UK Jazz Tour - Final Gig 12 - Ipswich Jazz Club

The final gig!  And the last in the run of 4 consecutive nights.  It was great to get to perform with the band for four consecutive nights and felt really relaxed with the material by this time and didn't have to worry about forgetting the lyrics!

Ipswich Jazz Club has been running for many years but this venue is relatively new for them and what a wonderful venue it is.  Well laid out with a bar to the side and quite a lot of space.  It's all run very well too by the excellent volunteers.  Once again we were treated very well the fantastic promoter, Dave.  And also, again the performance was very well attended.  Apart from a couple of the gigs, we've had sell-outs and full houses throughout.  I'm very pleased that so many people came to see us. :-D



The stage (with lovely kitsch "saxophone" light fitting on the left) -
and more photos of the great audience members I met on the night below

Dave on the right and his father, Phil in the white shirt.
Phil was celebrating his birthday that night!

Stephen Foster (MC for the club) who also interviewed me on BBC Radio Suffolk

I had such a great time on the tour and met such lovely people.  I hope the lady I met in Bath wasn't the only one that felt we brought a little bit of joy into their lives - even if just for a short time.  A big thank you to everyone who came out to see us.  I really appreciate the support and hope to see you again sometime!

UK Jazz Tour - Gigs 7 & 8 of 12 - London & Oxford

I became an honorary Pole on 5th March and it was fabulous!  The Polish hostess for the show at Jazz Cafe POSK in Hammersmith was the gorgeous Mariola and we were even treated to Polish cakes during the interval.  And I've discovered a new favourite drink... Zubrowka aka Bison Grass Vodka!   Absolutely delicious served with chilled apple juice.  And I've heard that you can also serve it over vanilla ice-cream.  Double yum!





With the lovely Mariola





George, Milo and Dave tucking into Polish cakes!

 

The audience were lovely and although we had to compete at times with a rather noisy birthday party happening in another section of the room, the audience seemed to enjoy themselves and there were lots of happy smiley faces.




Some of the happy smiling faces

 


Next was a return to Oxford - one of my favourite cities.  Unfortunately I got delayed by an accident on the M40 and although I left London at 4.30pm to get there for 6.45pm, I didn't arrive at the venue until 8.20pm...  Ten minutes before I was due on stage!  Other complications were that I had a call from Milo, the drummer, that day and unfortunately, due to no fault of his own, he was unable to do the gig so we had to get a dep in with very short notice.  Luckily, Charlie Stratford - a local drummer - was available and he acquitted himself extremely well and was a joy to play with!





George, Charlie and Oli

 Joe's Bar & Grill is a another great venue.  It's a shame they don't advertise the music more as with a decor that includes a beautiful chandelier and black and white photos adorning the walls, it has the makings of an excellent jazz club.




Joe's Bar & Grill

 



Lovely Layla and husband
(And more smiling faces)

  

UK Jazz Tour - Gigs 5 & 6 of 12 - Hawth, Crawley & Camberwell Crypt

We're half way through!

The Hawth is a lovely venue.  A proper but cosy little studio theatre with raked seating. Only thing is when I was on stage the audience was in complete darkness which meant I could see no-one at all!  I love to see the faces of the audience while I'm singing so that made it a little difficult but I made up for this by going out and meeting them all during the interval...

The Hawth Theatre

George, Oli and Milo on stage during soundcheck

 

Somr of the people I met during the interval



Brian (a jazz photographer) and his wife.  He took lots of pictures of me during
 the show so I thought it only fair to return the favour!



Me with 2 lovely ladies -  She looks as if she's about to kiss me
but think she was just caught mid sentence!



Taken by a professional - Brian O'Connor



Another photo from Brian O'Connor (See my photo of Brian above!)



Oli was back with us for these 2 gigs and it was lovely to play with him and hear stories of his tour in Ireland with Zoe Rahman.  The promoter also arranged for us to be given a hot meal before the performance.  This seems like a luxury but really it should be a necessity as when we've travelled for hours it can be tough to then have to go out looking for somewhere to get a meal with only minutes to spare after the soundcheck.  And that's not to mention the added cost!  I wish all promoters would consider this.

Then the next day we were in my home town of London for my first performance at the Camberwell Crypt.  I've been to this venue as part of the audience before and always loved it so it was great to be performing there.  Again we had a meal before the performance and I highly recommend the food.  Especially the puddings.  Yum!

What was particularly good about this venue is that it's full of young people.  A real rarity in jazz.  There were more than a hundred people there and the average age definitely seemed to be under thirty.  Maybe we shouldn't be so pessimistic about the future of jazz after all?



The sign says "Welcome To The Crypt"  A bit spooky, no?  Muhahahahaha!




Some of the lovely people at the gig

 

More lovely people.  And the girl on the left has spectacular hair!



UK Jazz Tour - Gigs 2, 3 & 4 of 12 - Royal Albert Hall and Northumberland

What a great week. Three sold out gigs in a row!  I could get used to this... :-)

But before I update you on those 3 gigs, let me tell you about my recent brush with royalty!  At the beginning of the month I was chosen to perform at a fundraising event for Aid to Zimbabwe.  Also performing was one of my influences Annie Lennox ( I do a cover of the Eurythmics song "Here Comes The Rain Again" on my latest album "Licorice Kiss") and if that was not enough, also present was HRH Prince of Wales.  Here are a couple of snaps of the event.   I was just a few feet away from Prince Charles himself!



There was beautiful singing from a national choir 




Prince Charles doing his "meet and greet" (Sadly I was in the 2nd row!)

Then to continue the Royal theme, the 2nd gig of the tour was for Valentine's Day at the Royal Albert Hall (Elgar Room).  For our dressing room, George and I were shown to the Queen's Retiring Room.  So within a week I was rubbing shoulders (well almost) with Prince Charles and sharing his mother's dressing room! 

The Queen's Retiring Room

It was a lovely evening.  It was the first of the sold out performances and took place in a beautiful setting.  And George accompanied me on a bright red grand piano that was donated by Elton John.  (I will resist making a joke about another Queen here.)

Next up was our gig at the Queen's Hall in Hexham.  (Again the royal theme.  This is getting spooky!)  It was a very very long drive but so worth it once we arrived.  The audience were lovely and very enthusiastic.  Met some really warm and friendly people. 



Queen's Hall Arts Centre - So good to see they actually put my posters up!



    
 
 

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We performed a request for the birthday girl on the left

    

Nice to see 3 generations out enjoying jazz

 

Audience waiting for us to start - A lovely lady called Jen and her friend


Then we had a day off in Northumberland.  It was pretty cold and rainy but that didn't stop us making an excursion to Lindisfarne aka Holy Island.  A beautiful place - although think we could have appreciated it much more if we hadn't been battling the elements.  There were so many scary "Danger" signs about being stranded on the island when the tide came in that I was worried that we would get stuck and miss our gig at the Maltings in Berwick that evening!

Dave and one of those scary signs!

Dave, George and me - trying to look as if we're not being pelted by wind and rain...
(Castle just visible in background)

The "beach"

The Priory and graveyard

Then on Saturday night it was off to the Maltings Theatre and Cinema for our performance in their Henry Travers Studio.  When we arrived it was a huge empty room with lovely vaulted ceilings but when the lighting was on and the tables and candles put out their was a lovely atmosphere.  Once again the audience were enthusiastic and very welcoming.  Northumberland - you rock!

The beautiful entrance to the venue

Just loved the lights - had to take another photo!

Soundcheck after the lighting but before the tables were put out

Moody pic of Milo...

Dave...

...and George during soundcheck

Some lovely audience members

And more lovely audience members