An evening showcasing forgotten East End history, fantastic views, and fabulous Jewish Jazz in Oxford House’s atmospheric Victorian chapel.
About this event
Forgotten stories, fantastic views, and fabulous Jewish Jazz…
Join us for a special evening filled with East End stories and jazz recordings in our ‘secret’ Victorian chapel. Grab a drink in these unique surroundings and hear amazing yet forgotten stories about East London’s history. Line up includes:
Alan Gilbey – ‘But Who Knows the East End?’
Award-winning writer, stand-up tour guide, and lifelong East Ender, Alan Gilbey will be sharing his own unique potted history of the area and ask us to question who has informed our popular understandings of ‘The East End’.
Julie Begum – ‘Weavers Fields Forever’
Join East End campaigner and Swadhinata Trust co-founder Julie Begum as she shares the extraordinary history of Weavers Fields in Bethnal Green. We will then go up on Oxford House’s roof (weather permitting) which has wonderful views of Weavers Fields and the whole of the East End.
Alan Dein on Forgotten East End Jewish Jazz
Alan Dein is an oral historian and radio broadcaster who has presented documentary features for BBC Radio for over twenty-five years. He has recently led a project unearthing the sound and stories of ‘Yiddisher Jazz’ which thrived in the East End in the early 20th century. We’ll go through the streets of 1920’s East London, to late night fox trot competitions and visit Levy’s Records on Whitechapel High Street. Alan will reflect on the musical stories of East London’s Jewish community from singers, songwriters, conductors, and cantors to musicians, managers, proprietors of record shops and club owners. Their stories are entwined with the development of the British recorded music industry. This story has been brought together on a new album called ‘Music Is The Most Beautiful Language In The World: Yiddisher Jazz In London’s East End 1920s To 1950s”, ‘ which will be available for purchase at this event.