Jools Holland | Official Web Site January 12th: Jools at EBBA 2017 The winners of the 2017 European Border Breakers Awards (EBBA), the European music awards for emerging artists, were honoured last night at the Eurosonic Noorderslag festival in the Dutch city of Groningen, in a ceremony hosted by Jools Holland. Dua Lipa, a singer-songwriter from London, came out as the big winner of the evening, taking away the Public Choice Award by an overwhelming number of online voters. Above: Public Choice Award winner Dua Lipa. Photo: Ben Houdijk. The EBBA show also featured outstanding performances by all 2017 winners: Alan Walker; Jaakko Eino Kalevi; Namika; Hinds; Filous; Jain; Dua Lipa; Natalie La Rose; and Walking on Cars. Also, an EBBA was awarded to Era Istrefi. In the upcoming year the EBBA TV show will be broadcasted by several European public channels. Parts of the show can be watched through the YouTube channel of EBBA here . The EBBA are funded under the European Union's (EU) Creative Europe programme.

View more photos from last night's event here . December 31st: Join Jools tonight Airing at 11.20pm on BBC Two, Jools' Annual Hootenanny will feature Chaka Khan, Christine and the Queens, Roy Wood, Rag'n'Bone Man, Gregory Porter, ABC, Seasick Steve, Dr. John Cooper Clarke & Hugh Cornwell, Caravan Palace, along with Ali Campbell, Astro and Mickey from UB40, Imelda May, Ruby Turner, and the Pipes and Drums of the 1st Battalion Scots Guards. December 23rd: Silent Night Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. December 22nd: The Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, Deptford, London Jools visited on Tuesday 13th December and, in the video above, talks about and illustrates four pieces from his new album Piano and what inspired them: Christabel, Grand Hotel, Last Date, and Romantic Ruin.

They are being interpreted by contemporary dancers from the Laban Building: David Kam, Verena Schneider, Luke Birch, Samuel Baskett, Georgia Brown, Sean Murray, Viva Foster, Osian Meilir, and Sylvia Ferreira. December 19th: Breakfast with BBC One Jools will be visiting the BBC Breakfast studios tomorrow morning to talk about his album and love of the piano. Tune in from 8.30am. December 16th: Jools Holland at Loose Ends Jools will be chatting to Clive Anderson about his relationship with the piano and performing a selection of pieces from his new album, Piano , on BBC Radio Four from 6.15pm on Saturday 17th December. December 13th: Jools on TV this morning Jools at the piano with Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber, Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid. Photo: Ken McKay-ITV-rex-shutterstock. Jools was interviewed on ITV's Good Morning Britain, where he also played a track from his new album Piano .

December 2nd: Jools on Jazz FM tomorrow Tune into Jazz FM between 10.00am and 2.00pm tomorrow to hear an interview with Jools, two live tracks, and two tracks from the new album. December 2nd: Jools' New Album Released Today Jools' brand-new 2016 release is an album centred around his 50-year relationship with the Piano, exploring different piano styles and performed on a variety of pianos. The all-instrumental album has been released through East West Records. This record features eight of Jools' original compositions as well as 10 carefully selected pieces interpreting the work of the pianists and composers that he loves. It opens with Jools' own May, a unique field recording of his piano in conversation with songbirds, influenced by French composer Olivier Messiaen, followed by Grand Hotel, co-written with Sting a while ago and here completely reinvented with a mix of contemporary dance rhythms and stride piano. Next is a collaboration with iconic musician and producer Brian Eno, who sings backing vocals and experiments with soundscapes on Track 3, Last Date.

The album also sees Jools performing alongside his acclaimed Rhythm & Blues Orchestra on three of the tracks: Strange Cargo; Romantic Ruin; and Bumble Boogie (in which he quotes Bach's Prelude No 1). The stylistic range is broad, taking in the baroque counterpoint of Christabel and the blistering boogie woogie of Bang And Pop as well as paying tribute to works by great Jazz artists Mary Lou Williams, Sidney Bechet, Freddie Slack, and Erroll Garner. In contrast, the middle of the album showcases a four-strong blues segment inspired by Jimmy Yancey and Lloyd Glenn. Jools pays tribute to his friend and collaborator Dr. John (Mac Rebennack) by covering Rebennack's Dorothy, but perhaps the greatest example of Jools' breadth of approach is his arrangement of Eruption by Dutch prog rock group Focus. Earlier this year, Jools gave commuters a treat when he played a surprise session at London's St. Pancras International station on a piano donated by Sir Elton John. He improvised around three of the tracks featured on the album: Bang And Pop , as well as Bumble Boogie , and Last Date , and you can see the live recordings on YouTube by clicking on each title.

The album was overseen by Jools' long-time producer Laurie Latham, with engineer Ron Box, and was recorded with vintage equipment in a variety of locations, including the Kent Marshes. Order it now by clicking here . December 1st: Jools on BBC Radio 6 Music Shaun Keaveny interviewed Jools on this morning's breakfast show. November 28th: Andrew Marr Show After two great shows at London's Royal Albert Hall, Jools Holland and Gilson Lavis popped into the Andrew Marr Show yesterday morning to perform a track from the new album Piano . November 15th: Derek Nash Nominated for Jazz Award Derek Nash, one of five saxophonists in Jools' Rhythm & Blues Orchestra, was nominated in the Alto Saxophone category in the 2016 British Jazz Awards; the winner was Soweto Kinch. September 29th: Thank you, St Pancras International Posted by ITV London on Thursday, 29 September 2016 Jools Holland tries out the piano donated by Sir Elton John to St Pancras International and announces the coming of a new instrumental piano album.

Twitter: @stpancrasint Facebook: Stpancrasint May 27th: Bid for Jools' Suit ... and more Dave Rowntree, drummer with the band Blur, together with refugee charity IRC, has helped organise a celebrity Star Boot Sale. This took place at the Truman Brewery in London on Sunday 22nd May. The Shpock online auction of some of the items donated by actors, musicians and comedians will close on Sunday 29th May (at night, different times for different items). Some of the items are still up for grabs, including a suit donated by Jools Holland. Jools had this suit made by Ben Beber on the Old Kent Road, wore it originally on The Tube and subsequently on the Later... with Jools Holland TV show (it still has an old cue card in the pocket). He has signed it on the inside of the waistcoat. For more information, please click here . To view the remaining auction items just visit and search for Star Boot Sale. The money raised by the Star Boot Sale will help fund much needed mobile health clinics for refugees in Jordan who are living rough or in devastated urban areas throughout the country.

April 20th: 60 Minutes with Jools Holland; Tonight, 6.30pm  7.30pm Jools will speak as part of The Prudential Series at London Chinatown's newest charity organisation, China Exchange, 32A Gerrard Street, London W1D 6JA. The 60-minute events comprise of a 30-minute talk led by Sir David Tang, the charity's founder, followed by a 30-minute Q&A with the audience. China Exchange opened last February with the aim of creating curiosity about China by programming panel talks, music, theatre and exhibitions. March 30th: Roger Cicero (1970-2016) "It is with great sadness that I heard of the tragic death of Roger Cicero. I had the privilege of performing with him at numerous shows in Britain, Germany and Austria with my band. He came on my television programme. He had one of the most amazing voices that illuminated and brought a song to life. More importantly, he was a truly wonderful, generous and kind man.

"On behalf of myself, my band, my family, and all of the people that enjoyed his music here in the United Kingdom, I send love, sympathy and condolences to his family and friends in Germany."  Jools Holland March 11th: The Tube  Its Influence On The Entertainment Landscape Forging a reputation as the most rock 'n' roll show on TV, The Tube gave British viewers their first glimpse of Madonna, REM, and Frankie Goes to Hollywood. An exhibition which has opened at Newcastle's Discovery Museum and is running until the end of June, is offering fans a trip down memory lane. But just how did this irreverent show change the entertainment landscape? Simon Armstrong interviews Jools Holland for the BBC News website. Click here to read the piece. RADIO & TV Jools Holland - Music on Google Play Jools Holland About the artist Julian Miles "Jools" Holland, OBE, DL is an English pianist, bandleader, singer, composer and television presenter. He was an original member of the band Squeeze and his work has involved him with many artists including Sting, Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler, George Harrison, David Gilmour, Magazine and Bono.

Since 1992, he has hosted Later... with Jools Holland, a music-based show aired on BBC2, on which his annual show Hootenanny is based. Holland is a published author and appears on television shows besides his own and contributes to radio shows. In 2004, he collaborated with Tom Jones on an album of traditional R&B music. He also regularly hosts the weekly programme Jools Holland on BBC Radio 2, which is a mix of live and recorded music and general chat and features studio guests, along with members of his orchestra. 0 Francella Ruby Turner MBE is a British Jamaican R&B and soul singer, songwriter, and actress. In a music career spanning more than 30 years, Turner is best known for her albums and single releases ... 0 Elkie Brooks 0 Elkie Brooks is an English singer, a vocalist with the bands Dada and Vinegar Joe, and later a solo artist. She gained her biggest success in the late 1970s and 1980s and has been nominated twice f...

0 Seasick Steve You Can’t Teach An Old Dog New Tricks There is a profound wisdom to old proverbs that belies the simple practical truth behind them. You Can’t Teach An Old Dog New Tricks is on... 0 The Blues Band 0 The Blues Band is a British blues band formed in 1979 by Paul Jones, former lead vocalist and harmonica player with Manfred Mann, and vocalist/slide guitarist Dave Kelly, who had previously played ... 0 Jimmy Nail is an English singer-songwriter, actor, musician, film producer, film score composer and television writer. He has starred in numerous roles on television since 1983. He is most famous f... 0 Humphrey Lyttelton 0 Humphrey Richard Adeane Lyttelton, also known as Humph, was an English jazz musician and broadcaster from the aristocratic Lyttelton family. Having taught himself the trumpet at school, Lyttelton b... 0 Terry Wogan 0 Sir Michael Terence Wogan, KBE, DL, known popularly as Terry Wogan, or Sir Terry, was an Irish radio and television broadcaster who worked for the BBC in the UK for most of his career. Before he re...

0 Joe Brown 0 Joseph Roger "Joe" Brown, MBE is an English entertainer. He has worked as a rock and roll singer and guitarist for more than five decades. He was a stage and television performer in the late 1950s ... 0 Clare Teal 0 Clare Teal is an English singer and broadcaster who has become famous not only for her singing, but also for having signed the biggest ever recording contract by a British jazz singer. 0 Imelda May 0 Imelda Mary Higham, professionally known as Imelda May, is an Irish musician, producer and singer-songwriter. Born and raised in The Liberties area of Dublin, May began her career in music at 16 by... 0 Andy Fairweather Low 0 Andrew "Andy" Fairweather Low is a Welsh guitarist, songwriter, producer and vocalist. He was a founding member of 1960s British pop band Amen Corner, and in recent years has toured extensively wit... 0 Jools Holland | Official Web Site | About Jools | Biography Music Player Jools Holland OBE DL was born Julian Miles Holland on 24th January 1958 in Blackheath, South East London.

At the age of eight, he could play the piano fluently by ear, and by the time he reached his early teens he was proficient and confident enough to be appearing regularly in many of the pubs in South East London and the East End Docks. At the age of 15, Jools was introduced to Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford ; together they formed Squeeze, and shortly afterwards they were joined by Gilson Lavis (who had already played with, among others, B.B. King, Chuck Berry, and Max Wall)  who still drums with Jools. Up The Junction and Cool For Cats gave Squeeze meteoric success and their popularity rapidly extended to America, where their tour included performances at New York's Madison Square Garden. In 1987, Jools formed The Jools Holland Big Band  comprising himself and Gilson Lavis. This has gradually metamorphosed into the current 19-piece Jools Holland and his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra, which consists of pianist, organist, drummer, three female vocals, guitar, bass guitar, two tenor saxophones, two alto saxophones, baritone saxophone, three trumpets, and three trombones.

Jools and the Rhythm & Blues Orchestra play to audiences in excess of 300,000 each year. As well as formidable live performances, Jools has maintained a prolific recording career since signing to Warner Music in 1996, which includes the multimillion selling Jools Holland and Friends series. Notable 'friends' have included Sting, Chrissie Hynde, George Harrison, Norah Jones, Eric Clapton, David Gilmour, Bono, Joe Strummer, KT Tunstall, Robert Plant, Smokey Robinson, Sugababes, Ringo Starr, Peter Gabriel, Solomon Burke, and many more. A big fan of the cult 1960's show The Prisoner, Jools' inspiration for Helicon Mountain  the studio complex he designed and built  was Portmeirion, the setting for the TV series. Jools demonstrated his love of the series by starring in a spoof documentary, The Laughing Prisoner, with Stephen Fry, Terence Alexander, and Hugh Laurie, in 1993. Jools' career as a television presenter has run parallel to his musical career.

He started in the early 1980s when he interviewed The Police for a documentary that was made while they were recording at George Martin's Montserrat studio. Jools then auditioned to become co-presenter (with Paula Yates) of The Tube, which achieved almost immediate cult status and discovered a whole new generation of musicians and comedians between 1981 and 1986. Jools also managed to secure a rare interview with Miles Davis, which was broadcast on 14th November 1986. In two subsequent documentaries  Walking to New Orleans in 1985 and Mr Roadrunner in 1991  Jools unearthed some of the roots of American music, which led him to talk to (and play with) many of his heroes, including Fats Domino, Dr. John, and Lee Dorsey. In 1988, Jools wrote a six-part series with Roland Rivron, The Groovy Fellas, about a Martian visiting Earth. Between 1988 and 1990, Jools performed in and co-hosted (with David Sanborn) two seasons of an acclaimed music performance programme, Night Music, on NBC.

After presenting two series of Juke Box Jury in 1989 and then 26 shows of The Happening in 1990, Jools was asked in 1992 to host a new music programme for BBC2, which combined his talent and experience as a musician with his skills as a TV presenter. This was Later... with Jools Holland . The show has reawakened the innovative spirit of The Tube, and concluded its 49th series in November 2016. Other television programmes include: Name That Tune; Don't Forget Your Toothbrush; Beat Route; Jools Meets The Saint; and, in 2002, Jools' History Of The Piano. Jools also conducted the interviews for the definitive Beatles Anthology and the Rolling Stones Biography. He also appeared in the 1997 film Spice World as a 'Musical Director' and, on 31st December 1999, performed at the New Year's Eve Millennium Dome opening ceremony in the presence of Her Majesty The Queen, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, and various luminaries.

Jools' achievements were formally recognized in June 2003, when he was awarded the OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List. The 2004 UK tour kicked off with a star-studded concert at the historic Royal Albert Hall, donating all proceeds to the Teenage Cancer Trust . Later that year, he collaborated with Tom Jones on an album of traditional R&B music. The album, which was recorded at Jools' Helicon Mountain studio with Laurie Latham, entered the UK Album Charts at Number 5. In January 2005, Jools and his band performed with Eric Clapton as the headline act of the Tsunami Relief Concert in Cardiff. Jools married Christabel McEwen in August 2005 and, the following month, he was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for Kent. In March 2007, Jools played two very special charity concerts, at Wells Cathedral and Rochester Cathedral, to raise funds for the upkeep of cathedrals throughout the British Isles and highlight the beauty of these historic buildings and the music within them. At the heart of these charity concerts was a new setting of the Mass, composed by Jools and commissioned by the Bishop of Bath and Wells.

The new Mass was performed exclusively in the two cathedrals. Jools' colourful autobiography, Barefaced Lies & Boogie-Woogie Boasts, hit the shelves on 4th October 2007 (published by Michael Joseph Ltd.); the paperback was published in the summer of 2008. 2009 saw the collaboration between Jools & his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra with Eddi Reader on tracks for (and a cameo role in) the movie Me & Orson Welles, starring Claire Danes (Romeo & Juliet, Homeland) and Zac Efron (High School Musical, The Lucky One). Available on DVD, it was directed by Richard Linklater (School of Rock, Dazed & Confused). Jools and the Orchestra with Eddi Reader perform Let's Pretend There's A Moon, I Surrender Dear, and You Made Me Love You (I Didn't Want To Do It) on the Soundtrack album (Decca/Universal Records). One of Jools' personal 2010 highlights was the Sony Radio Academy Silver Award for 'Best Specialist Music Programme' presented to his highly-acclaimed and eclectic BBC Radio 2 show.

That year saw an even more prestigious achievement: the Sony Gold award for 'Music Broadcaster Of The Year'. The show has been running for 15 years; the latest series concluded in December 2016. He also took on the very challenging role of Music Curator for Prince Charles' September 2010 green initiative START, a festival in the heart of London to raise awareness on all environmental issues. Jools graced the event with a special performance. Jools had the privilege of being part of the stellar line-up at the Queen's Diamond Jubilee concert, set against the spectacular backdrop of Buckingham Palace, on Monday 4th June 2012. As always, Jools continues to dazzle audiences across the UK with his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra and their exuberant live performances. Jools' new album Piano, which explores different piano styles and is performed on a variety of pianos, was released on Friday 2nd December 2016. You can order Piano here .

Jools Holland on breaking TV taboos and why he didn't fall in love with Paula Yates | Daily Mail Online comments Never mind Big Ben - it wouldn't be New Year's Eve without Jools Holland's annual Hootenanny. So how has this self-confessed 'shambolic' presenter gone from punk rebel to national treasure? 'The Tube was the first time the plebs had gone on the television. The lunatics taking over the asylum. It opened the floodgates to endless swear words and amateurism,' said Jools Holland Jools Holland is grinning because we both know he’s telling a fib. ‘I’ll be at the Hootenanny,’ he says when asked what he’ll be doing this New Year’s Eve. But that’s a big fat porky. His hugely popular annual television show is actually recorded more than a week in advance. How else could he get superstars like Kylie and Tom Jones to sing Auld Lang Syne with his big band and a sozzled studio audience, on that night of all nights? ‘I wish people wouldn’t say this. You’re like that bloke who’s always going around saying there’s no God and no Father Christmas.

We don’t want to know about all that, thank you very much. The Hootenanny is on and we’re all going to enjoy it. ‘Once the show begins, everybody in that room lives for the moment as if it were New Year’s Eve. That is why a lot of people seem to inadvertently get over-served with drinks. Perhaps they do what they do on New Year’s Eve, which is to overdo it a bit. I hope the people watching at home are going to overdo it as well.’ For millions of us, Holland is as much a part of New Year’s Eve as Big Ben. He knows why. ‘You can’t drink and drive, cabs charge a lot of money, pubs aren’t what they were, so it’s got harder and harder to go out on New Year’s Eve. So people stay in and they’ll have us on the TV, not glued to every moment but as something that enhances the party. Some people are on their own, and we cheer them up, which is great.’ On his guests: 'I'm not trying to trick them into a confession of a crime, I'm trying to celebrate their beauty.

When somebody performs on the show they are revealing more about themselves' Sometimes the Hootenanny accidentally offers a unique double pleasure. You leap up to kiss the one you love when the big clock behind Holland and his band strikes midnight – then get to do it all again a few minutes later, when the people next door cheer because the New Year has arrived in the real world. How come that clock is so often wrong? ‘The big clock is always out. It’s never in. It is a real show, and it is happening on New Year’s Eve in my mind, but I can reveal that it is not a real clock.’ What? ‘There is someone round the back moving the hands. They are set at five to 12 all night and then just for the last five seconds they are pushed up by the bloke standing behind. One year we did it and the clock hands fell on the poor prop bloke. They do a marvellous job, for the money.’ He laughs at that, knowing it’s the sort of thing Eric Morecambe might have said. ‘The hands fell off and nearly hit Gilson Lavis, the drummer, on the back of the head.

He was nearly maimed, the saintly fellow.’ Gilson’s spare drums are a few feet away as we speak, at Holland’s studio in Blackheath, south London. It’s a very strange place. The front gates swing open to reveal a fake street with cafés, a white Italianate tower and an old-fashioned clapboard railway station bearing the name Helicon Mountain, the place where the ancient Greek poets went for inspiration. It is all a tribute to Portmeirion, the village of illusions in Wales that was the setting for the cult television show The Prisoner. When Holland comes out in his black suit and shirt, a Crombie overcoat and scuffed suede shoes looking like Patrick McGoohan’s undertaker brother, it is suddenly obvious where he gets his dress sense. ‘I have realised how exciting and easy it is to be a time traveller, by looking at paintings and films and architecture and playing music or listening to it. I don’t think you necessarily have to live in the present all the time.’ On Paula Yates: 'She wasn't for me to fall in love with...

She was the first person I knew who made me realise that girls could be very funny too, and that you could have them as very good friends' If Holland is a man out of time, it’s not clear which one – his clothes are from the Sixties, his manner of speaking is often from the Forties, but his Rhythm and Blues Orchestra – which is currently on tour – plays music that goes all the way back to the Twenties. Controversially so, in one case. The newly released album Rockinghorse features a song from 1927 by Bessie Smith, on which the guest vocalist Sam Brown sings: ‘I would rather my man hit me than just jump right up and quit me. I swear I won’t call no copper if I’m beat up by my poppa… tain’t nobody’s business if I do.’ Holland was warned not to perform it. ‘A few people said that we shouldn’t be playing it because of the words. But actually, this is a song that is more for now than any other time. You know, when endless governments or some other authorities are trying to poke their hooters into what you’re doing?

Even if you’re having a horrible time of it, that’s nothing to do with them.’ He’s a surprisingly conservative chap, for someone who started out with his band Squeeze in the punk era then became famous as the cool, sarcastic host of The Tube in the Eighties. His co-host Paula Yates got most of the attention but it was Holland who broke one of the great taboos in 1986, by telling the viewers – live at tea-time – to tune in or be ‘ungroovy f******’. There was uproar and he was suspended. Times change. A few years ago a poll of broadcasters named it among the 50 Most Gripping Moments In British Television History. You might expect Holland to be proud of that, but he is not. ‘I would just like to apologise to Britain,’ he says, not joking. ‘Mary Whitehouse wrote to me, saying, “If you do this, standards will drop.” I wrote back saying: “I absolutely agree with you. It was an inadvertent slip of the tongue on my part but actually, you’ve got a point.” She was quite right.

It has all gone downhill.’ Holland tells me how he got the job of hosting The Tube, at the age of 24. ‘Paula and I were really appalling at the audition. We were supposed to introduce a band we liked and do a fake interview with a student who was there. Paula ended up calling the student work-shy and slapping him. And I pretended to introduce some dead people, and mimed dragging them across the floor of the studio. 'It was a shambles, it wasn’t funny, it was rubbish. What we didn’t understand was that in the control room was a woman called Andrea Wonfor, whose idea The Tube mainly was, who said to her fellow executives from Channel 4 and Tyne Tees: “I agree they’re not very professional, but none of us could stop looking at them, could we? Why don’t we try that? We’ve had all the other people who know what they’re doing and can remember the words and it hasn’t worked.” ‘So we thought we were being hired because of our talent and professionalism, whereas in fact it was because we were completely shambolic amateurs. The Tube was the first time the plebs had gone on the television.

The lunatics taking over the asylum. It opened the floodgates to endless swear words and amateurism.’ Jools at his studio in Blackheath, which has a fake street that is a tribute to cult TV show The Prisoner The thin anarchist of old has become a prosperous looking man of 52. He can hardly be called an amateur now. His show Later… has been running since 1992, and has featured most of the greats of modern music as well as breaking many new bands. But he still sees himself as a musician above all. And there is still something a bit shambolic about the way he introduces acts or tries to interview them. There’s still mischief on his face. Chris Evans, who knows about these things, describes Holland as: ‘My absolute TV hero bar none. There has been no other presenter like Jools, before or since.’ We have just passed the tenth anniversary of the day Paula Yates died, in early December 2000, from a heroin overdose. She’s on his mind. ‘When you see some people on television, it exaggerates what they are like and makes them seem much more exciting than in real life. With Paula it worked the other way.

When she was at her sharpest and wittiest and prettiest, the viewers were only getting about 30 per cent of what she really was. She was much better than what you saw on television, even though people said that was wonderful.’ Rock stars fell in love with Paula very easily, so why didn’t he? ‘She wasn’t for me to fall in love with. But I did learn something very important from her. I didn’t have any sisters and I went to an all-boys school, and she was the first person I knew who made me realise that girls could be very funny too, and that you could have them as very good friends.’ Holland went to school not far from his studio, but he didn’t stay long. He was expelled at the age of 15, but really didn’t mind because he was already earning good money from playing piano in the pubs around south London. His uncle Dave had taught him boogie-woogie at the age of eight, and by the time he left school he was with the musicians who would become Squeeze.

‘We were getting free cabs, free drinks; all the girls wanted to snog us and at the end of it we’d get a Chinese takeaway and not have to get up in the morning,’ he once said. ‘Who needs school when you’ve got all that?’ He also called himself Jools. ‘Not Julian. No. Ugh. I don’t think anybody ever likes the name they are given. Except that there’s a boy at school with my son who is called Lee Justice. I’d have been happy with that.’ Holland still has close ties with the part of London where his studio is. ‘I am fortunate that I made good friends early on that I still want to see. There are family people working for me. I still see people I went to school with and have a drink with them, once a week. Well, not last night. They chucked me, said it was too cold. But I have only done what’s comfortable for me. That’s the world I like.’ That’s a bit disingenuous, actually, because Holland also inhabits far grander worlds.

Written in gold letters at Helicon are the names of the stars who have come there to record with him, from the Sugababes to Paul Weller and Bono and on to three of the four Beatles: Paul, George and Ringo. Then there’s the social climbing. His first marriage was to a hairdresser called Mary, with whom he had two children; but his second was to the sculptor Christabel McEwen, the former Lady Durham. The studio may be in his old manor, but the couple live near Buckingham Palace – unless they’re at the country house in Kent. There was a bit of a wobble early on, when jewellery of hers worth £35,000 was stolen by Holland’s father. ‘We were not angry, just disappointed,’ he said in his autobiography, Bare-Faced Lies And Boogie Woogie. ‘My father had clearly been in a precarious state of mind.’ The Hollands had two children and 15 years together before they were married in 2005 – the year they were also guests at the wedding blessing of Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. What were they doing there?

‘There is always someone in the world who is better or worse off than yourself and I’ve never seen that – in either direction – as a barrier to becoming friends with somebody. I got to know Charles by doing a few things with the Prince’s Trust, which must have helped half a million young people. 'I agreed with a lot of the ideas he was trying to get across to people, about sustainability and buildings and how small is beautiful. The sort of things your grandmother would have said to you: “Why are you buying a silly modern fashion coat when your nan’s coat will fit you perfectly well?” I identified with that, we talked about it and I thought, “There’s nobody else who is saying these things and being listened to.”’ Since then Holland has been made a Deputy Lieutenant of Kent, and his charity work includes trying to preserve cathedrals. The wedding guests were said to be part of a new Establishment forming around the future monarch. ‘To me, the Establishment means the kind of pub where you get locked in and they keep serving. It’s very nice to be asked to anybody’s wedding. Particularly if it’s the Prince of Wales. I learned a lot from it, which was to end early and get away.

I suppose one would have to look back historically and see who other royals had at their weddings. Were there people at Queen Elizabeth’s wedding who were common like myself? Did Chaucer go to Richard II’s wedding? Not that I’m comparing myself to Chaucer…’ JOOLS PICKS HIS OWN HOGMANAY HITS 1. IN THE EVENING (WHEN THE SUN GOES DOWN) by Ray Charles 'I'd start with this to set the mood. It gets you in the mood for an evening party. When that evening sun goes down, you just don't know what's going to happen...' 2. CHICKEN SHACK BOOGIE by Amos Milburn 'This always makes me dance. People don't realise I'm a dancer but when this thing hits me, it gets me going.' 3. BECAUSE HE WAS A BONNY LAD by the Unthanks 'I'd have anything by them. They're new and they're young. They are real sisters singing Northumbrian folk music and it sounds very seasonal, like the snow.' 4. AIN'T IT GRAND TO BE BLOOMING WELL DEAD?

by Lesley Saronie 'I'd want to have a sing-song and we could all sing the chorus together. "Look at the flowers, bloomin' great orchids, ain't it grand to be bloomin' well dead?" Lovely.' 5. AIN'T NO PLEASING YOU by Chas and Dave 'We'd need to carry on the sing-song, so I'd have something by these two.' 6. PULLING THE RUG by Imelda May 'She can sing anything, but if you start with rockabilly and mix it with a bit of Irish country dance music, that's her.' 7. WHAT CHRISTMAS MEANS TO ME by Stevie Wonder 'I know Christmas has gone, but only just, and I'd still want this. It's not actually about what he says, it's the way the song is played by all those Motown people.' 8. AUTUMN LEAVES by Eric Clapton 'I'd want a little moment's thought so I'd have this, from his new record. When you think the song has ended there is a whole guitar part on the end that's great.' 9.

THE BEAUTY OF THE DAYS GONE BY by Van Morrison 'You can't look forward unless you take a moment to look back. Mirror, signal, manoeuvre. I always like a bit of Van.' 10. UP ABOVE MY HEAD by Ruby Turner 'The pianists in the sporting houses in New Orleans used to say you have to finish with either the blues or a hymn. I had a 78 of this by Sister Rosetta Tharpe - it was one of the first records I had. A lovely way to end the night.' Does he expect to be invited when William and Kate get married? ‘I don’t know. I haven’t been yet. I was delighted to go to his father’s wedding and I wish them well. I hope they are going to be very happy together. If somebody asked me to play, I would – but nobody has. Whatever they do, I hope they have a lovely time of it. If somebody asked me what I fink – what I think – they should do, my recommendation would be to get an English ceilidh band. That’s what I like.’ When Holland corrects his own pronunciation like that, in mid-sentence, you can hear him falling between two worlds.

But they come together when you consider that he grew up living closely with older relatives who had survived the war in south London and had a fierce loyalty to the Queen. There’s a melancholy track on the new album that celebrates those days, called London Belongs To Me. It’s full of clichés about laughing policemen and the sound of Bow Bells but works because it is sung so beautifully… by Chas and Dave, of all people. The song starts with the Ceremony of the Queen’s Keys at the Tower of London. ‘One of the great things about having a monarch is that they can take a long-term view, which governments never can. The other reason I like them is that they always write thank you letters and set a good example. I don’t think people know what to do half the time, about taking their hat off in the presence of a lady and so on. 'But I tell you what, Norman from the docks knows how to behave perfectly well. It’s just good manners. So I think it’s good that somebody – the Royal Family – is doing all that, and being shown on the television doing it. Well done.’ His critics say he often sounds like he is telling a joke, but seldom is.

They also call his interviews lame, which hurts. ‘I would say that often the simplest questions get the most revealing answers. Van Morrison asked me what sort of music I liked. It was surprising, I had to think really hard.’ I tell him that when he sat at the piano with Carla Bruni, a singer-songwriter as well as First Lady of France, he was like a little lovestruck puppy offering his tummy to be tickled. ‘Well, I think that’s probably what I want to do to all of the guests. I’m not trying to trick them into a confession of a crime, I’m trying to celebrate their beauty. When somebody performs on the show they are revealing more about themselves. 'In the interview I said, “Who do you like?” She said, “Bessie Smith.” And – ha, it’s all coming back to me now – she actually did a bit of the Bessie Smith song, Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out. So there you are. The interview was the least important thing. I felt we got the thrust of her when she sang.’ Not everybody gets to sit at the piano and jam with the host.

‘There are some artists who are great successes but they’re not particularly musical.’ Does he realise the viewers think we can tell which bands Holland doesn’t like, by the way he introduces them? ‘I have been told that by some twitch of the eyebrow or the way I might put my hand in my pockets I am indicating pleasure or displeasure. But I would never knowingly want to appear to disapprove of anybody on the show.’ That, of course, would be bad manners. By watching his Ps and Qs, the post-punk enfant terrible with the foul mouth has slowly become an institution almost as well loved as the Queen. ‘Thank you for coming,’ he says, putting on a flat cap, for a quick trip to the newsagent. ‘It was a pleasure.’ And he’s right. It was. ‘Jools’ Annual Hootenanny’, New Year’s Eve, 11pm, BBC2 aurora 12/31/2014 New Years Eve - Jools' Annual Hootenanny 2014 Jools Holland presents the 22nd edition of his New Year's Eve musical extravaganza, as he sees out 2014 with a host of stars.

The line-up features British singer-songwriters Ed Sheeran, Paolo Nutini, Ellie Goulding, Paloma Faith and Joss Stone, while America is represented by 1960s pop singer Ronnie Spector, blues musician Boz Scaggs, soul singer William Bell and country band Hayseed Dixie. Plus, Clean Bandit with Jess Glynne perform their chart-topping single Rather Be and there are appearances by former Dr Feelgood guitarist Wilko Johnson and Hootenanny regular Ruby Turner, while the Pipes and Drums of the 1st Battalion Scots Guards play in the new year in traditional fashion. Lighting Director Chris Rigby. Recorded at the Maidstone Studios. Wednesday 31st December 2014 (NYE) 11.20pm on BBC2

Question: Which British musician hosts their Annual Hootenanny on television on New Year’s Eve?
Answer: Jools Holland