Jazz Voice: Celebrating a Century of Song
BARBICAN HALL
Friday 12 November, 7.30pm
Tickets: £15/20/25/30
Featuring Charlie Wood, China Moses, Georgie Fame, Gretchen Parlato, Jacqui Dankworth, Nikki Yanofsky, Noel McKoy + very special guests
Musical Director Guy Barker
Hosted by Dougray Scott
This dazzling celebration of song marks the official start of the London Jazz Festival. Under the masterful direction of conductor/arranger/trumpeter Guy Barker, Jazz Voice brings together a stunning range of vocal stars from the worlds of jazz, rock and soul, whose interpretations of songwriting milestones are set to a grand orchestral score.
Scottish actor Dougray Scott, known for films such as Mission Impossible II, Ever After and Enigma, and currently playing Arthur Miller in a film about Marilyn Monroe with Michelle Williams, has just been announced to host the night. A couple of other very special guests are due to join the stellar cast on the night – this opening night gala event is not to be missed!
Jazz Voice places the art of song in the spotlight. The idea is simple. Take the year of the Festival and roll back down the decades to find the anniversaries, the stories and the musical landmarks that define their time. Bring a contrasting group of the world's great singers together to work on a series of brand new arrangements with Guy Barker and a handpicked ensemble, and you have an evening that tells many stories, finds some surprising musical highways and byways, and above all celebrates the magical lyric and the expressive richness of the human voice.
Freestage 6pm – 7pm: Emma Smith
Smoky-voiced jazz singer Emma Smith brings a sassy sense of cool to classic material from the Great American Songbook and her own original songs.
SELECTED QUOTES
"Backed by Guy Barker’s terrific big band, one superb singer after another came on stage. Three hours of magnificent entertainment.” The Daily Telegraph on Jazz Voice 2008
“Start with a bang, they always say, and the London Jazz Festival certainly achieved that. Jazz Voice, the Barbican’s opening-night cavalcade, got the crowd’s juices flowing immediately.” Evening Standard on Jazz Voice 2009
“Emerging in volcanic soul-diva eruptions that rattle the glassware she was intelligent, engaging, and, on a very slow What a Difference a Day Makes, revealed considerable emotional depth.” The Guardian on China Moses at Ronnie Scott's, 2009
“'The captivating and deeply musical young vocalist bedazzled, as expected. Her luminous version of Herbie Hancock’s Butterfly, for one, was an apex moment of the weekend.” Jazz Times on Gretchen Parlato at Monterey Jazz Festival
“She can do a melancholy ballad and a gospel number with the same relaxed, easy mastery. Her timing is terrific, and she can pack a punch without making a big noise.” The Telegraph on Jacqui Dankworth at the Pizza Express Jazz Club, 2009
“Yanofsky rips through Ella Fitzgerald improvisations dating back 60 years not only note for note but inflection for inflection, with every once-spontaneous detail nailed as if she had been studying for an exam.” The Guardian on Nikki Yanofsky at the Jazz Club Soho, 2010
“'A heavily blues-inflected voice had the gravely rasp of a young Bobby Womack, the well-regulated falsetto of an old Eddie Kendricks and, above all, an ability to invest each song he sang with adequate emotion.” BBC Review on Noel McKoy
Part of the EFG International Excellence Series
This concert will be broadcast by BBC Radio 3 in Performance on 3 on Monday 15 November
To book: www.barbican.org.uk / 020 7638 8891