The Old Jelly Rollers are a musical collective who encompass the raucous, joyful spirit of the birthplace of jazz. We are bound to get your feet shuffling with our full 7 piece line up of some of London’s finest young musicians!

The band is lead by up-and-coming songstress Louise Balkwill, named by multi-award winning singer Liane Carroll as a singer to listen out for. Come and move to the beat of the streets of New Orleans!

Our music is a raucous celebration of life, friendship and joy - playful, carefree, heartfelt and inspired by what we heard on the streets and in the late night digs in New Orleans. But it didn't start off that way - we've been on quite the journey! 

When Louise came up with the idea of starting The Old Jelly Rollers, it was intended to be an exploration into the roots of jazz (a 'school project', if you will) and most of our repertoire was very traditional. But when we first arrived in New Orleans in 2017, we couldn't have even dreamed of the things we would learn there; Music is a part of everything in the Big Easy. You hear it playing from the sun rising on one day to the sun rising on the next. You see jazz legends playing with newbies. You hear brass bands, second line parades, jazz funerals, blues guitarists playing with bebop trumpeters and 7 or 8 piece bands forming on Royal street made up of people who may or may not have ever met before. 

The absence of egos and the wholesomeness of an entire community being brought together by music as a means of expression, celebration and communication is something that you really have to see to appreciate - and that's what we are trying to capture and bring to audiences all over the world.

Help us fund our debut album and share the joy of New Orleans!