Birmingham Jazz and Blues Festival Update.

UNLUCKY 13^TH

A 7 a.m. call this morning informed organizers that songstress Johanna Graham has gone down with chicken pox and therefore is cancelling her scheduled performances for tomorrow with her Quartet at The Mall, Sutton Coldfield(12:30) and Gosta Green (17:30). Johanna will be replaced in these listings by Bob Hall & Dave Peabody.

Unlucky 13^th has certainly lived up to its name with a string of cancellations on Saturday, all involving female artists. Along with Johanna, The Flamin’ Mamies, an all-girl five-piece from Liverpool and one of the festival’s hottest tips, were rehearsing on the Wednesday before the festival when a serious argument broke out. To cut a long story short, the five singers vowed never to speak again and unsurprisingly, no longer exist! But in the wake of their absence, we have the following fantastic acts booked to replace them:

Yet another casualty of the Unlucky 13^th, again female, is Canadian singer Melissa Lauren who cancelled her entire UK tour on the very eve of the festival, including her appearance at Victoria Square at 18:00 on Saturday where she is replaced by The Will Johns Band.

Big Bear Music.