Fronted in his own inimitable fashion by Jools Holland, the Rhythm & Blues Band have established their own powerful niche as a full-blooded good time live attraction, built around Holland's distinctive boogie woogie piano style and Ruby Turner's lung-bursting vocals reviving old school jazz and R&B. Holland's musical credentials as a member of pop band Squeeze and presenter of long-running UK TV show Later with Jools... made him something of a British institution long before he went back to his first love jazz with his Jools Holland Big Band launched in 1987 with drummer Gilson Lavis. Touring between TV commitments, this gradually evolved into the R&B orchestra, involving established singers like Sam Brown and Ruby Turner. Their albums subsequently included high profile collaborations on three volumes of the Small World, Big Band collections (2001-2003) including the likes of Sting, Paul Weller, Joe Strummer, Dr John, Mark Knopfler and Van Morrison, Edwin Starr, Dionne Warwick, Ray Davies and Tom Jones, among others. The 2010 album Rockinghorse includes a piano duet with Allen Toussaint and guest vocals from Alison Moyet and Michael McDonald.
