Americanology with Dave Keech
AMERICANOLOGY is a deep-groove jazz track infused with soul, featuring the powerhouse vocals of Andre Espeut and a stellar lineup of the UK’s most progressive and creative jazz musicians, including Binker Golding, Rob Luft, Nikolaj Torp Larsen, Nim Sadot, and Corrie Dick. The track blends jazz musicianship with classic soul, making it equally at home on jazz playlists and dance floors.
AMERICANOLOGY is the lead single from Dave Keech’s upcoming 5-track EP, Tokyo, set for release in autumn 2025. The EP showcases Dave’s big, expressive trombone sound and soulful phrasing, with original compositions interpreted by some of the UK’s most innovative jazz musicians.
To hear the excellent single 'Americanology' click here:
https://orcd.co/1wkokyw
I had a sneak listen to the next single BLOOD and it's every bit as awesome as the first (if not even better!!)...
To pre-save the forthcoming single 'Blood' out 25th July:
https://orcd.co/dpa27pr
I had the chance to ask Dave some Q's - here's what the man has to say:
Matt: I heard that you started playing trombone at twelve, inspired by your grandfather. Did he also warn you it would lead to a life of late nights, smoky rooms, and explaining to airport security why you’re carrying a brass bazooka?
Dave: He did not. My grandfather was a strict brass bandsman — almost more classical than the classical crowd. Discipline, posture, rigour — that was the world I stepped into at twelve. He probably wouldn’t have approved of me veering off into jazz, but he taught me how to be serious about the instrument, and that mattered. There’s a story that sticks with me: once, he went to a brass instrument exhibition and happened to see Louis Armstrong there, who must've been on tour in the UK — testing out a trumpet. Granddad listened, shrugged, and said, “Didn’t think much to it.” That tells you everything about his taste and temperament! I didn’t exactly follow in his footsteps — but I wouldn’t have found my own path without him.
Matt: You studied under Sir Eduardo Paolozzi does sculpting with metal and wielding a trombone feel like two sides of the same artistic rebellion, or is one just significantly louder?
Dave: They’re definitely two sides of the same thing - and they’re both loud in their own way. Paolozzi was a dear friend and mentor. He taught me so much about creativity, about following instinct, and about the joy of making. He also loved jazz. His work feels like an endless improvisation - a kind of hymn to the 20th century and everything it meant, from machines to movies. That spirit - of assembling, layering, experimenting - is what I hear in jazz too. We spent many happy hours together listening to jazz. It’s all part of the same impulse, really. Paolozzi and jazz just speak different dialects of the same language.
Matt: Touring with Ray Gelato’s ‘Giants’ must have been wild what’s the most surreal moment you’ve had on stage… and does it beat playing Carnegie Hall with Lionel Hampton and Roberta Flack?
Dave: Well, yes - being on stage at Carnegie Hall New York with Ray Gelato’s band, sharing the bill with Lionel Hampton and Roberta Flack, was surreal in all the right ways. That’s a lifetime highlight.
But then again… there was Finland. We were doing a late-night jam after a festival — somewhere in Finland or Norway — when a very drunk guy got up and started causing chaos. The pianist lost patience and punched him. That kicked off an actual brawl on stage: cymbals flying, bodies crashing, total mayhem. Our drummer, Johnny Piper (God rest his soul) jumped in to help subdue the guy — I think his Millwall supporter creds came in handy. I just edged quietly to the side — I had a trombone to protect.
Matt: You’ve designed everything from keyboards to brass instruments for Yamaha do you ever sit in a gig and silently critique the design flaws of the instruments around you? Be honest.
Dave: Great question. Honestly, in the professional world, most players have chosen their instruments like they’ve chosen their voice — it becomes part of who they are. So it’s rare to see gear that’s wrong for the job.
But, like most musicians, I’m far more likely to be silently critiquing my own playing than anyone else’s setup.
What I really enjoy — and this has definitely been fuelled by my time at Yamaha — is talking to other players about their instruments on gigs. Horn players, guitarists, drummers, whatever. What they’re playing, why they chose it, where they got it, what they love (or hate) about it. That curiosity hasn’t gone away. And it’s a privilege to have been on both sides of the fence — designing and playing.
Matt: Japan clearly made a lasting impression. What’s more technically challenging: mastering a complex jazz chart or navigating Tokyo’s subway system with a trombone case during rush hour?
Dave: Ha ha - few things are more challenging than complex jazz charts! But navigating Tokyo’s subway system with a trombone case during rush hour on the way to a gig doing complex jazz charts is one of the greatest challenges known to man. I know — I’ve cos I've done it :-)
Matt: As the founder of JazzUp, do you think young jazz musicians today have it harder breaking through or just easier ways to post moody Instagram shots with their instruments?
Dave: Man, your questions are good!
Honestly, I think it’s harder now. There are far fewer casual gigs than there used to be. When I was starting out, there were pubs full of live music — working bands, jam sessions, scenes you could cut your teeth on. That landscape’s changed. Even places like Club 85 in Hitchin — the long-time home of JazzUp — are under threat. It’s tough.
Sure, younger players have adapted to social media, and there’s definitely a knack for posting moody shots with a horn. But most of the musicians I know just want to play. I’m not convinced that posting on Instagram leads to paid gigs - maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t. Maybe I’m just from a different generation.
You can curate your social media, but you can't curate a jazz solo on stage - it's happening for real!
Matt: If your trombone could talk, what would it say about the gigs it’s survived and would it need therapy after some of them?
Dave: My trombone does talk - I just happen to be the one enabling it.
But when it’s just the two of us, it usually says something like: “Mate… when are you going to pay for my therapy? I’ve stuck with you through all sorts, and it’s about time you coughed up for my mental health. Surely you’ve earned enough by now — especially with that new single out…”
Matt: Your new EP Tokyo is on the horizon. How much of the Japanese influence comes through in your compositions and do you ever find yourself subconsciously trying to play haiku in brass form?
Dave: It is indeed - the Tokyo EP is on the way, and we’re launching it at the 100 Club on Oxford Street on 22nd October. You have to come.
The title track, Tokyo, is absolutely soaked in the energy of that city - this living, breathing Blade Runner meets Mega-City One kind of place. The track is about the city. The lyrics are about the city. I won’t give too much away just yet, but it channels the chaos, the beauty, the overload — all of it.
And yes, there’s definitely a rhythmic haiku vibe running underneath it. Controlled chaos, maybe.
Matt: Let’s settle this once and for all: what’s the cooler jazz accessory a perfectly polished mute or the ability to walk on stage looking like you just stepped out of a noir detective movie?
Dave: Nice one. I reckon a perfectly polished mute belongs to a brass band player - a jazz musician’s is more likely to be battered, bent, and barely hanging together. And let’s be honest: most jazz musicians look more like they’re being followed by a detective.
But seriously — yeah. Jazz is about style. Miles Davis knew it better than anyone. He once said something like: “Anyone can play a note. That’s 20%. The other 80% is the attitude of the motherf…r playing it.”
Matt: Final question… If you could form a supergroup with any living or dead jazz legends, who’s in the lineup and more importantly, who’s buying the first round after the gig?
Dave: Unfair question! That’s impossible.
But okay - I’d love to play with Duke Ellington. Just to be near that musical mind. And I once had a dream I met Louis Armstrong — it was intense, just this huge, overwhelming personality. I never forgot it. I wouldn’t dare get on stage with him, but I’d kill for a hang with him.
Maybe Elvin Jones on drums. Or wow - what would it be like to be on stage with Ella??… no. See? It's impossible.
As for the first round - with a supergroup like that, the first and all subsequent rounds would surely be on the house?
Come to think of it, I have assembled an insane band for the 100 Club launch! Andre Espeut, Corrie Dick, Nim Sadot, Binker Golding, Rob Luft and Nikolaj Torp Larson - if that's not a supergroup I don't know what is!
More about Dave here:
www.davekeech.co.uk
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