النص 🔗
WEBVTT
00:00:05.120 --> 00:00:09.519
Hello and welcome to the latest episode of Harmonious World.
00:00:09.519 --> 00:00:13.279
I'm your host, Hilary Seabrook.
00:00:13.279 --> 00:00:23.839
And for this episode, I am joined by Mark Palladino, who is a drummer from Wales, who has a jazz club in Wales called Palladinos.
00:00:23.839 --> 00:00:25.839
We're going to be talking all about that.
00:00:25.839 --> 00:00:32.240
I actually played with his brother many, many years ago.
00:00:32.240 --> 00:00:35.600
Pino Palladino is a very, very famous bass player.
00:00:35.600 --> 00:00:47.200
Anyway, what you're listening to now is my Harmonious World theme tune as performed by Joe English, who is in his last year at Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.
00:00:47.200 --> 00:00:51.840
So I hope you enjoy listening to my conversation with Mark Palladino.
00:01:02.719 --> 00:01:03.759
Yeah, you're okay.
00:01:04.480 --> 00:01:05.599
I'm good, thank you.
00:01:05.599 --> 00:01:07.439
Mark, nice to meet you.
00:01:07.439 --> 00:01:12.879
So I want to talk to you about Palladinos in Cardiff.
00:01:12.879 --> 00:01:21.280
What on earth possessed you to open a jazz venue in 2026?
00:01:21.519 --> 00:01:22.719
Well, do you know what?
00:01:22.719 --> 00:01:27.519
I mean, it's something I've always I've we've got restaurants in Cardiff.
00:01:27.519 --> 00:01:29.200
I mean, we've got a couple of restaurants.
00:01:29.200 --> 00:01:31.439
One of them we've been here since 1986.
00:01:31.439 --> 00:01:37.599
And I've always kind of done, because I play myself, I was working in a restaurant, so I couldn't go out and do gigs.
00:01:37.599 --> 00:01:47.200
So I brought music to the restaurant so as I could keep a hand in, you know, keep a hand in playing, like bringing the mountain to Mohammed, I always called it.
00:01:47.200 --> 00:01:52.640
So um, so I've been doing that for 30 years, you know, just on a month.
00:01:52.640 --> 00:01:56.879
We used to do a Monday night and a Thursday night, just little bits and pieces.
00:01:56.879 --> 00:02:02.560
We've had we got this property in um in in uh suburb of Cardiff, Witchurch.
00:02:02.560 --> 00:02:03.760
We got two floors.
00:02:03.760 --> 00:02:10.159
The bottom floor is the restaurant, and the the the upper floor, we've always tried to do a few restaurants up there.
00:02:10.159 --> 00:02:13.120
We they you know we've had some hits, some misses.
00:02:13.120 --> 00:02:17.759
But I thought we then we started using it for private parties and functions.
00:02:17.759 --> 00:02:29.919
And I thought I I was missing all these great bands that were taught, you know, they were coming on the London jazz scene, you know, the the the 606 and the Ronnie Scott.
00:02:29.919 --> 00:02:34.479
I was always envious of the great musicians that had going to play there.
00:02:34.479 --> 00:02:42.800
And sometimes they'd go to Swansea, they'd bypass Cardiff and go to Swansea and Bristol, but they would never come to Cardiff.
00:02:42.800 --> 00:02:51.759
There was a little um jazz club, uh little jazz club which was called the Flut and Tank, which I was inspired by because they're only small.
00:02:51.759 --> 00:02:54.319
It was up on the first floor as well.
00:02:54.319 --> 00:03:01.759
Well, I I had this room upstairs, it was uh the well, it was a restaurant upstairs, it was a kitchen and a dining area.
00:03:01.759 --> 00:03:16.000
So I just took the kitchen out, got rid of the kitchen, knocked it all through into one sort of straight piece and put a stage in there, a nice bar, and I thought, less I want to open a jazz club, you know, I want to see some great music in Cardiff.
00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:18.560
And uh, so that's that's what I've done.
00:03:18.560 --> 00:03:26.159
And I'm using, you know, the the people, the Ronnie Scott's crew, 606, the jazz, you know, the Pizza Express.
00:03:26.159 --> 00:03:31.439
I'm trying to get those that type of musicianship to Cardiff because it wasn't it wasn't coming again.
00:03:31.439 --> 00:03:33.840
I was always jealous of seeing it everywhere else.
00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:37.360
Yeah, and uh you had Kyle Eastwood, is that right?
00:03:37.520 --> 00:03:39.360
In July, yeah, yeah.
00:03:39.360 --> 00:03:40.240
Kyle Eastwood.
00:03:40.240 --> 00:03:42.800
He's gonna come back again, I think.
00:03:42.800 --> 00:03:46.400
And maybe maybe in I can't remember what he said, March or April.
00:03:46.400 --> 00:03:48.000
But yeah, we had them back in July.
00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:52.319
They did two nights, two shows a night, all sold out.
00:03:52.319 --> 00:03:53.360
Fantastic.
00:03:53.520 --> 00:03:54.400
That's amazing.
00:03:54.560 --> 00:04:00.800
And three and before that, I had Omar with his band with QCBA, with Quentin Collins and Brandon Allen.
00:04:01.199 --> 00:04:02.240
That's such a great band.
00:04:02.240 --> 00:04:05.439
I think that's probably one of my favourite bands at the moment.
00:04:05.439 --> 00:04:08.479
So, how often are you putting jazz on?
00:04:08.719 --> 00:04:12.319
Well, at the moment, I'm just doing once a week on a Thursday night.
00:04:12.319 --> 00:04:15.680
But if there's call to do another night, I'll do another night as well.
00:04:15.680 --> 00:04:17.600
Like coming, I think it's September now.
00:04:17.600 --> 00:04:28.240
I've got two or three nights a week in in or might be October, sort of Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday I'm doing then with Quentin Collins again, is one of those nights.
00:04:28.240 --> 00:04:32.160
With his uh with his Latin band, Almanac, I think they're called.
00:04:32.160 --> 00:04:33.199
They're great.
00:04:33.199 --> 00:04:33.759
Yeah.
00:04:33.759 --> 00:04:43.279
But I'm you know, I'm uh I'm not doing it too many nights because I don't want to comp I you know, I don't want to compromise the quality of musician that I've that I that I get there.
00:04:43.279 --> 00:04:44.800
So I'm doing it too often.
00:04:44.800 --> 00:04:50.959
I will have to compromise
Load full transcript
and bring lesser musicians in a few, you know, no disrespect to anybody.
00:04:54.079 --> 00:04:54.639
Yeah.
00:04:54.639 --> 00:04:56.160
Oh well, fantastic.
00:04:56.160 --> 00:05:01.920
Well, uh, I will keep an eye out and I shall have to come down at some point and uh check it out.
00:05:01.920 --> 00:05:05.199
Oh, you've got Ian Ballamy coming in September.
00:05:05.519 --> 00:05:07.279
Ian's coming, I've played with Ian before.
00:05:07.279 --> 00:05:08.560
Yeah, he's Ian's coming.
00:05:08.560 --> 00:05:10.399
Who's he coming with uh Dan Massori?
00:05:10.399 --> 00:05:11.680
Yeah, Dan Messery.
00:05:11.680 --> 00:05:11.839
Yeah.
00:05:11.839 --> 00:05:12.639
Dan Messery.
00:05:12.879 --> 00:05:13.120
Right.
00:05:13.120 --> 00:05:21.279
Um before that, I think I've got the I can't remember, is it is it the um oh the jo John Coltrane experience.
00:05:21.839 --> 00:05:25.040
John Coltrane experience, but that's sold out already, yeah.
00:05:25.040 --> 00:05:26.079
Which is great.
00:05:26.079 --> 00:05:28.560
They're uh Bristol-based musicians, I think.
00:05:28.560 --> 00:05:30.480
I'm I'm always booking stuff.
00:05:30.480 --> 00:05:32.639
I mean I'm sort of doing lots of research.
00:05:32.639 --> 00:05:36.480
I'm looking looking online for what's going into London and stuff.
00:05:36.480 --> 00:05:44.720
I've got a great um uh Boston over duo coming from over from America, and then you've got a brass band on the the eight.
00:05:44.720 --> 00:05:48.800
They're Welsh, they're they're they're like a New Orleans type brass band, they are they're great.
00:05:48.800 --> 00:05:50.399
Yeah, they're really good, yeah.
00:05:50.639 --> 00:05:54.480
But you've got Amanda Whiting in December, that would be brilliant.
00:05:54.720 --> 00:05:56.079
Yeah, she's good.
00:05:56.079 --> 00:05:59.040
Remy Harris is another great, great guitarist.
00:05:59.040 --> 00:06:06.720
Uh Remy, I think he's uh sort of Worcester-based, but he's a fantastic musician, does his gypsy jazz thing, but he's great.
00:06:06.720 --> 00:06:13.839
And I've got Hey Machine, Hey Mur Stewart is gonna come again in January, February.
00:06:13.839 --> 00:06:16.959
So yeah, I'm just trying to get stuff that's affordable.
00:06:16.959 --> 00:06:26.639
I mean, not you know, not cheaper in any way, but affordable because I you know it's only a small place, I can only charge so much for tickets.
00:06:28.639 --> 00:06:35.519
So you're a musician and you have a very famous brother who actually I remember working with back in the 80s.
00:06:35.519 --> 00:06:39.839
So talk to me about your musical background, but also Pinot.
00:06:40.319 --> 00:06:45.759
Well, yeah, I mean, we we all sort of got got into playing music at the same time, actually.
00:06:45.759 --> 00:06:55.439
When we were we were all very young, we would always love well, it was 60s, I suppose, then the Beatles was all at the rage, wasn't it?
00:06:55.439 --> 00:06:59.120
And um Pinot started playing guitar.
00:06:59.120 --> 00:07:14.480
Actually, we went to a Catholic school, and there was a Catholic priest called Father Delaney, who used to give guitar lessons in the school when we were about 10 or 11 years, well, it would have been nine or ten, actually, in standard four, it was called then.
00:07:14.480 --> 00:07:42.879
And um, so Pinot took up the the guitar uh first because he's a few years older than me, and then he used to go to folk masses in the church playing the acoustic guitar with a few other guitars, and Father Delaney used to love, you know, he thought Pinot was great at the time, and um I did the the the guitar thing a bit later on with Father Delaney as well, but I didn't do so much of the the folk masses.
00:07:42.879 --> 00:07:58.639
I wanted to go and play rugby and football and rather than go to the folk masses, but uh Pinot did, and that got him started, and then from there I think my mum and dad found him some guitar lessons with a Spanish guitar teacher in in Cardiff.
00:07:58.639 --> 00:08:02.079
That was the only, I think the only teacher around at the time.
00:08:02.079 --> 00:08:09.920
And I think within about six months they they they called my parents or when it when he took them one day, and they said we can't teach him anymore.
00:08:09.920 --> 00:08:12.319
He's you know he's he's gone past us.
00:08:12.319 --> 00:08:23.040
So I mean, I remember him playing all this beautiful beautiful Spanish music at home, and um then we sort of got into the the the rock side of things, the rock and blues.
00:08:23.040 --> 00:08:31.759
So he got into electric guitar and I got into drums and it just all went from there, really just never it never ended, still going to this day.
00:08:31.759 --> 00:08:35.759
Yeah, but Pino Pino obviously took it very seriously.
00:08:35.759 --> 00:08:37.360
He wanted to be a musician.
00:08:37.360 --> 00:09:01.360
You you know, from an early age, he was he was he was practicing all the time, and then when he he changed the bass, I think he would have been about from guitar because he was always a guitarist, but he changed the bass, I think he might have been about 17 years old, 18 possibly, and then from there he would have been he'd be in his bedroom three or four hours a day practicing the bass to get you know to get the Jago Pastorius licks right.
00:09:01.919 --> 00:09:02.879
Yeah, yeah.
00:09:03.200 --> 00:09:04.639
And I went into the family business.
00:09:04.639 --> 00:09:10.080
I I love playing drums, but I didn't take it seriously enough to to become professional.
00:09:10.080 --> 00:09:14.159
I was I just wanted to get some money and and go out and enjoy myself.
00:09:14.159 --> 00:09:17.759
I was more of a party animal than Pinot was.
00:09:17.759 --> 00:09:26.879
But um, yeah, it was you know, I was kept my hand in obviously playing with local bands, but I didn't take it seriously like Pinot did, and he still does.
00:09:26.879 --> 00:09:28.240
He still practices.
00:09:28.720 -->
00:09:30.720
Well, yeah, I bet he does.
00:09:30.720 --> 00:09:41.679
Yeah, he I mean he's a he's he's sort of always been a sort of big uh UK with an international uh an international place, isn't he?
00:09:42.480 --> 00:09:43.440
I mean it was dad.
00:09:43.440 --> 00:09:47.519
Yeah, dad has got us all going in the first place because he he loved music.
00:09:47.519 --> 00:09:55.600
I think he played when he was in Italy before he came over to this country, and he was always encouraging us to to to to learn to play music.
00:09:55.600 --> 00:09:57.840
I was tapping, so he said, I'll buy you drums.
00:09:57.840 --> 00:10:01.679
And Pino was always you know messing about playing stuff as well.
00:10:01.679 --> 00:10:07.919
So he he he got him into guitar, he bought them all instruments, he bought us all instruments to use, you know, which is great.
00:10:07.919 --> 00:10:10.960
We were lucky, very lucky, yeah.
00:10:11.039 --> 00:10:11.600
Very lucky.
00:10:11.600 --> 00:10:12.639
Well, fantastic.
00:10:12.639 --> 00:10:18.080
Well, that's brilliant, and then that that's that's brought you kind of full circle to having a jazz club.
00:10:18.080 --> 00:10:20.240
So that's fantastic.
00:10:20.240 --> 00:10:28.639
I and I I think it's such a good thing to you know to be helping musicians have a have a stake.
00:10:28.799 --> 00:10:29.279
Yeah, yeah.
00:10:29.279 --> 00:10:32.399
I mean, as being a musician myself, I still go out and play.
00:10:32.399 --> 00:10:41.759
I mean, I I I appreciate what it's like to turn up as a musician to a club and be appreciated and be looked after.
00:10:41.759 --> 00:10:48.559
So I look after the musicians as well, because a lot of places you go to, they don't even move stuff out of the way for you to set up your gear, you know.
00:10:48.559 --> 00:10:51.679
So I got everything set up, I got a whole back line.
00:10:51.679 --> 00:10:54.879
So I make it as easy as easy for the musicians as possible.
00:10:54.879 --> 00:10:56.559
And I look after them, I feed them.
00:10:56.559 --> 00:10:58.879
We got the restaurant downstairs, you know.
00:10:58.879 --> 00:11:01.120
So it's a it's it's great.
00:11:01.120 --> 00:11:14.159
And to be honest, I'm I'm not in it to make money, it'd be great if I can make money, but but I'd be lucky to have the restaurant downstairs, which covers most of the costs, but if it covers its own costs, I'm happy with that.
00:11:14.159 --> 00:11:17.200
If I can wash my face with it, I'm happy with that, you know.
00:11:17.200 --> 00:11:20.399
Yeah, just great, great, bring some great music to Cardiff.
00:11:20.480 --> 00:11:21.039
Fantastic.
00:11:21.039 --> 00:11:22.559
Well, thank you so much, Mark.
00:11:22.559 --> 00:11:23.600
I've really appreciated it.
00:11:23.600 --> 00:11:25.039
It's been great talking to you.
00:11:25.279 --> 00:11:25.600
Thank you.
00:11:25.600 --> 00:11:26.960
It'd be great talking to you too.
00:11:26.960 --> 00:11:28.639
Hopefully, you see you in Cardiff.
00:11:28.799 --> 00:11:29.759
Yeah, absolutely.
00:11:29.759 --> 00:11:31.679
Well, I'll let you know when I'm on my way.
00:11:31.919 --> 00:11:32.559
All right.
00:11:40.320 --> 00:11:44.240
Thank you for joining me for this episode of Harmonious World.
00:11:44.240 --> 00:11:54.399
And it was great to chat with Mark Palladino about Palladinos in Cardiff, and I'll put the links in the show notes so you can see what he's got coming up.
00:11:54.399 --> 00:12:06.240
And thanks for supporting Harmonious World, whether that's writing a review, rating, sharing, supporting me on Patreon.
00:12:06.240 --> 00:12:10.399
Thank you for continuing to support Harmonious World.