|
News April 2008 It's been a long time! Partly because I've been seduced by the addictive myspace... So what have I been up to lately..? Well apart from writing blogs on myspace, I've been busy writing even more songs and have finally finished getting material ready for my eagerly awaited third album. Hang on in there - it won't be long now! I've also been playing a few more gigs in Europe. I returned to the Guru Bar in Athens in November and after more sell-out shows was invited back to Greece once more in February this year - this time to open an exciting new international music venue called Gazarte located in the heart of the new, fashionable district of Athens. And as mentioned below, I was part of the Stimmenfang Festival in Nuremburg, Germany in October alongside top international artists including UK singers Norma Winstone and Jacqui Dankworth. The band and I played in a wonderful club housed in the former bunker of a castle that has the accolade of being the oldest jazz club in Europe. Apparently the first singer to perform there was Ella Fitgerald! It was an amazing experience. Our live performance was also recorded for German radio. After 2 very successful concerts at the beginning of 2005, I am returning once again to Russia next month to perform as a guest with a local band in the towns of Ufa and Orenburg. I had such a warm and welcoming experience last time that I'm really looking forward to it. Bye for now! May 2007 I've been busy writing songs recently and have just about finished writing the songs for my next album. Other news... I made a three-night appearance at a fantastic club in Athens called the Guru Bar and am booked to to back there at the end of the year. Also, March saw my debut performance in Germany at a university near Dusseldorf. My band and I will be going back to Germany in October for the Stimmenfang Festival. Another first was the Isle of Wight Festival in April. I appeared on the bill alongside some wonderful artists including Norma Winstone, Terry Callier and Dennis Rollins. And if you're in London on the 16th June, I'll be performing at the Chelsea Festival - hope to see you there! January 2007 HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope that 2007 has been treating you all very well so far. It's been a quiet start to the year for me. I've been concentrating on more songwriting and practising my guitar! It's a slow process but I know I'll get there... eventually... I've also recently broken into the world of broadcasting - something that's always been on my wishlist... In December, Ian Shaw asked me to stand in for him on his regular Tuesday night slot on BBC Radio Kent that's transmitted across the whole of the south east. I had so much fun and I think it went pretty well as they've since asked me back twice! I'll be on again this Tuesday 16th January at 9pm as guest presenter with the legendary Roger Day (of Radio Caroline fame). You can listen to the show for one week on the BBC's iplayer here. October 2006 Have just given my website a little bit of a facelift... not major exactly surgery... probably more like a shot of botox! Flowers, butterflies and pink - could it be more girlie? Anyway, things have been quite busy on the gig front. Had some great gigs including opening for Georgie Fame at the Imperial Wharf Jazz Festival in September. What a legend! And coming up, I'll be appearing on the same stage as US a cappella group Take 6 - winners of countless grammy awards - as part of the London Jazz Festival - can't wait! Also don't miss a rare London appearance of brilliant Greek saxophonist Dimitri Vassilakos at the Pizza Express in November. He'll be appearing as part of the Candid Records Week and has asked me to join him as his special guest... July 2006 I attended the
BBC Jazz Awards this month - unfortunately only as a member of the
audience rather than as a nominee - but what a fabulous night! My
very first singing teacher and an inspiring, wonderful musician,
Anita Wardell won The Best of Jazz award. Very well deserved. And
there were appearances by not one but two absolute legends - Quincy
Jones and Michael Caine! May 2006 Performed for some lovely audiences over the last couple of months - especially at the Grey Lady in Tunbridge Wells. Almost thought I wasn't going to make it after being held up by traffic but got there just in time! I attended the Parliamentary Jazz Awards earlier this month. Lots of well-deserved award winners and guest presenters including "man of the moment" John Prescott! And I'm going guitar shopping soon. I started taking lessons a few months ago and think it's time to upgrade from my battered old plywood job to something more professional. Looking forward to performing with my guitar on stage but think it's probably some way off... March 2006 I've joined the myspace revolution! It's a really great site where you can listen to (and download in some cases) really fantastic, mostly unsigned music. If you're a music lover, it's definitely worth checking out. Other news... I now have a wonderful agent - Bethan from the B3 jazz agency. It's a new agency dealing with only top jazz acts and is affiliated with the Vortex and the award winning independent jazz label, Babel. Other artists represented by B3 are Christine Tobin, Tom Arthurs, Jacqui Dankworth and Acoustic Triangle so I'm in very good company! February 2006 I'm really looking forward to my Delicious Chemistry Tour which starts at the end of next month. My first date is at the Vortex - my first time at the new venue. I'll also be performing at the Pizza on the Park, the 606 club, and other venues outside London including Oxford, Stratford-upon-Avon and Maidstone. At the end of December I was fortunate to be a guest of Ned Sherrin's Loose Ends programme for Radio 4. It was a fantastic experience with other guests including Jimmy Carr, Carol Thatcher and the wonderful Catherine Tate. I sang a live version of "Unicorn Dream" accompanied by Carl Orr on guitar. It was a little scary but great fun! In January I was back again at BBC Radio 2, this time for an interview on Courtney Pine's Jazz Crusade show. There's also been more airplay on Radio 2 as Humphrey Lyttleton played a track on his "Best of Jazz" programme. Hopefully there's a lot more to come... December 2005 It's been quite a year! Highlights have been:
Anyway, hope you've all had a great year. I'm just now finalising the dates for my Delicious Chemistry Tour next year - so looking forward to seeing you soon! Wishing you all a wonderful 2006 and let's hope that it's the best year yet! October 2005 The band and I had a wonderful time at the Delicious Chemistry Launch held at the Pizza Express Jazz Club in Soho. Having cuban violinist Omar Puente add his amazing playing to the mix made it even more special! Reviews for the album have been excellent, including a 4-star review from Jazzwise! Read reviews here. Other news is that I recorded vocals on a track for Courtney Pine's new album Resistance. It's due out later this year and I'm on the "hidden" track - a song called "Just Can't Say Goodbye". I've heard a few of the tracks and it's going to be an excellent album. Make sure you go out and buy it! |
|
August 2005 It's here! My new album Delicious Chemistry has arrived hot off the press and is now available here. It's been a hectic couple of months. The 6-week Detox programme is over. It was an amazing experience and I've lost a few pounds but more importantly have a lot more energy and really want to continue this more healthy and active lifestyle. More good news is that I'll be back on your screens soon because BBC2 have decided to show the Jazz Britannia season including the live concert where I performed as a guest with Courtney Pine's band at the Barbican. With a bill that includes Carleen Anderson, Talvin Singh and Maxi Jazz as well as the wonderful Courtney Pine, it's definitely worth tuning in for. And there's even more good news as my drummer Seb Rochford's album with his band Polar Bear has been nominated for a Mercury Music Prize! I know it's unlikely that a jazz artist will win but it's such an achievement for him to have received the nomination - and very well deserved too. Anyway, although the official release is in October, there'll be a Pre-Launch event at the Pizza Express, Soho, London at lunchtime on Sunday 21 August. Hope to see you there! June 2005 The new album is almost ready! I'm really pleased with it and feel extremely fortunate to have had contributions from such wonderful musicians as Byron Wallen, Kate Williams, Omar Puente, Roger Beaujolais, Carl Orr and Courtney Pine. And of course the lovely Seb Rochford and Tom Barlow have joined me once again with their excellent drum and bass playing. Listen to clips here March 2005 Taking part in Courtney Pine's performance for the finale of BBC4's Jazz Britannia was every bit as exciting as I imagined it would be. It was such an honour to be on the stage with such excellent musicians and I also had great fun. The concert got great reviews with a 5-star view in the Guardian - a rare occurence! Almost without pausing for breath I was off to Russia to perform at what turned out to be 2 sell-out concerts in 2 different cities and a whirlwind schedule of TV & radio interviews and press conferences. Russia was definitely an experience - the environment and culture were very different from what I'm used to and it was wonderful to be able to see things from another perspective if even for a short while. The weather was very cold but the people were extraordinarily warm and welcoming. And I've just returned from a trip to New York where I played at Sweet Rhythm - formerly the legendary Sweet Basil's. Again, it was snowing but the local band I played with were fantastic and the response from the audience was really wonderful! The most exciting thing for me is that I've started recording my second album! It's probably going to be quite a slow process but I'm so glad to have made a start on it with the help of my Angels. February 2005 It's a bit late
to say Happy New Year but I hope that 2005 has been treating you
well so far... I'll also be braving the cold in Russia as I will be performing two concerts in 2 different cities. I'm sure it's going to be an amazing experience. And last but not least I will be returning to New York to appear at Sweet Rhythm. I'm looking forward to playing with the local rhythm section and appearing at a venue which has seen performances from the likes of Art Blakey, Ahmad Jamal and Abbey Lincoln. Finally, my
song "When You Believe In Love" got through to the finals
of the International
Songwriting Competition. I'm especially pleased because the
jazz entries were judged by US jazz musician Brandford Marsalis
and it was the only song from the UK to be selected in the Jazz
Category from an amazing total of 11,000 entries of all genres. December 2004 My gigs last month at the Pizza Express Freestage (LJF) and at the Stables both went really well. This month, the full band, including saxophonist, Tony Kofi, also did a performance for the Christmas Special at the Inn on the Green, near Oxford, where we received a warm welcome, a very tasty Christmas meal and an enthusiastic response from a wonderful audience. December has been a bit of a departure for me as I've been involved in a play at the National Theatre. No, I'm not treading the boards yet - it's purely a singing role but it's been a great experience. The play is Kwame Kwei-Armah's "Fix Up". It's a wonderful play about race and roots. A must-see! Check out the excellent review at the Guardian website. Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas and lots of good things for 2005 - people, places and experiences... October 2004 I've just returned from an amazing trip to New York! Saw some spectacular performances and met some wonderful people and musicians. Best of all I will be returning in March as I will be peforming at a club called Sweet Rhythm (formerly Sweet Basil's - where all the jazz greats have played) which is in the heart of the very cool Greenwich Village! I'm really looking forward to that and I'm also looking forward to performing again in November at the Pizza on the Park as well as bringing my Nina Simone Tribute to Cleo Laine & John Dankworth's Venue at the Stables in Milton Keynes. Last month I attended the London Jazz Festival launch party and had the pleasure to meet the gorgeous stage ane television actress Diane Parish (The Bill, Eastenders) who told me personally how much she absolutely loved my album! I also found I had another admirer of my music in Courtney Pine who played one of my tracks on his Radio 2 show in August. November is
really going to be a busy month as I'll also be appearing on the
Pizza Express Freestage in the ballroom as part of the BBC Radio
3 London Jazz Festival. For more details go to the Live
page. July 2004 Last night I
attended the BBC Jazz Awards. It was an excellent event and I was
especially pleased that my drummer Seb Rochford, who had been nominated
in both the Best Band and Rising Star categories received the "Rising
Star" award! We were also treated to some outstanding music
including Soweto Kinch, Polar Bear (Seb's band), F-ire Collective
and a surprise performance by Wynton Marsalis. For the last
couple of months, my main focus has been songwriting and I'm happy
to say that I've almost finished writing the songs for my next album.
I'm looking forward to getting into the studio and getting them
recorded. Will keep you posted... April 2004 This month sees the start of my UK Tour which includes my tribute to Nina Simone. I was also a guest this week on Sound Radio - a local radio station in East London. I was interviewed by Stella whose show is called All That Jazz and she also indulged me by playing my favourite artists which included Dianne Reeves, Ella Fitzgerald and of course Nina Simone. And there have
been a couple more good reviews
for the CD. One in April's Jazz Journal International and an absolutely
glowing review in the current Jazz at Ronnie Scott's Magazine. February 2004 I've had a busy couple of months performing as well as writing and working towards my next project. I had such a great time at the Pizza Express. It's one of the best jazz clubs in London and with wonderful sound and a full house, the night was really special for me. I'll be back at the Pizza Express on 1 June as part of the 33 Records showcase playing opposite the superb pianist, Kate Williams. I was also lucky enough to perform at a great new club in Sheffield, the One Eleven Club. They treated us all so well and although the snowy conditions affected our second night there, the sell-out audience for our first night meant that there was a great atmosphere and we all had a fantastic time. I'm now looking forward to our next UK tour due to start in April where I'll be performing a tribute to the late Nina Simone. I've already started including some of her songs in my set and have had excellent feedback. I'm also hoping to go into the studio soon to record a demo of some of these songs along with a song I've written in memory of the wonderful Nina. Look out soon for sample tracks on the Music page! December 2003
October 2003 Supporting Ron Carter at the QEH earlier this week was a real honour. And watching their wonderful performance later on was an extra treat. This was the first of a few dates that are part of my UK Mini-Tour in Oct/Nov. The tour is being supported by Arts Council England and once again I'm very grateful for their support of my music. I was interviewed by Jazz Views this month. Apart from the competition on this website they are also running a competition to win one of my CDs. You can read the interview and enter the competion here. And just found out that my CD has been one of the top 10 best-selling albums at Ray's Jazz @ Foyles for the last couple of months and is currently at number 13 in the jazz charts at Tower Records Piccadilly. It's great to feel that all the hard work has paid off! August 2003 I've just returned from Italy where I played in a really magical village called Teggiano as part of the 2003 Teggiano Jazz Festival. The audience watched the outside concert from it's setting in the ampitheatre of a medieval castle - the stage backdrop being absolutely stunning panoramic views and a beautiful sunset. A truly amazing experience! I played with local Italian musicians who were great fun to work with and I'm hoping to return to Italy with some more dates later in the year. I'm really pleased about the attention the album has received so far. Apart from a lovely article and review in Jazzwise magazine this month, there's also been great review on the Jazz Views website and I'll be doing an interview for them in October. As for airplay, the album has already been played on Jazz FM, Radio 2 (Humprey Lyttleton describing it as "an excellent album"!), BBC Radio Wales and on stations in Quebec, Canada and even Indonesia! Other news is that I'll be doing another special FREE performance/CD signing - this time at Tower Records, Piccadilly Circus on the 4th September - 6-7pm. |
|
June 2003 I've almost finished the tour now and I've had an absolutely fantastic time! The band have played brilliantly throughout - and I'm particularly grateful to Kate Williams who stepped in to cover for Mike while he was on tour in Japan. Our drummer, Seb Rochford, has also been nominated for a BBC Jazz Award in the Rising Star category! For me, the highlight of the tour was the gig at the Gordon Arms, Bedford. I've never seen an audience so enthusiastic! It was great to have such a warm and encouraging response. You can read the review here. The UK release date for the album has been confirmed as July 14th when my CD will be available in all good record stores but you can pre-order now at Amazon. And if you're around, come and see me at Ray's Jazz @ Foyles in London on 10th July at 6pm where I'll be doing a special free performance and CD signing. |
|
May 2003 Just want to say a big thank you to those of you who came to support me at my album launch at the Pizza on the Park on Sunday. It was a sell-out success! Apologies to those of you who were unable to book tickets and especially those who were turned away at the door. Apart from the Clarendon Hotel in Greenwich next Saturday, I am also arranging another London date for a performance and album signing at Ray's Jazz Record Shop at Foyles in July. Keep checking the Live page for more info. Also wanted to say thanks to the many people who kindly bought my CD on the night. Please don't forget to sign my guestbook where you can let me know what you think of it. And special thanks to my friend, Sara Houghton, whose help with the sale of the CDs and the collection of the mailing list was invaluable. |
|
April 2003 We have just finished recording my debut album (Aphrodite's Child - 33 Records) and it went very well! Unfortunately due to a minor accident, Jim Mullen was unable to play on the recording this time. But rising star saxophonist, Tony Kofi, who is just about to tour with Andrew Hill, joined my trio for several tracks and the vibe was fantastic - we all really enjoyed the session. We've also started the Jazz Services Tour, which has been timed to support the release of my album. I really enjoyed performing at Cliffs Pavilion in Southend where the audience was wonderful and I'm looking forward to the CD Launch Party which is going to be held on 11th May at the Pizza on the Park in Knightsbridge. My band wasn't able to support Tania Maria in March but we have been booked to support American bass player Ron Carter, when he comes over in September 2003, at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. It will be a great honour to share the stage with one of the all-time greatest jazz musicians. |
| Jan
2003
Thanks to those of you who came to see me support Carmen Lundy at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. It was such an honour to support one of my favourite jazz vocalists and it was an amazing experience. And best of all, it went so well that the promoter has asked me back - this time to support Brazilian singer, Tania Maria. Last year was a hectic one with lots of songwriting as well as organising the recording of my debut CD as well as as UK tour in the spring to support its release. The good news is that my application to London Arts for help with funding for the recording has been successful! Thanks also to Sophron Partners and in particular, Chris Cartwright, for additional financial support. So my album should be available in time for the launch at the Pizza on the Park in Knightsbridge, London on the 11th of May - Hope to see you all there! |
