Tomorrow night, the Festival’s opening Gala Jazz Voice puts the art of song in the spotlight. Guy Barker leads some of the world’s most distinctive jazz voices through timeless classics such as Frank Sinatra’s That’s Life, Dionne Warwick’s Walk on By, and Etta James’ At Last, in a sparkling evening that tells many stories, finds some surprising musical highways and byways, and above all celebrates the expressive richness of the human voice. This year’s concert will be hosted by actor Dougray Scott, known for films such as Mission Impossible II, Ever After and Enigma. We’ve just added Hamish Stuart to the stellar line-up of vocalists, which includes Jacqui Dankworth, Georgie Fame, Noel McKoy China Moses, Gretchen Parlato, Charlie Wood and Nikki Yanofsky, plus special guests to be announced on the night.
On Saturday afternoon, join us at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in a tasty fusion of food and music, as gourmet chef Ivan Vautier creates a meal in front of the audience, echoed by the music of saxophonist Andy Sheppard and percussionist Michele Rabbia. Andy Sheppard goes on to perform with his group Movements in Colour at the Rose Theatre in Kingston that evening.
On Saturday night, tickets for both Brad Mehldau and Esperanza Spalding are completely sold out. If you’ve missed your chance to see Esperanza this time, you can catch her next April, as she returns to play a one-off UK concert at the Barbican. Over at the Royal Festival Hall, there are a handful of choir seats left for Herbie Hancock. Herbie plays a second show on Sunday. There are some seats available at £45, and we’ve just released some extra seats at £35.
Catch Grammy-nominated Terence Blanchard and Blue Note pianist Robert Glasper at the Barbican on Sunday night – tickets for this are selling fast. Fellow Blue Note artist Jason Moran pops back to London after a sell-out show at Ronnie Scott’s last week (read 4* review here) as a member of Charles Lloyd’s brilliant quartet a couple of days later. The roll call of pianists continues with Latin jazz hero Chucho Valdes, stunning virtuoso Martial Solal – limited tickets left - and straight-ahead jazz pianist with no holds barred, Jeremy Monteiro.
If you’re here to see the vocal greats, you can catch Miles Davis’ muse, Juliette Greco, the peerless Cleo Laine, who returns to the Barbican after a show-stopping performance back in July and, from the next generation, rising star Nikki Yanofsky, who plays a sold out show at the Purcell Room. If you didn’t manage to get your tickets in time, don’t fret - Nikki will be back in January, to play the Queen Elizabeth Hall.
If you’re looking for something a little bit different, look out for Hidden Orchestra, who bring deep and soulful grooves to the Queen Elizabeth Hall, to open for Murcof and Francesco Tristano; a boundary-smashing blend of electronics, jazz and baroque.
Looking to learn a little bit more about the music? Look out for Way Into the Way Out - a concise history of jazz according to Shabaka Hutchings and Soweto Kinch, two of the hippest artists on the scene. Follow our Hear Me Talkin’ To Ya pre-concert talk series, and our new strand in this year’s Festival - An audience with – which gives you the rare chance to meet some of this year’s Festival artists in an intimate setting, as they take you through some of their techniques, speak about their careers to date, and answer your questions.
Here’s a list of shows that are sold out, and selling fast:
Sold out:
Hugh Masekela, Royal Festival Hall
Paco De Lucia, Royal Festival Hall
Esperanza Spalding, Queen Elizabeth Hall
Palle Mikkelborg & Marilyn Mazur, Purcell Room
Marilyn Mazur, Jazz for Kids, Purcell Room
Nikki Yanofsky, Purcell Room
Polar Bear, Westminster Reference Library
Ian Shaw & Juliet Roberts, 606
Sonny Rollins, Barbican
AfroCubism, Barbican
Chris Potter, Ronnie Scotts
Natalie Williams: Big Sing, Barbican
Brad Mehldau, Barbican
Nearing sell out:
Herbie Hancock, Royal Festival Hall
Billy Jenkins & the BBC Big Band
The Benny Goodman Quartet and Beyond, Purcell Room
Strayhorn the Songwriter, Purcell Room
Ute Lemper, Queen Elizabeth Hall
Brass Jaw Workshop, Blue Room, Spirit Level at Royal Festival Hall
Arun Ghosh Workshop, Blue Room, Spirit Level at Royal Festival Hall
John Etheridge, Artsdepot
Yes, some great names here. Would love to be at "Strayhorn the Songwriter." Herbie Hancock is pretty disappointing these days... At least he was dull at Monterey two years ago. Esperanza is great!
ReplyDelete