All the way from New Orleans, Soul Rebels Brass Band are currently on tour and on their visit to the UK stopped off at Morpeth School to put on a short concert and run a workshop with the schools’ big band Urban Playground. These guys sure know how to put on a show and the volume they create is immense. Sure enough, the hundred or so pupils who were lucky enough to attend the event gave them an rapturous welcome and got into the party atmosphere as they got up, sang, clapped and danced their way through the band’s short set which included a fantastic cover of Katy Perry’s track ‘California Gurls’.

On Tuesday, Jazz trumpeter Christian Scott and his band visited Morpeth School to perform and lead a workshop with the members of the school band ‘Urban Playground’. After performing a couple of tracks he started a question and answer session so the students had the chance to find out all they wanted to know about him and his music. He had some fascinating stories to tell and provided great insight into the influences behind one or two of his pieces.

Morpeth School recently organised a trip for the members of their drum group (Pulse) and their Big Band (Urban Playground). This isn’t the first time the kids have been to Madrid and each time they go it’s an overwhelming success. The kids stay with families in Spain for a few days and over the course of the trip, play several concerts in public places as well as schools and to various VIPs. Thought I’d attach one of their videos to this blog so you can check it out – pretty damn good for an East London secondary school…