Goodbye UK, Hello Ukraine!

Uzhhorod Cathedral

Just for a few days I'll be visiting the picturesque city of Uzhhorod in Western Ukraine and then I'll be making my way through the beautiful, mountainous scenery to revisit historic Odessa.  So looking forward to being back there.  Spent a wonderful New Year's Eve there at an amazing hotel back in 2016.  I'm a little worried about the cold and so will have to make sure to pack my thermals.

The two performances are taking place at ILKO Gallery and then at jazz club Perron No7.  Both gigs are totally sold out and am told they have a jazz hungry audience there so very much looking forward to performing for them with a great local trio led by Alexey Petuhov.

Back in the UK I have gigs coming up in the spring at Royal Albert Hall (as part of their Women and the Hall series), Birmingham Jazz and The Stables in Milton Keynes. 

I'm also working hard on setting up a UK tour for the Autumn with my new project.  I have a feeling it's going to be a very good year. :)

Merry Everything and a Happy Always

We rounded the year off with a second outing for "Sweet Nancy" (songs from the classic Nancy Wilson/Cannonball Adderley album) at Royal Albert Hall (Verdi Room) and then a fun afternoon performing with Family Jazz All Stars for a very lively and energetic audience at a school in Camden.  

I also took part on a panel “Working as a Live Jazz Musician” for the Musicians’ Union at the London Jazz Festival.  It’s been a challenging year for many, both economically and politically, but it was good to share tips and suggestions for surviving as a jazz musician in these difficult times.

I’ve really enjoyed working on different projects with a mix of different musicians this year - and there was lots of new material too.  There’s more to come!  I’m working on a new project and tour for 2018.  I hope to be revisiting some venues as well as exploring new ones.  So watch this space!

Until then, wishing you Happy Holidays and all the best for 2018!

Spellbound Stories Revisited and Sweet Nancy

Bonington Theatre - with Kate Williams (piano), Oli Hayhurst (bass), Cosimo Keita (drums)

It was wonderful to revisit "Spellbound Stories" after focusing on other projects for a while.  It was my first time performing in Nottingham too.  We had such a warm and enthusiastic audience - it was a real pleasure to share my stories with them.

Earlier in the month there was another debut - the first outing for my new project "Sweet Nancy".  It's a show centred on the songs from the classic Nancy Wilson/Cannonball Adderley album released in 1961.  Tommaso Starace (sax), David Preston (guitar) and I performed it for the very first time at the excellent new monthly "E15 jazz sessions" at Stratford Circus.  A wonderful space that's definitely worth checking out if you're close by.

We'll be performing the show once more at Verdi (Royal Albert Hall) on 17 November.  We're on at 12 noon and it's free.  See you there!

Stories, Divas and Vespers in the Rain

Westminster Central Hall

I had a lovely relaxing August but am now gearing up for a busy end to the year!

We brought Spellbound Stories to The Stables in Milton Keynes this week and there's more on the way...

Sunday 04 Oct Verdi Room, Royal Albert Hall, London SW7 2AP (Sunday Brunch)
Friday 16 Oct Urban Arts Bar @ Red Lion, 95 Warstone Ln, Birmingham B18 6NG (for BLACK HISTORY MONTH

And I'll also be Celebrating the Divas of Jazz...

Sunday 27 Sep The Apex, 1 Charter Square, Bury St Edmunds  IP33 3FD (Sunday Brunch)
Saturday 10 Oct  The Crazy Coqs, Brasserie Zedel, 20 Sherwood Street, London W1F 7ED (Late Night Show)

Also for Black history Month, I'll be singing Ellington and Spirituals for Jazz Vespers with the Dan Forshaw Quintet...

Sunday 25 Oct Central Hall Westminster, Storey's Gate, London  SW1H 9NH


So some exciting gigs ahead.  I've also been invited back to Italy in November - yay!  More details to come.


It's been raining A LOT in London this month.  I found this and it made it all better.  :-)

Spellbound Stories - Chapter One is Over...

Photo by Tony Brown

The UK tour is now over - and we had a blast!  Huge thanks to Arts Council England for making it all possible.  And to all the promoters/venues and amazing musicians I've worked with.  The October dates included a sell-out show at the Royal Albert Hall (Verdi), a great gig with the house band at The Spin in Oxford and two fabulous dates in Cornwall.  It was my first time in St Ives and I've fallen in love with the place for sure!

So if that was Chapter One... I guess Chapter Two is the completed album.  I'll be putting the finishing touches to it in the next few weeks and hopefully it should be released at the beginning of next year. 

More exciting news is that I'm now on the books of two new agents.  UK bookings will be taken care of by Mo' Connections (A Boutique Jazz Agency) - and I'm very pleased to be the latest addition to the roster alongside amazing musicians Phil Robson, Robert Mitchell and one of my favourite bands, Kairos 4tet.  For European work I will be part of Idris Media, an agency based in Germany with a huge roster of excellent artists.  Fingers crossed that 2015 will be a gigtastic year!

Next month I'm excited to be part of the EFG London Jazz Festival.  My family-friendly afternoon concert at The Purcell Room, South Bank Centre is already almost sold out!  If you'd like to be there, make sure to book your ticket very soon.

Almost better than my name in lights... my name in chocolate!

Tom and Eddie watching the surfers at St Ives.  The weather was fabulous.

You couldn't really go to Cornwall without sampling a Cornish pasty now could you?

Nick Ramm by Craig Taylor-Broad at Bosuns Charlestown (Restormel Arts)

Eddie Hick by Craig Taylor-Broad at Bosuns Charlestown (Restormel Arts)

Tom Mason by Tony Brown at St Ives Jazz Club

Juliet Kelly by Tony Brown at St Ives Jazz Club

Easter, Rural Touring and Snow!

Spring is finally here! Although you wouldn't have believed it last week. We had to drive through snowy rural landscapes to get to our gigs at the end of March. Thanks so much to all those people who turned out to see us in such unseasonable weather. We had a great time!

Very happy that we also had some sold out gigs even given the Easter period and horrible snow. Such warm and appreciative audiences too. Can't wait to go back. hopefully I'll have some more dates at the end of this year.

Snowy Leics

And my next London date at the Royal Albert Hall is also already sold out! If you managed to get tickets, look forward to seeing you then. 

Looking forward to performing in Minsk, Belarus at the end of next month. Please - pretty please with a cherry on top - no snow!

Before then, I'm off to the Jazzahead conference in Bremen at the end of April to mix and mingle with the international jazz glitterati. It was great last year so hoping for more of the same.

Happy Spring!

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