Dean Chalkley

©Dean Chalkley/ Big AC Records

‘Feelin’ Kinda Lucky’ is the first single from Nick Corbin & The Hang Ups, recorded direct to tape at Kitty, Daisy & Lewis’ Durham Sound Studio in Kentish Town.

Dean went along to the recording session and photographed Nick, the band and Lewis Durham as they worked on the songs. The collaboration Nick has with his touring band known as the Hang Ups brings a raw edge to proceedings; a recording that captures all the energy of live performance but in the studio. The result is an uplifting and positive track, Nick says “‘Feelin’ Kinda Lucky’ is about waking up and feeling as though all is right in the world. You don’t know why or how but you carry that energy and satisfaction through the day. We tried to capture that with the musical arrangement too - there are these breaks throughout that build anticipation about the next section, culminating in a raucous outro, where we intentionally sped up, taking advantage of the freedom the analogue recording process gave us” “I had recorded at Durham Sound with Phono 48 a couple of years before and knew we could get a sound reminiscent of the Muscle Shoals studio, particularly with the rhythm section. Combining that with a few other Soul, Jazz and even Americana influences from the other guys in the band has given us a really refreshing mix of old and new – we hope people will find it an uplifting song to listen to!” ‘Feelin’ Kinda Lucky’ is the first of two new recordings which will sit either side of a limited edition 45, now available to pre-order from www.bigacrecords.com. 

Noble & Heath made their Soho Radio show a Northern Soul special to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Wigan Casino and it's legendary All-Nighters.

Emma Noble & Sophie Heath are joined on their show by guests Will Foot from the Deptford Northern Soul Club and in the second hour Dean arrives to talk about the Wigan '50 Years On The Soul Stays Strong' exhibition and other elements from the events programme that mark the anniversary of this highly influential club.

Click HERE for the show.

Dean has several works in the 50 YEARS ON THE SOUL STAYS STRONG exhibition including the original YOUNG SOULS Film and photographic project, SOUL-A-TROPE installation, a new film GOOD FOR THE SOUL and YOUNG SOULS 2023 (a series of photographs featuring people from the younger generation from the Northern Soul scene right now). 

Dean says 'I feel very honoured to have been asked to contribute to the exhibition. I've loved Northern Soul for decades now, so to be able to present this work here is so incredibly special to me.' 

The 50th Anniversary of the Wigan Casino programme of events has been organised by Wigan Council, Turnpike and Open Eye Galleries. They highlight the importance and influence of the Wigan Casino and the continued love of Northern Soul. Throughout the programme there is great variety including exhibitions, talks and a theatre production. For details click on these two links HERE and HERE.

William Titleys 'Time Machine' installation is also present in the show, it is pictured in the top left image in this panel of four. 

©Dean Chalkley

To mark the 50th anniversary of the opening of the legendary Wigan Casino, a programme of events are planned in the town to explore what this iconic Northern Soul club meant to people then and its continued impact on the culture of today.

The Museum of Wigan Life are displaying artefacts including clothes, personal photographs, records, patches. There are a number of talks planned with Russ Winstanley founder of the Wigan Casino All-Nighters back in 1973, a unique panel event with Richard Searling, Tim Ashabende, Gary Rushbrook, Tim Brown, Ian Wills and Dr Paul Sadot talking about their experiences of Wigan Casino and the Northern Soul movement, Stuart Cosgrove is also present a talk called ‘Soul Music and Social Change’.

There will be two exhibitions in this busy programme presented in different locations around Wigan. 

‘Last Night At The Casino’ will be an outdoor public space exhibition featuring evocative images by photographer Francesco Mellina. ‘50 Years On The Soul Stays Strong’ is an exhibition in a location close to the original site of the Casino and focuses on the different perspectives and impact Northern Soul continues to have. Dean is contributing to this exhibition with large scale printed images and projected film from his archive, he will be unveiling new fresh work for the show too. Artist William Titley and the Wigan & Leigh College will also be featuring in this forward looking part of the programme.

There is a theatrical aspect in the programme, a one-off performance of 'Northern Soul' a new play written by Jim Cartwright and Directed by Nick Bagnall, which pays tribute to the legendary music and dance venue.

For details of all the events click HERE 

Skills Hub is an initiative created by Abbey Road Studios aimed at aspiring music photographers, providing a platform for new talent to learn from industry professionals and develop their creative and technical skills. Through a series of features photographers will have access to guidance, knowledge and tips from the best in the business.

Dean was approached by Abbey Road to write a feature for the Skills Hub it can be viewed here. 

On the 5th of July Dean was a guest speaker on one of the series of panel talks that took place throughout the day at Abbey Road, an exceptional day with all of the panels focused around different topics connected to the world of music photography. You can see them all here , Dean appears on the first panel which starts at 13mins 6sec into the timeline.

©Dean Chalkley 

Earlier this year Tony Christie was diagnosed with early onset Dementia. Tony has given an exclusive interview to the online publication 'Dementia Help', in the article the famous singer talks over how he will continue to carry on with his music and how he is remaining positive in the face of the diagnosis. He reflects on his life and explains his involvement in the campaign Music for Dementia.

Dementia Help is a free publication drawing awareness to the condition, offering support and insightful information on aspects of caring for loved ones.

Tony recently got together with some of his musical friends including Nile Rodgers, Sting Graham Goldman and Graeme Pleeth to record a version of the classic track ' Thank You For Being A Friend' it was in tribute and in aid of the Music For Dementia charity.

Music has been scientifically proven to have positive effects on mood and anxiety as well as some success in bringing back memories and feelings.

Click here to get the magazine. 

©Dean Chalkley / Kitty Liv Poster Artwork

Artist Kitty Liv gears up for a series of concerts through August and September 2023, joined by her band mates the Grammy award winner David Mrakpor and brother Lewis Durham. The three gigs through August and September will further propel Kitty Liv into peoples consciousness, a vital solo Artist that needs to be heard and seen Whoever is lucky enough to get to these concerts will be rewarded with the fact they saw Kitty Liv at this moment live and direct. 

The gritty and simply beautiful tour poster above contains a photograph Dean made of Kitty Liv when she recently played at the Hawley Arms. This iconic Camden venue has become synonymous with one of its former regulars Amy Winehouse and symbolises an important part the Camden music scene and spirit, fitting that Kitty Liv introduced a new phase of her solo project there new songs and intentions heralding exciting times ahead. 

©Dean Chalkley

Recently Dean contributed both photographic and moving image aspects to the Acid Jazz & Other Illicit Grooves touring exhibition .

This popular show looks back to the cultural movement that had its own unique musical blend, fashions and club culture. Emerging in the late 1980's this vibrant scene grew into a world wide phenomenon.

The exhibitions organisers AGMP commissioned Dean to make the series of photographs and also to create a moving image piece that would be screen in the exhibition.

Above is a portrait Dean made of Gilles Peterson, it's a picture from the series of images Dean made that appeared in a publication that accompanied the show.  All the subjects Dean photographed for this project were people important to the development of the scene.

For the film aspect Dean collaborated with Florian Bel at JMNI to make a long form film piece. Running for over an hour and featuring the same subjects as the photographic series the sitters in the film explain how the Acid Jazz movement came about, grew and expanded. This interview film provides an incredible insight into the development of the scene from different perspectives including what and how the music was, the clubs and promotion of events that are nowadays viewed as seminal and crucial, to how dancers expressed themselves and the overall energy that was transmitted.

This is an often over looked scene and these first hand accounts provide an important legacy, memories and reminiscences bringing a personal explanation of what went down.

The whole Acid Jazz & Other Illicit Grooves exhibition brilliantly encapsulates the musical momentum setting the scene through magazine features, photography, artwork and of course the music and musicians that WERE the scene. Touring in locations across the UK during the Spring 2023 the show was not limited to London, much like the original movement  Leeds, Bristol, Luton and Birmingham were important destinations and the organisers of the show planned the tour accordingly.

This bountiful exhibition celebrates 35 years of a movement that has truly stood the test of time, we imagine that there will be more activity around the Acid Jazz topic in the near future especially as the UK is in amongst a significant growth period of new and exciting Jazz action that this scene was certainly a forbearer of.

©Dean Chalkley

Issue date 7th May 2023...Vernon Kay was about to take over from long time host Ken Bruce on the morning slot on BBC Radio 2. To herald the changing of the 'radio' guard on this most popular slot The Observer commissioned Dean to photograph Vernon. 

Ken Bruce had been at the helm of the 9:30 to midday show for 31 years, approximately 8 million listeners tune in, so a big job to step into. Vernon was relaxed about it all though with his experience and warm engaging style he seems like the natural successor, his first day was the 15th May and as we write this post, a week after he took over all the signs are that Radio 2 in the mornings will continue to be a very popular listen indeed.