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.

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

Sunshine, Surprises and Spellbound Stories

In the last couple of weeks I've been to Liverpool, Sheffield, Newcastle, Altrincham (nr Manchester), Birmingham and Bath.  It's been wonderful!  I've really enjoyed exploring the new music with my fabulous band and the response from the audiences has been amazing.  It's so rewarding to get such positive feedback about a project so close to my heart.

And the sun has been shining!  We've had some really warm weather on our travels and it really makes a difference with such long car journeys.  And another perk of being on the road is that allow myself a cooked breakfast every morning.  I don't eat just before a performance as it prevents me breathing deeply and affects my singing so I think I can justify a morning fry up!

An interesting aspect of bringing the songs to the different audiences around the country is that I've discovered that a lot of people are amazingly well read!  Quite a few of the books on my list, although critically acclaimed, are a bit obscure and some are very difficult reads... but I've found some people in the audience have read even the most challenging such as "The Master and Margarita" or "Beloved".   It's also been really lovely to chat to people at the end of the gig and to hear about what they've been reading - and I've come away with some great tips for new books to read!

Some photos tweeted during the tour:

@julietkelly @PARRJAZZ @FrederiksHopeSt #enchanting pic.twitter.com/w03gpbK90E
— PARRJAZZ (@PARRJAZZ) September 9, 2014

@julietkelly Hi Lovely gig at the Black Swan with JNE Loved your version of Wuthering Heights what an encore !!! :) pic.twitter.com/N6R2geWkbe
— Ken Drew (@Kenbay6) September 12, 2014

Lovely start to the 1st set, inspired by Sophie's World. @julietkelly and band sounding beautiful in #Altincham pic.twitter.com/OfEAHnZ8nd
— The Cinnamon Club (@TheCinnamonClub) September 18, 2014

#365happydays day 194 ish - live #jazz from @julietkelly band at @THSHBirmingham on Friday http://t.co/k7wrHFiN0J pic.twitter.com/Znxva0Vo5r
— Phil Beardmore (@PhilBeardmore) September 21, 2014

And here is a cool shot I took of the band on our evening off in Bath just before the last gig of the second leg.

Nick Ramm, Eddie Hick and Oli Hayhurst looking very cool

Still a few dates to look forward to next month - can't wait!

02 Oct - The Spin, Oxford  OX1 4DF
12 Oct - Verdi @ Royal Albert Hall, London  SW7 2AP - Sunday Brunch 12-2pm
14 Oct - St Ives Jazz Club @ Western Hotel, St Ives, Cornwall  TR26 2ND
15 Oct - Restormel Arts @ Bosuns, Charlestown, St Austell  PL25 3NJ

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!

Back in the Studio at Last... and I'm a Cover Girl!

 

I'm a Cover Girl!  Very excited to be on the front cover of the latest Jazz UK magazine.   I'm interviewed about Spellbound Stories ahead of my UK tour which is possible due to the support of the Arts Council, but I also owe a huge debt to Jazz Services as they supported my very first tours and are such an important part of the jazz landscape.  They've recently lost some of their funding but there has been such a huge show of support from the jazz community (including this specially set up Facebook Page) for all their excellent work that I'm hoping it will lead to a refresh and reboot of this important organisation that will enable it to carry on doing so much good for both jazz musicians and volunteer promoters.  Anyway, thank you Jazz Services!

And more great news...  It's been a looooong time but I'm finally back in the studio!  Really exciting about recording the new songs.  Have decided to release an EP to start, with the full album coming up in the not too distant future.

While we were in the studio we also recorded an impromptu version of the Kate Bush song, Wuthering Heights.  Really pleased with how that turned out too considering we didn't rehearse and just went for it.  Being spontaneous is fun!

You can hear snippets of the new tracks in the player below.

Free music player widget at ReverbNation.com

BBC Radio 3's "In Tune" and Manchester Jazz Festival

July has been an exciting month!  Nick Ramm and I performed live on BBC Radio 3's "In Tune" programme just before I nipped up to Manchester to perform Spellbound Stories at the Manchester Jazz Festival. We did 3 songs, Forbidden Fruit, No One Can Tell and Little Things (stripped down acoustic versions with just voice and piano) and I chatted to Sean Rafferty about the Spellbound Stories project.

Here's the link:

Juliet on BBC Radio 3's "In Tune" programme

And then it was up to Manchester.  Things didn't start too well as I got absolutely drenched on my way to the pavilion from the train station!  Yes - it was raining...  But due to the lovely warm weather and the even warmer packed audience it wasn't long before the cockles of my heart were well and truly toasty.  We had a great time and it was lovely to perform the songs in such a fabulous setting.

This was recorded immediately after.  A bit sweaty faced but was very pleased to feature in my first Vine!