The John East Project

The genesis of the John East Project was a conversation between John East and Steve Rubie of the 606 Club in October 2009, when Steve suggested that John put a band together and played a gig at the club. After a little nudging, John agreed and the first gig was in March 2010. The band was initially a four piece – Mark Fletcher on drums, Neville Malcolm on double bass, Phil Robson on guitar and John on Hammond Organ and vocals. To quote Steve Rubie “The gig was excellent, everyone loved it and regular dates soon followed”. A two man horn section, comprising Scott Baylis on Trumpet and Flugelhorn and Max Grunhard on alto sax, was introduced for the second gig and Carl Orr replaced Phil Robson for the third gig. Dave Lewis on tenor sax replaced Max’s alto in 2012. In 2016, Dan Hewson, who had been responsible for many of the arrangements for several years, joined the band on trombone for the recording session for the band’s second album Mr Businessman and we liked the sound so much that he is now the seventh member of the band.

The band now gigs regularly at the 606 and elsewhere and the line-up is Mark Fletcher, (drums) Neville Malcolm, (bass guitar) Carl Orr, (guitar) Scott Baylis (trumpet, flugelhorn and piano) Dave Lewis (tenor saxophone) and Dan Hewson (trombone and piano). The band released its first album, “Live at the 606” in July 2012 and its second, “Mr Businessman”, on CD and vinyl, in August 2016.