The Jive Aces are the UK’s number one jive and swing band. Renowned for their high-energy swinging songs and spectacular show, they have toured the world to over 40 countries with their uplifting music and dynamic stage presence.
The band features songs made famous by greats such as Louis Prima, Bobby Darin, Cab Calloway, Dean Martin, Louis Armstrong and Sammy Davis Jr, as well as some superb originals. This extremely in-demand sextet has worked with John Travolta, Van Morrison, The Proclaimers, Chick Corea, Keely Smith and Status Quo, and has performed for HM Queen Elizabeth II and HRH Prince Philip.
The Jive Aces headlined (and sold out) the first ever swing dance at the Royal Albert Hall and has brought the house down at thousands of festivals, theatres and dancehalls around the world, including such top venues and major events as the Kennedy Center, the Aldwych Theatre, Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, Birdland, Glastonbury (Acoustic and Avalon stages), the London Olympics, the Ryder Cup, the Conservative Party Conference, the TUC Conference, the Society of Distinguished Songwriters annual ball, the Water Rats annual ball, the London Season, Lovebox Festival, Hyde Park, Twinwood, Bearded Theory, the Montreux Jazz Festival (Switzerland), Ascona (Switzerland), Klaipeda (Lithuania), Montauban (France), Tanjazz (Morocco), Nisville (Serbia), Breda (Netherlands), Silda (Norway), Bansko (Bulgaria), Tallinn (Estonia), Viva Las Vegas (USA), the Bangkok International Festival (Thailand) as well as the one-off Coronation Festival in the grounds of Buckingham Palace.
In 2012, The Jive Aces was the first live band to reach the semi-finals of Britain’s Got Talent after cheering up a grumpy Simon Cowell and wowing all the judges with their show-stopping audition, performing Jungle Book favourite, I Wanna Be Like You. Their BGT appearances were seen by over 20 million people and the band was featured in nine national newspapers.
They have made hundreds of other TV and radio appearances, including a residency on BBC Radio London and TV shows such as Strictly Come Dancing, The Alan Titchmarsh Show, Come Dine with Me, South East Today, Children in Need, Good Morning Los Angeles and even their own Jive Talkin’ show on Sky TV during the pandemic. Also during the pandemic, their daily, hour-long JiveStream show ran for 500 consecutive days, reaching hundreds of thousands of people around the world.
Their music video, Bring Me Sunshine, is a viral hit with over 3.7 million views on YouTube and has won seven different film festival awards. It has been hailed as one of the most uplifting videos of recent times and is even regularly prescribed by a doctor!
The Jive Aces are:
Ian Clarkson | Lead Vocals, Trumpet, Ukulele
“Big” John Fordham | Tenor Sax, Clarinet, Fiddle
Alex Douglas | Trombone, Percussion, Harmonica
Vince “Professor” Hurley | Piano
Ken Smith | Double Bass
Peter “Bilky” Howell | Drums
“I thought that was absolutely brilliant. That has really put me in a good mood!”
“Simply sensational!”
“The acclaimed, energetic swing music stage show.”
“Heroes of Glastonbury!”
“Back by popular demand for an incredible fifth year at Montreux, their explosive live shows have become legendary.”
“The hottest band to come out of the UK in a long time!”
