What the Press are Saying About Spellbound Stories...

Being interviewed on Arise TV

I am so grateful for the support of those who pledged to my campaign and/or supported my music by coming to the album launch last week.  Thank you!

The album is now officially released and on sale at Amazon and Bandcamp.

Buy from Amazon

Buy from Bandcamp (also available as high quality audio files or mp3s)

It's had amazing reviews so far including this 5-star one from BBC Music Magazine!

It was also jazz album of the week in the Sunday Times.

And the Guardian said:

It's been a busy, busy month!  As you can see from the photo at the beginning of this blog, I was on TV talking about Spellbound Stories - my first ever television interview.  That was a lot of fun!  And there's a feature in July's Jazzwise - a great interview and a 4-star review.

I've also been interviewed on radio and you can listen to recordings of the shows on Hoxton Radio (Jazz Standard) and Croydon Radio (JazzBeat).

Last but definitely not least, there are the blogs:

Interview on London Jazz
Review of album launch at Pizza Express on Marlbank
Reviews of album on LondonJazz, Bebop Spoken Here, JazzViews, Sandy Brown and All About Jazz

I'm so pleased with the response the album's been getting.  Huge thanks to the journalists for their reviews and to the presenters for having me on their shows.

Next stop - Italy. I have just one month to brush up on my basic Italian!

Derby, Tuscany and Countdown to the Launch of the SS (Spellbound Stories) Album

Castello Pasquini

Great news - I've been booked for some tour dates in Tuscany, Italy.  Love Italy and all things Italian so I'm really looking forward to it!  I'll be working with some great musicians, the Daniele Gorgone Trio. 

23 July - La Spezia
24 July - Livorno
25 July - Pisa
26 July - Rosignano Marittimo (at a festival taking place at the beautiful Castello Pasquini pictured above)

Closer to home, I had a lovely time at my first performance in Derby.  We performed a family-friendly show of Spellbound Stories organised by excellent musician/promoter Corey Mwamba who is doing such great things for jazz, especially in Derby.  It had been a while (since October last year) that we'd played the songs and I'm so excited that we'll be performing them again very soon for the launch at Pizza Express Jazz Club on 18 June.  Tickets are available here:

http://www.pizzaexpresslive.co.uk/jazzBook.aspx?showId=b94d9d1a-7cdc-481a-914f-03df585d347b&showDateId=8280

More good news - the PledgeMusic target was achieved!  Thanks so much to everyone who pledged.  I appreciate it a lot.  You can still pre-order the album and other exclusives up until the release date of 22 June.  And remember, 10 per cent goes to Amnesty International.  Just click the link below:

http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/spellboundstories

I was very happy to learn that Forbidden Fruit (the track inspired by Alice Walker's "The Color Purple") was played on BBC Radio 3's Jazz Line Up by Julian Joseph at the beginning of this month.  And there was a mention about the album release in the June edition of UK magazine Jazzwise.  Exciting to have received the first bit of press and some radio play for the album!

Germany, Flowering Tea and a Magical Forest

The Magic Forest

The Magic Forest

This place that I've named "The Magic Forest" was the location of the shoot for my first ever music video!  It was cold, wet and muddy (and my suede boots were destroyed) but it was still very exciting.  Am hoping that a stiff suede brush will sort out the caked in mud on my beautiful boots...


Pledge

Thanks so much to those of you who have supported my Pledge campaign so far.  I still need lots of help though.  Here is a list of the things on offer in the hope that I can tempt some of you.

Download of Spellbound Stories... just £8 (included with all purchases)
CD delivered before official release... £15
Signed CD delivered before official release... £25
Exclusive handmade (by me!) DIVA bracelet... £25
Singing or songwriting lesson... £75 (for you or a loved one)

Lots more too at http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/spellboundstories


Germany

I went to a trade fair called Jazzahead in Bremen, Germany last weekend.  Was so lovely to see so many jazz peeps and caught up with lots of musicians I haven't seen for a while.  I was also offered a tour in Germany next year so watch this space!


Flowering Tea

I've discovered the most beautiful tea in the world.  It's called Flowering Jasmine Tea!  I ordered a cup at Wagamama's and was amazed when it arrived.  It flowers after it's served to you.   Below you can see "before" and "after".  Not only delicious but stunning too!

Before

After

Finally, two performances in May.

Saturday 16 May 2015 The Crazy Coqs London, UK (Divas)
Wednesday 27 May 2015 Old Spa Function Room, Derby, UK (Spellbound Stories Family-Friendly Show)

And the big one in June!  Tickets on sale now.

Thursday 18 June 2015 Spellbound Stories Album Launch Party @ Pizza Express Jazz Club, London, UK 
http://www.pizzaexpresslive.co.uk/jazzBook.aspx?showId=b94d9d1a-7cdc-481a-914f-03df585d347b&showDateId=8280

Parliamentary Partying and Wonderful Worcestershire

The talented Norma Winstone and Laura Jurd

The Parliamentary Jazz Awards

It was fun attending the Parliamentary Jazz Awards at the Houses of Parliament earlier this month. Didn't enjoy the long queue to get in - it's just like going through airport security! - but seeing lots of my friends and colleagues and chatting over a glass of wine and some canapes in the company of Jamie Cullum, Moira Stewart and Dame Cleo Laine more than made up for it

Above is a photo I took of Norma Winstone (Wnner - Vocalist of the Year) and Laura Jurd (Winner - Instrumentalist of the Year) - two very talented women indeed! 

Spellbound Stories Album

My Pledge Music page is now up and running!  You can pre-order the album here. Be one of the first to get your hands on the highly anticipated album and get access to exclusive updates too.

Celebrating the Divas of Jazz in Worcester and Clows Top

Another lovely couple of gigs in new places for me.  Worcester was a little different as it's not exactly rural but the venue certainly was spectacular.  Our stage for the evening was set at the front of the most beautiful church.  The acoustics were amazing and as always seems to be the case at these rural touring gigs, we received a very warm and appreciative response from the lovely audience. 

Our stage at St Barnabas Church, Worcester

Intriguing item found in church vestry (we decided they were vintage ink wells)

Clows Top was a true rural location.   We had tea and cake (gluten-free for me!) at a charming farm shop before the performance and were once again welcomed by the friendly and enthusiastic audience.  I love rural touring! 

Clows Top Victory Hall

Jazzing for Justice

Jazz for Labour

Performing on the Barbican stage with Kate Williams on piano

It was a huge honour to be included amongst the most stellar of line-ups ever assembled to perform at the Barbican to show our support for core values of the Labour Party - Fairness, Diversity & Equality.

This was the official line-up:

Alex Webb / Café Society Swing
Andy Sheppard
Arun Ghosh
Christine Tobin
Claire Martin
Courtney Pine
Darius Brubeck
Dave O’Higgins
Gary Crosby
Jay Phelps
John Etheridge
Juliet Kelly
Kate Williams
Ian Shaw
Liane Carroll
Phil Meadows
Phil Robson
Soweto Kinch
Tim Garland

But there were also many amazing musicians not listed who took part to make this one of the most spectacular jazz events ever!   I performed "Ghosts" one of the songs from Spellbound Stories, based on Toni Morrison's "Beloved" about a runaway slave forced to commit a terrible act out of desperation.  I thought it a good fit to illustrate the importance of the values of fairness, diversity and equality and received a very warm response from the audience.  I feel so proud to have been part of this and thank the organisers, audience members and fellow musicians for making it such a special evening.

Courtney Pine, Arun Ghosh, me, Soweto Kinch

With Courtney Pine just 30 mins before curtain up!

My first credit as a radio reporter!

The report I did at Brilliant Corners on their Played Twice series was aired as a segment on BBC Radio 3's "Jazz on 3" show.  So excited to see my name as a reporter!  My first credit but hopefully not my last.  You can "listen again" to it here for the next 17 days.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02k6g5s


Celebrating the Divas of Jazz

I will be honoring the classic divas once more in Worcestershire in March.  Looking forward to it!

26 Mar - St Barnabas Church Hall, Church Road, Rainbow Hill, Worcester,WR3 8NX
27 Mar - Clows Top Victory Hall, Mamble Road (A456) Clows Top,  DY14 9HX

 
 

Secret Life of a Jazz Diva

Happy New Year!  (Yes, it's still January so I can just about get away with it!)

January has been treating me well so far and I'm looking forward with great optimism to the rest of 2015.


Live on the Radio

The gig I played with the Jazz Nights band in Clare, Suffolk was broadcast on BBC Radio Suffolk at the beginning of the month.  You can still listen for another 10 days here:

Part 1:  S'Wonderful and Mutual Attraction http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02fk3kd

Part 2:  My Foolish Heart and Forbidden Fruit http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02fl9zb

Part 3:  April in Paris, One Note Samba and My Baby Just Cares For Me http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02fk3kk

Part 4:  Mood Indigo and Tainted Love http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02fk3qf


New Newsletter

Yes, I'm starting a new newsletter called "Secret Life of a Jazz Diva" where I will be sharing some behind the scenes snippets, photos and other good stuff!  I'll also be passing along tips and sharing some of my favourite things with you like other artists, cool gadgets, websites and of course some seriously groan-worthy jokes.  Sign up here and you'll also receive an exclusive download of the song that has moved audiences to tears.

Sign up now


More Radio Stuff

Some of you know that I've done some radio presenting in the past, doing some stints at BBC Radio Kent and with my own show at the short-lived UK Jazz Radio.  Well, I did my first stint as a radio reporter for BBC Radio 3's "Jazz on 3" last week!  Scary but very exciting.  I went along to a great night in a venue in Hackney called Brilliant Corners where they have a monthly event called "Played Twice" where the audience listen to a classic jazz album and then this is followed by a live band playing the same album again. This month it was 5 by Monk by 5 played by Byron Wallen's excellent quintet.  The show is due to be broadcast sometime in February. 

So here's to a fabulous 2015!  Next month I'll finish mixing the final tracks of my Spellbound Stories album (here's a sneak peek of some backing vocals I added last week) and I will also be taking part in a concert at The Barbican called "Jazz for Labour" alongside a whole host of amazing musicians including Courtney Pine, Soweto Kinch and John Etheridege.  Bring it on!

Fudge, Fauld and Family-Friendly Jazz

As you may be able to tell from the title, November was a varied and interesting month.

Family-Friendly Jazz

The first Family Friendly performance of "Family Jazz Allstars Featuring Juliet Kelly" for the EFG London Jazz Festival was a huge success.  We had a sold out Purcell Room audience who were very much up for joining in and singing along.  A crowd of children (and some parents!) rushed to the front of the stage for our encore and entertained us with their dance moves.  Hopefully this will be the first of many and that 2015 sees us performing this show around the UK - and even abroad.

Fauld

Then it was back on the rural road with Celebrating the Divas of Jazz.The first of two shows took place in the tiny hamlet of Milton.  

I am so grateful to Live & Local and Arts Council England for supporting these performances.  It's such a pleasure to perform at these village halls and community spaces at some of the most beautiful spots in the country.  Unfortunately due to the time of year we didn't see as much of the scenery as I would have liked but this was more than made up for by the warm responses of the audiences.

During the show I mentioned the fifties and how much I love the fashion of the era. After the first show a lovely lady called Ann came up to me and said that she had a vintage cigarette holder that she would love to give to me as it was something she inherited from her aunt and had no use for.  She kindly dropped it off at the hotel the next morning and what a beautiful thing it is!

Anne told me about her glamorous aunt Patricia Makin who even up until the day she died a few months ago, was the height of glamour, always immaculately turned out and wouldn't leave the house without her make-up!  It was a interesting co-incidence that the day of the performance coincided with the 70th anniversary of the RAF Fauld explosion. According to Wikipaedia (yes I know - but it's usually mostly right!) it was one of the in history and the largest to occur on UK soil.  Aunt Pat was one of the people working at the underground munitions storage depot at the time but fortunately was unhurt.  At least 70 people and 200 cattle were not so lucky.

Aunt Pat, tall, slim and elegant lived well into her nineties.  She was never married and one of the things inherited by her niece was this glamorous cigarette holder; unused because she could barely afford it and certainly couldn't afford to smoke but longed to own something that projected the glamour of her idols, Princess Margaret and Sophia Loren.

NB:  I don't intend to take up smoking although I love the idea of cigarette holders.  Am trying to think of an inventive way to use it... perhaps in a promo photograph - ideas welcomed!

Fudge

I seem to have become a fudge connoisseur!  This is the third bag of fudge I've bought during my travels this year.  But this time I have a foolproof excuse.  It's the perfect flavour - so much so that it would have been rude not to!

This beauty was bought in a fabulous Olde Sweet Shoppe in Eccleshall (I was practically squealing with delight when I saw the cornucopia of sweet delicacies on display!) where we spent the day before our performance at the lovely Broughton Parish Room in Wetwood.  This was one of the smallest places we've played - just 40 people live in the hamlet (mostly farmers) - but we had a full house of nearly 100 due to people coming along from the neighbouring villages.  A fabulous night!

Limited Edition EP

Just a reminder to get your limited edition Spellbound Stories EP soon as it will be removed on 31 December 2014.  Thanks to those of you who have kindly supported me so far.  It's really appreciated.  Every sale means I'm closer to releasing the full album next year.  Buy it here.