For so many years a keystone of the bands of Nick Lowe, Van Morrison, Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings, Dave Edmunds and countless more, Geraint Watkins is also a revered creator of his own sublime music, much of which has already been perfectly captured in a handful of solo albums.For the last few years, Watkins performs this material with his band - The Mosquitoes, which includes Martin Winning (sax/clarinet) Oliver Darling (guitar/vocals), Paul Riley (bass) and Malcolm Mills (drums). The recordings on this limited edition 10 vinyl album were done in Cardiff and London at sold-out shows and are a fine example of the breadth of repertoire performed by the Watkins band. For those of you new to the man, Geraint started out as a member of noted British bands Juice on the Loose and Red Beans & Rice and following a move to London with the latter, he soon found himself on the Be Stiff Route 78 tour as part of Micky Jupp's band. Shortly afterwards in 1979, Andy Fairweather Low produced Watkins' first album for the Vertigo label. Session work for producer Stuart Colman followed which led to him joining Shakin' Stevens' band before going on to record and play live with Dave Edmunds and many others including Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, Mark Knopfler, Dr. Feelgood, Rory Gallagher, The Blues Band, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Stray Cats, Carl Perkins, John Wesley Harding, Tom Jones, Roger Daltrey and John Martyn. In addition to his touring and recording with Nick Lowe, Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings and Van Morrison, he somehow managed to keep The Balham Alligators stomping for fifteen years too.
