with his mix of Latin jazz funk fusion & Nu-Bossa. 
• Future nights will also be open to new artists bringing their vibes & experimenting with new sounds.
• Tea House Theatre is situated in an old Victorian Public House that opened in 1886 on the site of the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens, serving tea, cakes, beers, wines and spirits until midnight.
• Audiences can now enjoy a dedicated live music night at this historic site in London.

Tea & Jam will be running most Thursdays up until Christmas

Dates:
October 18, November 01, 15, 29, December 13

Times:
Doors 8:00pm - midnight

Tickets:
£5 non-musicians
£3 concessions / students
FREE for musicians - simply bring an instrument or sing to the doorman!

Brought to you by the Tea House Theatre and Red & Black Music

“We loved the music and were so impressed, so well done on doing a great job!”
Winter Gardens, Sheffield, October, 2012

​Recently, there has been some confusion regarding pricing and representation.

1. As per our announcement on 07/08/12, Diáspora is officially London based, which means that the band is no longer offering discounts for the North-West. This means that for engagements in Manchester, the band would charge zone 4 fees, because the postcode (M1) is more than 150 miles from the home postcode (SW1A). Yes that's right, Diáspora is not Manchester based; it is London based.
2. Diáspora comes 11-piece as standard, and breaks into anything down to 5-piece. This means that the possible lineups for Diáspora are 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5. Anything less than 5-piece is not Diáspora and the band performs under an affiliated name such as the name of the solo artist. Diáspora has never performed as less than 5-piece and the one time that it did perform as a 3-piece, Diáspora lost a booking because a prospective client came to see the gig, but decided not to make a booking because he was looking for a larger band, which is ironically what Diáspora is - a larger band (as the name implies)! Ever since, so that we are not confusing people (people are easily confused) Diáspora has never performed as anything less than 5-piece because it is simply not Diáspora. If you are an agent or promoter, please do not hire or bill us as 'Diáspora' or put 'Diáspora' on the contract unless it states 'Diáspora' in the original quotation.
3. Diáspora is not a salsa band. Diáspora is not a samba band. 'Salsa' and 'Samba' are 2 completely different animals. Diáspora is a Latin band - it plays those types of music, but it also plays many others. Please request a playlist if you are not sure!

Read more about the styles of music here:

• A Beginner's Guide to Latin music
• Idiots guide to Latin music

Before enquiring, please read THIS GUIDE - it really does have all the answers!