Moscow Radio and Perm's Ice Festival

My latest trip to Russia a week ago as quite a whirlwind.   I arrived in Moscow in the evening and then had a rehearsal and performance (with a fabulous Moscow band) the next day, a live radio performance and second performance on the third day and then an early morning flight to a city called Perm in the Urals followed by a rehearsal, final performance and TV interview.  I was supposed to fly back to Moscow and then London the following day but the first flight was cancelled which meant me staying an extra evening at the airport hotel in Moscow which turned out to be a Soviet-style hotel and quite an experience.   And guess what - the weather was absolutely beautiful.  Pretty cold (-17 in Perm) but bright and sunny with gorgeous blue skies.  I love Russia - always full of surprises!

Being interviewed at Silver Rain Radio (Moscow's equivalent of London's Capital Radio). We were there for an hour during the breakfast show and also performed 4 songs live.

I was in good company as photos on the wall showed previous guests included Liza Minnelli...

And the wonderful Cesária Évora who sadly passed away last year

Official photo (to be added to the wall maybe?) by photographer Pavel

Performing in Perm

Relaxing with a glass of champagne before the TV interview

Due to the delay I was given a short sightseeing trip around Perm and I loved their Ice City.

A whole park is taken over and there are so many structures all built completely out of ice - awesome!

Absolutely beautiful

Even a children's playground and slide built totally out of ice



And this was the view from the hotel on my last morning in Moscow - breathtaking!



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!

A Tale of Three Cities: Hong Kong, Moscow and Athens

It's been a very busy month!  Three cities in 3 consecutive weekends.  Felt like a resident of Heathrow Aiport but luckily I quite enjoy flying and I absolutely adore travelling.  It was my first trip to Hong Kong and a welcome return to both Moscow and Athens - two places I'd visited earlier in the year. 

I'm going to back to Athens in 3 days and returning once again to Moscow in February.  What a lucky girl I am!

Hong Kong

View from the window of my hotel room - spectacular!

The first meal ended with mango pudding.  Was very excited to receive my first Asian fortune cookies...

... and loved the fortune I was given.  Hope it's true!

Hong Kong is shopalicious - but sadly there was no time for shopping.

Occupy Hong Kong!

View from the hotel's roof top terrace at sunset.  The HK skyline is absolutely stunning.

The final meal.  My pianist ordered frogs legs!  There was no way I would eat them but I was informed that they tasted like "chewy chicken".

Moscow

View from my hotel room.  A grey day but not as cold as I feared.

The venue in a very upscale area in the suburbs of Moscow. Very plush!

The very imposing Ministry of Foreign Affairs building.  Just looking at it made me break out in a cold sweat at the thought of some Kafka-esque nightmare

Just opposite my hotel is what used to be the "Golden Palace Casino" but as all gambling is now banned in Russia, it's been transformed into a nightclub.  Tacky but I love its kitsch design especially the palm tree streetlights!

Athens

View from my hotel room

This suburb of Athens is by the coast and is absolutely beautiful

Sunset view from my balcony

A brisk afternoon walk by the sea - aaaah so peaceful

I love trees and thought these looked especially beautiful

Krooning at The Kremlin

Okay well it wasn't actually the Kremlin... It was a fabulous Moscow jazz club called Society of Composers but it was only about 5 mins walk from the Kremlin itself and so I got the chance to walk around Red Square before Friday's gig.  Absolutely stunning!  Below are some of the pics I took on my walk followed by pics of the gig itself taken by Russian photographer Владимир Коробицын (Vladimir Korobitsyn).  The band were fabulous and we had a full house with a great audience.  Hope it won't be too long before I get the chance to go back again.

Red Square!

Lovely Lexy in front of St Basil's Cathedral

Me in front of St Basil's Cathedral

St Basil's Cathedral - yes - I LOVE it!  Reminds me of a big cake. :-)

The Historical Museum - beautiful.

Couldn't resist buying a "Russian Doll" (with a twist!)

(c) Vladimir Korobitsyn

(c) Vladimir Korobitsyn

Lexy and me after the gig

To Russia With Love

I'm off to Russia tomorrow and my first time performing in Moscow!  Really looking forward to it.  I've got my wooly hat (with "ears") and my thermals (just in case) and am good to go.  Love Russia!  Wish I could speak the language but will just have to try to fit in by drinking lots of vodka instead. ;-)

Nothing more to add at the moment so here's a recipe for Moscow Mule to be going on with until I have more news...

Servings: Serves 1

Ingredients

• 1 ounce vodka
• 1 tsp. sugar syrup
• Fresh lime juice
• 1/2 cup ginger beer
• 1 sprig fresh mint
• 1 slice of lime

Directions

In a copper mug, pour vodka over ice. Add sugar syrup and lime juice. Top with ginger beer and stir. Garnish with mint sprig and lime slice.

And here's a link to the song "From Russia With Love" which I'll be learning for my London Jazz Festival concert with Jonny Philips. 

From Russia with Love - Matt Munroe

Dosvedanya!