Birmingham, Birthdays and Baileys

Photo by Brian Homer taken at Birmingham Jazz in Sep 2015

Birmingham

I am so looking forward to performing in Birmingham again!  I was there last Autumn with my Spellbound Stories project and I'm back again this Sunday with Celebrating the Divas of Jazz. We'll be appearing as part of Birmingham Jazz's Legends of Jazz Festival.  In anticipation of this I did an interview with Peter Bacon's excellent Jazz Breakfast blog.  He asked some really tough questions and really made me think.  My favourite part of was when he asked me what I thought about standards given that I mostly write and record my own material.  I replied:

"I think classic songs are loved by many and will always be relevant. The wonderful thing about jazz is that the standards are like a beautiful piece of fabric that each musician gets to make into a unique garment. Some keep it simple, some come up with high fashion concepts that everyone admires but no-one will ever wear. Fashions change but beautiful music and clothes can always be appreciated."

Read the full interview here.

I'm also very excited to be taking part in the first ever Festival of Voice in Cardiff in June.  I'll be supporting Hugh Masekela at the New Theatre on 7 June.  Tickets here.

Birthdays

It was my birthday earlier this month.  I usually celebrate my birthweek (one day is much too short!)  I got some lovely gifts and one of the highlights was going to see Rambert at Sadler's Wells.  They performed three separate dance pieces with the themes, "murder, mystery and a party"!  Anyone who's been to see Spellbound Stories will know how much the themes of murder and mystery influenced my project and of course I love a party!  My favourite section was the "party" piece Itzik Galili’s A Linha Curva - "a spectacular, sexy, percussion-fuelled explosion of samba-flavoured dance".  I don't often go to see dance performances so it was a rare and enjoyable treat.

Baileys

My birthday gifts included a bottle of the Limited Edition Baileys Chocolat Luxe. Mmmmmmmm!  I LOVE Baileys and am quite a fan of chocolate too so can you imagine my delight at discovering the nectar that is the two of these delicious ingredients combined?  Their marketing department describes it as the "ultimate decadent drinking experience".  I concur.  And I'll just say again... mmmmmmm!  Cheers!