Shakatak - Bitter Sweet + Turn the Music Up (2017)

Shakatak have enjoyed a level of success and career longevity rarely paralleled in contemporary music but then Shakatak is a particularly unusual group. Because of the nature of their music their fan base is one that is far reaching while always retaining an "underground" element. This paradox sees the band, who are known primarily for their musicality, enjoying both high "cult" status and instant recognition as a household name due to their numerous hit recordings.

Recent festival performances include headlining at the Bratislava Jazz Day in October '10 which was filmed for Slovakia NTV, the Kutchan Jazz Festival in Japan, the Hua Hin Jazz Festival in Thailand and the Cape Town International Jazz Festival. Previously the band played two headlining nights at Jakjazz, the Jakarta International Jazz Festival plus an appearance at the Bangkok International Jazz Festival. Shakatak have also played at the UK's Wigan International Jazz Festival and the Midsummer Music @ Spencers Festival.

In the past 4 years the band have performed concert dates in the UK, Azerbaijan, Russia, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria and Slovakia plus club dates at the prestigious Billboard, Blue Note & Cotton Clubs in Japan. Shakatak also headlined at the Penang Island Jazz Festival and played a concert date in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

In 2012 there were a number of headlining Shakatak dates in the UK supported by Alexander O'Neal & Aswad and in the summer the band played at both the Sapporo White Rock and Hayama Festivals in Japan. After further dates in the Tokyo and Osaka Billboard clubs they performed at a concert in Kaliningrad, Russia and in the Autumn/Winter period Shakatak played concert dates throughout the UK.

April 2013 saw the release of a new CD "Once Upon A Time - the Acoustic Sessions" on JVC Records and there were numerous UK dates with concerts in Keiv and tours of Japan in July and Germany in October. In 2014 the band released the CD "On The Corner" and toured in Mexico for the first time. There were various other tours around the world.

The latest album "Times & Places" is now available world-wide and during 2016 the band have toured in Holland, Germany, Lithuania, Japan, Bulgaria, Serbia, Mexico and throughout the UK.

Throughout their 31 year career Shakatak have released over 50 CDs plus 3 DVDs and most of the band's extensive back catalogue is now available world-wide on iTunes.

For live performances the band consists of the four original members Bill Sharpe (keys), Jill Saward (lead voc, perc & flt), Roger Odell (drs) & George Anderson (bs gtr), augmented with a guitarist and a backing vocalist/saxophonist, producing a musically dynamic and entertaining show from the 6 piece line-up.