Ronnie's, Russia and more Rural Touring

I've really enjoyed a relaxing January but things will be kicking of again soon as I'm back at Ronnie Scott's on 13th Feburary. I'll be a guest of the wonderful Renato D'Aiello Qt who has a residency every Monday in the bar upstairs and I'm planning to perform lots of romantic songs on the eve of Valentine's Day. Yay - I just love those mushy ballads! :-)

Then I'm back in Moscow at the Union of Composers once more for two nights on the 16th followed by my first performance in the city of Perm on 18th Feb. Looking forward to visiting another new place in Russia but rather nervous as the temperature at the moment is minus 24 degrees! Perhaps thermal leggings won't be enough and I'll also need to wear a thermal balaclava.  Do they even exist..?

Ooh - just found this:

I might just be able to pull the look off if I sew some sequins around the eyeholes... ;-)

And I'm also looking forward to more rural gigs at the end of March in East Riding of Yorkshire. Kate Williams and I will be going to Etton, Swanland and Bridlington. Woo hoo!

Out with the Old - In with the New!

Happy New Year!

2011 was quite a busy year for me.  Highlights included:

• My first UK tour (from Cornwall to Northumberland) with new Celebrating the Divas project with my band in February was a great success with several sold-out dates and quite a few radio and newspaper interviews
• In March I performed at a charity event attended by Prince Charles
• In March I also gave a speech (sharing the stage with MPs and the actress Maggie Steed!) for the Lost Arts initiative - extremely scary but a very worthwhile event
• Four sell-out dates in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia were the highlights in April
• Two licensing deals for music from my album Licorice Kiss - the first for Spain/Portugal and the second for Singapore/China
• Four festival appearances for a Greek Islands tour with Dimitri Vassilakis Qt in July and August made for a blissfully sunny and beautiful summer
• Five wonderful gigs with Kate Williams at village halls in the rural north of the UK also saw some beautiful hot weather at the end of September
• My debut performance at an historic venue in Moscow in October
• Two gigs at the London Jazz Festival with a new European Journey project with Jonny Phillips
• My debut performance in Hong Kong and a return to Moscow in November
• Finally December saw me return to Greece with two gigs in Athens over Christmas where I also managed to finish 8 new songs!

Plans for 2012 include:

• A return to Russia for 3 performances in February
• Another rural tour with pianist Kate Williams in March
• A new duo project with pianist Kit Downes
• Recording one (or maybe even two!) albums

Phew!  After all that I think I deserve a quiet, relaxed January... and that's exactly what I have planned.

Here's hoping 2012 brings us all lots of love, luck, laughter and lolly!