My name is Julian Fris.

I woke up the other day to the realisation that I have been playing piano for over 50 years, and it dawned on me what an important part of my life it has been.

I may have been a chef, a student, a manager and a consultant but I was also, surprisingly to some, a band leader for 20 years with Skyline – a successful showband.

We performed at everything from weddings, military and corporate events to working men’s clubs.

To celebrate this significant 50th year milestone, I decided to record this boogie woogie and blues album ‘Que Diablos’, featuring cover versions from heroes such as Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.

The funny thing is that, at a young age, I would reluctantly attend music lessons in Hitchin. During these lessons I was forced to learn some turgid piece for my grades. Luckily, I discovered rock ‘n’ roll after spending hours on perfecting my
stride left hand, à la Fats Waller, and then proceeded to liven up tunes like ‘A la Turka’ by Mozart, and that appears on the album.

To me, music has been a motivator, healer, stress reliever and a life skill which has served me well. I particularly enjoyed the challenge of recording this album in amongst my hectic business schedule.

So I recorded ‘Que Diablos’ and decided that I wanted to use it as an opportunity to raise money for a very worthy cause.

Having worked with The Royal Marsden recently, it was a no-brainer to donate the proceeds from sales of ‘Que Diablos’ to The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity. It supports so much work in the research, and treatment and care of cancer – a disease which could affect us all, either directly or indirectly with friends or relatives, at some point in our lives.

Whilst you can purchase the album from the website (www.que-diablos.com), I’ve set up this Just Giving page for those who want to donate more. 

Thanks for your support.

The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity raises money solely to support The Royal Marsden, a world-leading cancer centre. We ensure our nurses, doctors and research teams can provide the very best care and develop life-saving treatments, which are used across the UK and around the world. From funding state-of-the-art equipment and groundbreaking research, to creating the very best patient environments, we will never stop looking for ways to improve the lives of people affected by cancer.

https://www.que-diablos.com