GAZ MAYALL

Gaz Mayall DJ's and hosts London's longest running one-nighter Gaz's Rockin Blues. He occasionally plays live with his ska band The Trojans. He first began Gaz's Rockin' Blues in July 1980 after a few guest appearances at the Two-Tone club, Oxford Street in 1979.

The eldest son of Blues legend John Mayall, Gaz was raised on a musical diet of R&B and was dragged around every beat, pop & rock festival and venues throughout the sixties as a child. First becoming a lifelong fan of reggae as a kid on the football terraces in the skin head era circa 1968-72.

Gaz began collecting records aged 17, bulk buying cheap reggae and ska collections down street markets such as Portbello road and Brick Lane at a time when it seemed no one wanted them.

Also a great fan of boogie woogie, Rock&Roll, traditional Irish music, funk and world music, Gaz, heavily influenced by a family friend Radio One DJ and blues musician Alexis Korner, pursued his love of music in earnest and now has a world famous collection of predominantly black dance music ranging from the first tribal drum beats to the latest drum & bass.
For the last nineteen years Gaz has been running his own record label Gaz's Rockin' Records producing ska acts and artists around the world.

GAZ ROCKIN' RECORDS

Gaz's Rockin' Records kicked off in October 1985 with the launch of Potato 5's debut 7 & 12 inch singles, leading to the labels first album release "Floyd Lloyd & Potato 5 meet Laurel Aitken" in February 1887.

Gaz had been temporarily managing the group and needed to launch his own dream indie label to promote his club, sound system style modeled on the 1960's Jamaican ska labels like Prince Busters, Coxsones & Duke Reids.

With the advent of his own band, The Trojans, Gaz made more singles and another album in 1987 to put his label on the ska world map & continued at a rate of about an album release or more per year. Mainly devoted to the field of ska & its hybrids, Gaz has often branched out with his productions to include world music such as the well acclaimed Baghdaddies debut CD "Last Tango in Babylon" featuring the gypsy flavour of the underground festy scene.

GAZ ROCKIN' BLUES

Gaz's Rockin' Blues is London's longest running one-nighter club. It was founded on 2 July 1980 had been held at Gossip's on Dean street for 14 and half years until it moved to its current venue St Moritz on Wardour Street in 1995.

The club generally promotes live bands each week.St Moritz
159 Wardour street, Soho, London W1F 8WL
Every Thursday 10pm-3:30am
Admission £7 (£5 before 11pm)

NOTTING HILL CARNIVAL SOUND SYSTEM

Every year at Europes largest street festival, the Notting Hill carnival, Gaz's sound system has featured outside thThe Globe, 103 Talbot Road. Each year a different theme is used for the decor of the stage - Cowboys And Indians (2000), A Space Odyssey (2001), House Of Voodoo ( 2003), Pirates Of The Caribbean (2004).

2005 paid homage to Japan where Gaz has been perenially popular with 30 visits since 1986. So for 2005 it' was Place Of Fu Manchu with a three storey peace pagoda, upholding Gaz's position as the best dressed sound system, and features The Trojans live, clad in orient express kit with Gaz at the helm leading a host of Gaz's Rockin' Blues top dj's...

2006 was even more impressive, Talbot road being turned into the "Lost World" with a couple of giant dinosaurs, 30 feet monster squeletons, a vintage nazi airplaine crashed in the middle of a real jungle insfested by cannibal dancers, pilots and half naked air hostesses being served as diner. The line up included maroon town, The trojans, Ska Cubano members, Tantan Thornton, and a brief appearance of Prince Buster to name a few.

THE TROJANS

More about the trojans...

Specialising in ska & reggae with a dash of soul, funk, R&B and world roots, The Trojans were formed in late 1986 from the ashes of the premature demise of Gaz Mayall's first band Gaz's Rebel Blues Rockers where brief emergence on the London pub/club scene lasted from early 1982 to mid 83.

Debut gig was the Astoria on Charing Cross road by London's center point on the 23rd December 1986 supporting premier ska band Potato 5 and ska legend Laurel Aitken. Within two and a half years the Trojans headlined the same venue with the above acts supporting them. During the first few years they recorded several albums well received on the UK underground all on Gaz Mayall's own independent label Gaz's Rockin' Records, the first being 'Ala-Ska' featuring the classic single 'Gaelic Ska' launching a whole new genre of Afro-Celtic fusion that has since become a hallmark of The Trojans' sound.

Several albums were licensed to Japan from '88 with 'Spirit of Adventure' on Sony records opening up an avenue of succesive tours with mainstream coverage to a large audience where they are still very popular today.

Some original band members are still regular performers with the band including saxophonist Rudy Jones and drummer Mark Hamilton who began as percussionist. The line-up often features bagpipes, violin, guest female vocalists, on top of the regular two guitars, drum, bass percussion regular touring group with Gaz at the centre stage singing and playing melodica. Occasionally guest horn players and the Trojan's long time founder saxman Colin Humphries appear.

The trojans tour often mainly in Europe and do lots of one-off special shows at festivals, clubs, bars and private parties being popular with the young and old and people of all cultures to suit our multicultural day and age. More about the trojans...