Top international jazz band will be calling into North Devon this April

When a Welsh harpist and a New York violinist met by chance at a Caribbean harp festival, neither could have dreamed it would lead to the creation of a highly-regarded and quite unique international jazz band.

Local audiences can judge for themselves when The Transatlantic Hot Club perform at North Devon Jazz Club in The Beaver, Appledore, on Monday, April 20.

Few bands have quite an array of traditional instruments, with harpist Ben Creighton Griffiths alongside aforementioned friend and talented violinist Adrien Chevalier – from New York by way of France.

Above: Band founders Adrien and Ben formed the Hot Club after meeting at a harp festival in the French Caribbean. Credit: Sion Dawson 

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Joining them on their current tour are Jeremy Lohier from Corsica on accordion and Ben’s fellow Cardiff native Ashley John Long on bass.  

In the dozen or so years since its creation, the band has toured extensively across Europe, the USA and the French Caribbean, with a core repertoire alongside swing jazz, Latin jazz, French chanson and traditional European folk music.

Over the years a flexible and changing ensemble of top international musicians has provided a fresh and unique musical perspective for audiences, offering something different at each hearing.

Ben and Adrien met at the Journées de la Harpe - a harp festival on the sunny French Caribbean islands of Martinique, Guyane, Guadeloupe, St Anne and St Lucia.

The following year they began an annual tradition of performing in Cardiff and have been expanding this into a full tour ever since, with the Transatlantic Hot Club name adopted some seven years ago.

Above: There can’t be too many jazz bands with a traditional harpist. Credit: Theodore Swaddling

Their ongoing world tour has called in at venues all around the UK and numerous jazz festivals as well as the International Harp Festival in Edinburgh, the Wales Harp Festival and the World Harp Congress in Cardiff.

Further afield, they have performed at multiple French venues as well as New York clubs and around Corsica, thanks to the band’s Corsican connections.

The Hot Club will be delighting audiences with their second album during their 2026 tour, which has a distinct Corsican flavour due to the band’s unusual Corsican links.

For a chance to experience some very talented musicians at the top of their game, join The Transatlantic Hot Club at North Devon Jazz Club in The Beaver, Appledore, on Monday, April 20.

The gig will start at 8.30pm and as ever, entry is free (although a collection will be made for the musicians during the evening). For a meal booking, call The Beaver on 01237 474822.

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