Vintage Swing Jazz · Est. Hull
Meet the Band
An elegant and exciting approach to the swing jazz of the twenties, thirties and beyond! A flexible line-up of musicians around a solid trio-core, all with a shared devotion to the swing sound.
Guitar & Vocals
Lewis Kilvington
Lewis is a professional guitarist and guitar teacher from Hull, UK, playing and teaching all styles but specialising in Gypsy Jazz. Lewis has performed all around the UK, France and the Netherlands. Lewis was recently featured in ‘Guitarist‘ magazine as part of the next generation of Django Reinhardt style players. He is also passionate about teaching and has an ever growing student base with pupils all over the world learning from his expertise. Lewis is also well known from his expanding online presence with his YouTube channel posting tuition videos. Lewis can also be found performing with his ensembles The Yorkshire Gyspy Swing Collective and Essence of Django.
Guitar & Vocals
David Tomlinson
Inspired by the great gypsy jazz rhythm players Hono Winterstein, Nous’che Rosenberg and Michael Châtelain, David Tomlinson has spent the past seven years immersed in the art of accompaniment, developing his craft alongside some of the finest lead players on the gypsy jazz scene.
A multi-instrumentalist with extensive live experience as a guitarist, percussionist, bassist and singer, David has toured and performed across the country, while his work as a sound engineer has given him an unusually broad understanding of how great music is built from the ground up. These experiences have shaped a strong musical intuition: knowing when to drive, when to respond, when to leave space, and how to make the right musical decision at the right moment.
An avid teacher and collaborator, David approaches rhythm guitar not simply as accompaniment, but as an art in its own right — a conversation between pulse, harmony and the musicians around him.
Alongside his work in gypsy jazz, David holds a regular residency with Da Marmi, his Latin and swing duo with guitarist Martyn Potter, exploring the meeting point between Latin rhythms, European jazz and swing. He also travels throughout the UK with Ain’t That Got Swing, alongside guitarist Robert Burgess — a distinctly vintage project that recreates the atmosphere, style and intimacy of a bygone era of jazz and swing, from the music and instruments to the visual aesthetic and presentation.
At the heart of his playing is a deep respect for Django Reinhardt and the extraordinary musical tradition that followed him. David continues to explore, teach and perform within that legacy, while developing a rhythmic voice distinctly his own.
Guitar & Vocals
Robert Burgess
Having played guitar for over 30 years and being trained classically, Rob has gained an impressive and extensive portfolio of experience in the arts of music performance, composition, production, and collaboration. Rob has toured all over the UK and Europe, and performed as part of the illustrious ‘South by Southwest Festival‘ in Austen, Texas, as well as in as far reaching places as Hawaii. Rob is a professional guitar tutor, and also a qualified music producer, with his own production company Perfect Note Productions. Influenced by vintage-style Gypsy Jazz players such as Django Reinhardt, Duved Dunayevsky, Eric Nussbaum, Robin Nolan, Giacomo Smith, Rob is keen to develop his unique angle on Gypsy Swing through melody and harmony. Rob also publishes a loose-format music podcast called Knowing Musicians, in which he has met and talked to many famous Gypsy Jazz musicians. Rob is currently undertaking a Masters Degree in Gypsy Jazz, and plays in vintage-styled Gypsy Jazz duo Ain’t That Got Swing with David Tomlinson.
Vocalist
Sunny Leonie
Bio coming soon…
Double bass
TBC
Bio coming soon…
