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.

LATES NEWS

Live album / DVD of the tour announced - launch date 2nd October 2006

On the 2nd October this year Chris will be launching the tthe Live Album / DVD set of the last tour. To mark the launch a secial concert is being planned for Bush Hall - London. Watch this space for more information, tickets and details in the coming weeks.

NEWS ARCHIVE

Chris Rea's Bristol Colston Hall concert is being broadcast this Saturday (26th June 2005) 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.

Sarah Randle to be singing at all the Blue Juke Box concerts (17/3/04)
Sarah Randle will, in addition to her appearance at the Royal Albert Hall, be singing at all the Blue Juke Box tour venues.

"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'.

Sarah Randle will be performing at the Royal Albert Hall on May 2nd (13/1/04)
Sarah Randle will be performing a showcase of songs from her debut album 'The Sparrow' at the Royal Albert Hall, London on May 2nd - where she will be supporting Chris Rea's 'The Blue Jukebox' concert.

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.

Sarah Randle featured in The Sunday Times - Culture Magazine (21/12/03) [Download press cutting]
Mark Edwards and Dan Cairns select their 20 favourite tracks from the past 12 months
Sarah Randle - Come Around (from The Sparrow) - "Anyone who still plays their copy of Carole King's Tapestry from time to time owes it to themselves to hear Sarah Randle - surely only a slot on Later away from being a star. This slice of white sole is the standout track on her debut album" - Mark Edwards and Dan Cairns.

Jazzee Blue previews The Sparrow by Sarah Randle (12/10/03) [Download press release]
Sarah Randle possesses one of the most powerful and unique voices of any new British artist. A bold statement, perhaps, but one only has to consider some of the legendary figures - Sir Paul McCartney, Chris Rea, Joan Armatrading.

Jazzee Blue previews Guitars Unlimited to the media (17/09/03) [Download press release]
Guitars Unlimited, has been described as a Jazz-Blue history and consists of five lead guitarists all playing simultaneously, “Bringing an entirely new meaning to Jazz.".

Chris Rea announces the launch of Jazzee Blue (28/07/03) [Download press release]
Late July 2003 sees the beginning of a new stage in the career of Chris Rea with the simultaneous release of four albums from his own label Jazzee Blue, produced by Chris Rea and Kiadan Quinn.