Listed below are our latest news items and press releases. Where applicable the full press releases or news clippings are saved as attached files and are available for download or on screen viewing by clicking on the download button.

LATEST NEWS ABOUT CHRIS REA

Would you like to help raise funds for charity and enjoy owning a limited edition print taken
from an original painting featuring Chris Rea?

The charity Hope for Tomorrow - helping families cope with cancer - was launched in December 2003 with The Art of Music Exhibiton [an exhibition of original paintings by Juan Carlos Ferrigno depicting legends from the world of music including Chris Rea). The exhibition culminated in a Gala Dinner and Charity Auction. The original painting of Chris Rea went for £3,500 in the auction. Following the success of the exhibition Hope for Tomorrow have produced a limited edition worldwide print (500) of Chris Rea taken from the original painting. These prints are individually signed by both the artist and Chris Rea. A certificate of authenticity is provided with each print which includes a photograph of Chris Rea signing the prints. Chris Rea's nominated charity the NSPCC and Hope for Tomorrow will both benefit from the sale of these prints.Visit www.artofmusic.org/prints or ring + 44 (0) 1666 505055 for further details.

NEWS ARCHIVE

Chris Rea's Bristol Colston Hall concert is being broadcast this Saturday (26th June) on BBC Radio Wales at 6.30pm.
Although it is broadcast in Wales, it can be obtained on the following frequencies throughout the UK & Europe:

93-96 & 104 FM
882 & 657 MW
DAB Digital Radio (Wales only)
Freeview Ch 89 (Wales only)
Sky Digital Ch 867 (Europe Wide)
NTL Digital Cable Ch. 870 (UK wide)
Listen online - www.bbc.co.uk/radiowales (International)
Detailed reception info: http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/radiowales/generic/frequency.shtml

Chris Rea to appear on Michael Parkinson's Radio2 show 'Sunday Supplement' on 11/4/04
Chris Rea will be appearing on Michael Parkinson's Radio 2 show 'Sunday Supplement'. The show is broadcast at 1100 to 1300 - click here to visit the BBC Radio 2 site. During the show Chris will be playing his guitar.

Tyne Tees 40 minute special on Chris Rea (22/3/04)
Tyne Tees television are running a 40 minute special on Chris, during which new material will be seen for the first time

The Blue Juke Box is released today (22/3/04)
Chris Rea releases his latest album - The Blue Juke Box.

New tour date - May 19th at La Cigalle in Paris (15/3/04)
In response to demand an additional venue has been added to the Blue Juke Box tour.

"Howlin' new bluesman is born" The Times - February 25, 2004 | by David Sinclair | 4/5 stars
You remember Chris Rea. Mellow guy, chubby cheeks, gruff voice; he seemed only to get in the charts when Dire Straits were somewhere else. He was, most famously, on The Road to Hell , but he was stuck in middle gear.

Not any more. Since surviving a life-threatening illness three years ago, the man from Middlesbrough, now 51, has turned into a blues-jazz fundamentalist on a mission. Lean of physique and sculpted of cheekbone, he strode purposefully on to the stage at the Bush Hall, wearing the same cutaway T-shirt as when he played Hammersmith Apollo a year ago. Whipping out a harmonica he blew a howling reveille to round up the stragglers from the bar, and then launched into the gutbucket blues shuffle of The Beat Goes On.

The Bush Hall’s non-existent air-conditioning and low stage played its part — perhaps a little too well — in creating the ambience of a smoky, after-hours club, while Rea’s highly accomplished backing band did the rest. Upright bass, brushed drums, saxophone, acoustic piano and guitar were augmented by splashes of banjo on the slow, New Orleans-styled Blue Street and piano accordion on the pugnacious Easy Rider . The musicians seemed able to swing and swagger with a light, nonchalant ease, yet come down like a hammer blow when the moment demanded it.

But it was Rea’s singing and slide guitar playing which dominated a show in which he blithely ignored a quarter-century’s worth of hits and focused instead on his forthcoming album, The Blue Jukebox , released next month, together with a handful of numbers from his 2002 album, Dancing Down the Stony Road . The songs were new, written by Rea, but the sentiments were as old as the blues itself. “Everyone’s looking for a place to put down their heavy load,” he sang on Long is the Time (Hard is the Road) , in a wonderfully deep, careworn voice.

Let It Roll, Let’s Do It and Stony Road all started burning on a long, slow fuse before exploding into a volcanic eruption of skittering slide guitar glissandos, and while each was an impressively dramatic set-piece in its own right, the cumulative effect was rather overbearing. An encore of The Hustler produced a contrasting moment of levity, with Rea leading the audience in a jokey singalong. But it was a fleeting glimpse behind his new, serious bluesman’s mask. Having cast off his skin as the genial journeyman of yore, Rea was not going to start diluting his fundamentalist message now. Good for him.

Chris Rea appears again at Bush Hall tonight. He continues his UK tour in April
Article extract from www.thetimesonline.co.uk

Chris Rea to perform songs from his new album 'The Blue Jukebox' (15/1/04)
On February 23rd, 24th and 25th Chris Rea and his band will be performing songs from his new album 'The Blue Jukebox'. This is an exclusive event and tickets are strictly limited. Tickets will go on sale on 16th January, cost £25.00 and may be ordered at www.ccLive.co.uk/ChrisRea or by telephone on 0870 400 0688.

Preview tracks from Chris Rea's forthcoming 'The Blue Jukebox' album now on-line (13/1/04)
Added to the Jazzee Blue Bar are four sample tracks from Chris Rea's forthcoming new album 'The Blue Jukebox'.

Jazzee Blue announces The Blue Jukebox (12/1/04) [Download press release]
ALBUM RELEASE DATE ANNOUNCED - MARCH 22nd 2004
March 2004 sees the release of Chris Rea’s follow up to the hugely successful ‘Dancing Down The Stony Road’ which achieved Gold in the UK alone and marked a change in direction for Chris which is underlined further with the release of ‘The Blue Jukebox’. (Album release date 22/3/04)

From the first sax break on the opening track ‘The Beat Goes on’ to the album’s thirteenth and final track ‘Speed’ which closes the album on a real high with a clash of raucous harmonica, guitar and piano blending perfectly with the ever present sax, the result is a blend of great blues, jazz and vintage Rea.