Richard Pite’s band, The Five Nickels in a tribute to Keith Nichols.

The pianist, singer, multi-instrumentalist and scholar of early jazz Keith Nichols died in January of 2021.  He was a regular performer at Berkhamsted and over the years his various bands featured the very best in fine vintage jazz stylists, old and young.  Tonight Berkhamsted presents a quintet of Keith’s alumni paying tribute to their much missed colleague in a programme of music from the 1920s and 30s.  There will be old favourites from Fats Waller, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Bix Beiderbecke alongside a selection of rarely heard songs and fascinating music from the pre-war era.   All five musicians are steeped in the music and style of the era and the presentation is witty, knowledgeable and very entertaining, very much in the tradition of the late Mr Nichols.

Richard Pite:  Drums and sousaphone; Thomas “Spats” Langham:  Vocals, guitar and banjo; Enrico Tomasso: Vocals and trumpet; Michael McQuaid: clarinet and saxophones; David Chamberlain: Double bass and guitar