Moons, Masons and M&S

I love taking photos of bridges over water. 
This was my first view of beautiful Norwich on the way to the hotel.

There was a chaise longue in my hotel room!  A chaise longue is
definitely one of my favourite things.

Kate Williams and I were booked to perform under this art installation of the moon during the full moon.  Unfortunately the windy conditions meant the artwork was moved inside and we perofrmed outsidebut it was absolutely stunning.

Soundcheck - done!  Just a few minutues until the seats were filled
with jazz fans fo all ages. We had fun!

Really enjoyed working with these guys.  Kate Williams, Cosimo Keita, Tony Kofi & Oli Hayhurst.
We also got a great review here

David Preston and I on our way to Bath for the Bath Festival to perform the new
collaboration project with performance poet Zena Edwards!
(I'm definitely #teamnero #properitaliancoffee)

Another beautiful bridge - this time spotted on the way to the hotel in Bath.

We spent the day before the show rehearsing in a small theatre above a church. 
David and Zena working on one of her songs.

And this was our venue - Masonic Hall which is part of the Old Theatre Royal.
A really stunning room.

I had a great time working with Zena on our project and we got lots of wonderful
feedback from the audience.

The next day David and I did an impromptu performance for the shoppers in M&S.  Some bewildered looks as we set up next to the lingerie!  Lots of nice comments from the surprised shoppers.  And another bonus is that I found these gorgeous sparkly shoes.

Next on the agenda are some London performances and a return to Oxford.  Hope to see you there!

08 June:  Bond to Bowie @ Bar Zedel, London
25 June:  Special Guest with house band at Summertown Wine Cafe, Oxford
28 June:  Divas of Jazz @ Bar Zedel, London
29 July:  Nina & Other Divas @ Boisdale of Canary Wharf, London

Arrivederci Roma, Hola Odessa!

November was a busy month filled with new people, places and experiences.  :-)

I had a really amazing time with 6 gigs in Italy, then numerous gigs over the EFG London Jazz Festival including a live performance from the Barbican for BBC Radio 3's Jazz Record Requests and a great family-friendly performance at Cadogan Hall.  I also returned to one of my favourite places (Oxford), at the Summertown Wine Cafe.

And it won't be long until I'm off to foreign climes again as I've been invited as a guest artist for New Year's Eve celebrations at an amazing new venue in Odessa!  I've checked the weather and it doesn't seem too cold at the moment but I'm keeping everything crossed that there'll be no snow.

We played 2 nights at Gregory's Jazz Club - the oldest jazz clubs in Rome

Downstairs at Gregory's there is a tiny bar where regulars have special name plaques.  I asked about Vittorio and if I remember correctly, he is a sailor from Sicily who visits Rome and Gregory's often and keeps his place at the bar reserved.  Love this idea!

The Italian Quartet!  Max (bass), Rudy (drums) and Daniele (piano)

I spent some time in Genoa and was amazed at how wonderful the climate is - there are PALM TREES!

Love Pisa!  Here I am in front of a gorgeous Keith Haring mural.

With the Family Jazz All Stars (Tony Kofi -sax, Kate Williams - piano, Oli Hayhurst - bass, Cosimo Keita - drums) just before we stepped on stage at Cadogan Hall

On stage at Cadogan Hall.  A stunning venue!

Finally, Trevor Hoggett did a really nice interview with me about Spellbound Stories and it's out now in December's Jazz Journal magazine.

And my name is on the front cover - second name up from the bottom in red - woo hoo!

Finally, (really this time), here's a seasonal joke for you:

Q:  What do you call a bunch of chess players bragging about their games in a hotel lobby?
A:  Chess nuts boasting in an open foyer.

Black History Month, LJF & the final chapter of Spellbound Stories

Performing at Methodist Central Hall Westminster for Jazz Vespers with Dan Forshaw Qrt

October has been a crazy month.  I've gone from performing for over a dozen toddlers running around and bouncing on cushions whilst listening to the Divas of Jazz for The Streets community high street project in Twickenham (cute!) to performing gospel songs to a huge audience at Westminster Central Hall during Jazz Vespers as part of Black History Month (awesome!).  And in between I also visited Birmingham Jazz for the first time and had an amazing, appreciative audience for the final Spellbound Stories tour date (wonderful but also sad).


The Streets

The Streets is an amazing project bringing music to unusual places on the local high streets.  Kate Williams and I performed in a lovely local Italian Restaurant, a library (with aforementioned cushions in the children's section) and a beautiful stately home called York House.   There are few more performances next month.  Would be great to see you if you're local.

14 Nov - Ilford Library  11am & 12.45pm
22 Nov - Leyton Library 11.15am & 12.30pm


Spellbound Stories - The Final Chapter

Our gig at Birmingham Jazz for Black History Month was such a lovely end to the Spellbound Stories tour dates.  We had a great audience and lots of lovely feedback.  Huge thanks to my amazing band, all the promoters and venues who booked us and my lovely agent Sabina at Mo' Connections.  Although the chapter is over, there is a chance of an epilogue or two next year as there has been some interest from literary festivals.  I will keep you posted.  Until then, here are some great photos taken by Brian Homer at the Birmingham Jazz gig.

With Nick Ramm on piano

Eddie Hick on drums

Oli Hayhurst on bass

Jazz Vespers

My final gig for Black History Month was Jazz Vespers at  Methodist Central Hall in Westminster.  It was an amazing, very well organised event and the audience loved it!  It included powerful readings from Martin Luther King by Darren Raymond and contributions from many members of the church all backed by Dan Forshaw's excellent quartet.  From all the positive feedback I think there's a good chance it will happen again.  Again, I will keep you posted.

Just one week now until I'm off to Italy!  Can't wait to go back to one of my favourite countries in the world.  Once again I'll be performing with the wonderful Daniele Gorgone Trio.  We'll be kicking off with two nights at Gregory's Jazz Club in Rome.  It's currently raining and only 16 degrees in Rome but I refuse to let that dampen my spirits.  Italia, here I come!

03 Nov - Gregory's Jazz Club, Rome
04 Nov - Gregory's Jazz Club, Rome
05 Nov - la claque, Genoa
06 Nov - Jazz Club Torino, Turin
07 Nov - Raindogs House, Savona

08 Nov - Ex Wide, Pisa


EFG London Jazz Festival

It's that time of year again!  Once again, I'll be doing some family friendly concerts with Family Jazz All Stars.  We've got two at artsdepot and one at Cadogan Hall.  I'll also be performing and chatting to Alyn Shipton for Jazz Record Requests on 14 Nov live at the Barbican for BBC Radio 3.  November is going to be another busy month! :-)

14 Nov - Jazz Record Requests @ Barbican Freestage, London 5pm
15 Nov - artsdepot, Finchley 11am & 2pm
21 Nov - Cadogan Hall, London  2pm

New Spellbound Stories EP is here... and another new project coming up for the EFG London Jazz Festival!

Yes, it's here!  In advance of the full album release I've decided to make three of the new tracks available for download.

There are 3 tracks on the EP:

1.  Little Things (inspired by The God of Small Things)
2.  Surrender (based on a theme from Middlemarch)
3.  Forbidden Fruit (with ideas from The Color Purple)
plus a radio edit (shorter version) of Track 1

I'm joined by a fabulous band who have played with the likes of Cinematic Orchestra, Pharoah Sanders and Mark Ronson.

If you'd like a copy of the music and to help me in my goal to finally release my next album after a long five years, then just click the link below and it will take you straight to the page where you can listen to the songs and buy the EP.

(EP is no longer available but you can now buy the full album below.)

https://julietkelly.bandcamp.com/album/spellbound-stories



And in other news, I'm pleased to announce that the producers of the EFG London Jazz Festival have asked me to create a new family jazz show for the upcoming festival in November!  I'll be performing some classic jazz favourites with an allstar band featuring Tony Kofi (sax), Kate Williams (piano), Ben Hazleton (bass) and Cosimo Keita (drums) at the Southbank Centre on Sunday 23 November.  Tickets available here!

Photos, Touring and Shopping in Boston

A few weeks ago I braved the freezing cold and snow to get some new photos taken by the wonderful Annabelle Narey of Bellephoto.

Am really pleased with the results and look forward to using them on my new website and album - hopefully both will be finished this year. 

I call this one "Golden Hair".  I draped a sequinned scarf that I bought years
ago in a sale for 99p over my head.   Love the effect.

This little robin took a liking to us and kept follwing us around the park. 
Even when we walked 5 mins away, there he was trying to get into the photo. 
And yes, I'm sure it was the same one! :-p

And I started my latest rural tour this weekend.  Kate Williams and I performed in Upper Broughton, Notts and Frampton, Lincs and had a wonderful time.  Shame the weather didn't cooperate.  There was  torrential rain and hail but thankfully there were also bursts of sunshine and a beautiful rainbow.  I love rainbows!
 
And in the daytime in between gigs... we shopped in Boston!  Yes, I'm sure you were thinking the title referred to Boston in the USA but I'm talking about Boston in Lincolnshire.   We roamed the charity shops and bought lots of bargains.  I love shopping! 

St Botolphs Church in Boston (aka the Boston Stump) as seen from the bridge...
just around the corner from all the shops!

Looking forward to next weekend when we'll be performing in Waltham on the Wolds, Radcliffe on Trent and Allington. 

Glam Goes Rustic - Back on the Road in March

Happy New Year!

I've decided to make no resolutions this year.  My only plan is to enjoy life and make the most of any opportunities that come my way.  :-)  

I'm really looking forward to returning to the Midlands in March.  I'll also be debuting Celebrating the Divas of Jazz in Gloucestershire too.  Here are the dates and locations.  I'll be performing with the wonderful Kate Williams on piano.  Do come and see us if you're nearby.

Fri 15 Mar - Upper Broughton Village Hall,  Notts  LE14 3BA      
Sat 16 Mar - Frampton Village Hall,  Lincs  PE20 1AR
Thu 21 Mar - Waltham on the Wolds Village Hall, Leics LE14 4AG
Fri 22 Mar - St Mary’s Hall, Radclffe on Trent, Notts NG12 2FD
Sat 23 Mar - Allington Village Hall,  Lincs NG32 2DZ
Thu 28 Mar - Evergreen Hall, Broadwell, Gloucs GL16 7DL
Fri 29 Mar - Westbury on Severn Parish Hall, Gloucs  GL14 1PF
Sat 30 Mar - Box Village Hall, Stroud, Gloucs  GL6 9HR                     

 

Two Firsts - BBC London Radio and Jazzahead Music Conference

Having lived in London all my life and being a proud Londoner I was very pleased to be invited on to the Robert Elms show a couple of weeks ago!  I've listened to the show many times and it's one of the best and most varied shows on the airwaves both in terms of the music he plays and the topics he covers.  I'm honoured to have been featured.  Listen to me singing my new song Surrender with Kate Williams on piano below:

Then I was off to my very first music conference.  What an exhausting weekend!  I helped man the Jazz Services UK Jazz stand for both days (10am-8pm)  and never realised how tiring just talking to people for 2 full days could be.  In the evenings we listened to showcases including those by the wonderful British bands that were taking part - Sara Colman, Kit Downes Trio, Just East, Lighthouse Trio and Dennis Rollins.  I also got the chance to do some international networking and while I'm not really keen on "networking" as such, I realise it's an important part of a DIY musician's life.  When I got back to the UK I had totally lost my voice!  I couldn't speak a word, never mind sing.  The voice is slowly coming back now but it's just as well that I don't have any gigs in the next couple of week...

May is going to be all about songwriting for me.  I've slacked off since my spurt around Christmas and must get back on the songwriting wagon again.  Even if it means a bout of self-imposed purdah!

Glam Goes Rustic (The Sequel) - Etton, Bridlington & Swanland

I've just returned from a lovely 3 days in East Yorkshire where I took my "Celebrating the Divas of Jazz" show to village halls in Etton, Bridlington & Swanland.

The journey up the M1 was quite eventful for Kate and me because although we left in plenty of time and even stopped on the way for a bit of lunch, it became clear after our break that there was a problem on the motorway.  An accident caused us to be stuck in traffic and what should have been a 3 and a half hour journey actually took a whopping 7 hours!  We arrived with just 10mins to spare.  I quickly donned my glad rags at our excellent B&B (Hunter's Hall in Beverley) and we were on our way.

We were met with such a lovely audience and hosts at Etton Village Hall that I forgot all about the nightmare journey.  Tickets were sold out and we had a rapturous response from the audience.

Our gig at the Spotlight Theatre in Bridlington also went very well.  We had a lively audience in and one gentleman gave us all lots of laughs when I asked those who could remember to tell me about the clothing of the 1950s to set the mood for the song I was about to perform.  The man who said he was of 1920s vintage took great delight in telling me that ladies used to wear bloomers and the lady next to him reminded him that they used to be called PK's - aka Passion Killers!

Swanland Village Hall was situated in one of the most idyllic settings I've seen  and I couldn't resist taking some photos (below).  Once again there was a full house and a lively audience where the show was extremely well received. 

I love performing in village halls and hope I get to chance to do more.  Here's to Glam Goes Rustic - Part 3!



View across the pond in Swanland
The last swans died and the villagers were told they were not permitted to replace them.



Swanland Village Hall



Another gorgeous view




Finally managed to capture a view of the fountain



Glam Goes Rustic (The Sequel), Snake Accessories & Meeting Bill Bailey

So looking forward to heading up to East Riding of Yorkshire for my second rural mini-tour on Friday.  Kate and I will be "Celebrating the Divas of Jazz" on:

Fri 23-Mar 7.30 Village Hall  Etton  HU17 7PQ
Sat 24-Mar 7.30 Spotlight Theatre  Bridlington  YO15 3DS
Sun 25-Mar 7.30 Village Hall  Swanland   HU14 3QR

On Saturday I had a lovely chat with Tony Barker from Vixen 101 radio to promote the tour.

Just heard today that the first show is already sold out -  woo hoo!

Looking forward to getting out into the countryside again and will be packing my walking shoes.  Took a bit of an unexpected walk on the wild side last weekend when I peformed at an event hosted by Bill Bailey (acclaimed comedian and musician).  There was another entertainer present whose act included several wild animals including a beautiful snake that I just had to try on!

Mr with my gorgeous (live) snake scarf

Bill Bailey was a wonderful host and is a very lovely man. (He also said very nice things about my singing.)  Here we are together.

Me with Bill Bailey

So all I need now is for the sun to shine on Yorkshire this weekend and I will be a very happy bunny indeed! :-)

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!

A Rural English Indian Summer - Cumbria, Durham & Northumberland

Wow!  If I had superpowers and controlled the weather, this would be exactly the kind of weather I would have chosen for my rural tour!  There I was worrying about wellies and the like and here we are in glorious sunshine and the perfect weather to enjoy the spectacular views in beautiful Cumbria.

Dufton

Kate and I had a great time at the first of our gigs last night.  A full house turned out and we had lots of lovely comments and positive feedback on our performance.  We are staying in a gorgeous B&B with amazing foods and very welcoming and knowledgeable hosts.  Couldn't ask for more really.

Dufton Village Hall

The audience

This morning, after a very hearty breakfast of freshly baked bread and local produce, we headed off for a walk along the Pennine Way.  Absolutely stunning views.

The view!

More stunning views

And yet more...

Kate - Pennine Way

And after the long walk I felt a cream tea in the cafe on the village green was more than justified. :-)

Village Green

UPDATE:  Sunday 2 October

We've had such a great time!  Cumbria was absolutely wonderful.  After Dufton, we had gigs in Boldron (technically Durham) and Armathwaite.  Full houses at both gigs again and absolutely lovely audiences as well as very gracious and helpful hosts.  All the great things you hear about northern hospitality are all true!

Dry stone wall and fells are typical of the Cumbrian countryside - stunning!

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We encountered several streams... and lots of mud! Those sequinned wellies wouldn't have stood a chance!

Then last night we drove to Wooler in Northumberland and played to a packed and very warm (in both senses of the word!) audience.  The weather was so warm that I didn't need a coat or jacket even at midnight.  Once more we were looked after very well but the well organised hosts.  The weather has turned a bit today but the views and autumn colours are truly spectacular.

Tonight is our last show in Stocksfield.  It will be sad to leave the countryside but I'm looking forward to having a break before my band and I head up to Wakefield Jazz Club on the 14 October.  I just can't keep away from the north these days!