Gabriella Swallow and her Urban Family - Calais Jungle Crisis (Part 1)

Gabriella Swallow

Note to reader - This was such a large sketching job that I have split the concert into 5 parts.
(Parts 2-5 will be published in due course)

Ian Shaw

Gabriella Swallow - cello
David Maric - piano
Rakhi Singh - violin
Bartoz Glowacki - accordion
Pedro Segundo - percussion
Sally Silver - soprano (Part 2)
Jeremy Silver - piano (Part 2)
Victoria Hamilton - voice (Part 5)
Zara Hudson-Kozdoj - cello
Graeme Flowers Quartet (Part 3)
Ian Shaw
Iyatra Quartet (Part 4)
Lore Lixenberg - mezzo soprano
Richard Thomas - piano
Ruth McGinley - piano (Part 5)
Judith Owen - voice (Part 5)
Mariam Ruestchi - viola

Judith Owen

I was unable to sketch the musicians below -
Will Roberts - percussion
Cerys Jones - violin
Liz Cooney - violin
Helena Smart - violin
Clifton Harrison - viola
Jonny Byers - cello
Rich Philips - cello

Date - 12th July 2016
Venue - The Forge, Camden, UK

David Maric

A diverse and eclectic cellist, Gabriella Swallow has emerged as one of the leading performers on the contemporary music and jazz scene. She is a member of singer/songwriter Judith Owen's band and in the Gwilym Simcock Quintet. On the 12th July she celebrated some of her most exciting musical collaborations in an evening of live music, covering all the genres she loves to play, with her very special 'urban family of musicians'. All of the proceeds of this event supported the Calais Jungle Crisis

The evening at The Forge, Camden directly benefitted the Phone Credit For Refugees And Displaced People charity. This group actively saves lives on a daily basis, by allowing individuals to request their top-up on their page, and they are able to have the all important life-line.... CONTACT with their families and each other.
   

Bartoz Glowacki

Donate by visiting https://mydonate.bt.com/charities/phonecreditforrefugees ...for UK tax payers click gift aid for 20% extra.  phone.credit.1@gmail.com for non UK tax payer.

A Message from Gabriella, "Please consider donating especially if you couldn't make the gig. This is essential to keep refugees in touch with their families and aid workers."

Rakhi Singh

Bulgarian Tunes (Maric/Singh/Glowacki/Segundo/Swallow)

Hay stack, back cracked as you are bridged over the straw. Head, blood rushing and toes to the sky. The festival beats around you as evening moves into night, the heat of the golden hay still warming from below. The burn of the earth vibrates in your body, a jumping bean. Revellers dance in flickering circles and you lie high above them in the dark. I am king of the world, king of the summer.

AL.

Richard Thomas

Lore Lixenberg

Mariam Ruestchi

Zara Hudson-Kozdoj

Pedro Segundo

Judith Owen - Ebb and Flow

Judith Owen

Never have I seen an audience purr like they did in the hands of singer-songwriter Judith Owen at Bush Hall (16/03/2015). You expect applause, a wolf whistle or two, maybe even a heckle if you rub them up the wrong way. The packed out crowd sat firmly in Owen's lap, eager to be stroked by her tender and heartfelt voice. Judith Owen is no Blofeld from James Bond fame but we felt as deliciously helpless as his unnamed pussy in You Only Live Twice.

Pedro Segundo - percussion

This was the end of her Ebb & Flow album tour, encompassing a group of songs that evoke the spirit of the halcyon days of the great 70s troubadours. There were songs about love and loss, pain and joy, dreams and despair. She touches upon the tightrope walk of the human condition with honesty and tenderness. Joining on her stage was a stellar line up of musicians with Leland Sklar (bass), Russ Kunkel (drums) and a man I have frequently drawn on the London circuit Pedro Segundo (percussion).

Leland Sklar - bass

Segundo was described as 'easy on the eye' by Judith Owen and his Dreamboat Willie demeanour hadn't gone unnoticed amongst the crowd although the man himself squirmed in modesty a few times. It was he who led us into 'In the Summertime' which had a rich and creamy consistency, rather than the hopping cricket of Mungo Jerry here we were lifted on one of those soft breezes that doesn't cool but elevates, invariably to higher planes.

Russ Kunkel - drums

'Under the door' caught the imagination not only for it's narrative but for it's title. There is never an opportunity to comment on the title of songs for it is both a very personal decision by the musician and a shot in the dark. We sat in those shadow and the light did indeed peak under the aforementioned door. What started as finger tips of golden luminance crept in lengthening phalanxes and eventually cracked into tumbling sparks. These burgeoning stars came alive before our eyes and fizzed like fireflies in the blackness, it was a pulse, stronger than any electrical current.

There is a simplicity about Judith Owen's delivery, as well as putting the crowd at ease you could feel the tightness as they strained forward to listen. She squeezed the meaning from her words, gently plucking out meanings by capturing time itself. There was an economy with such a precious commodity and she never expelled it recklessly, nor wasted. It felt like time would never run out.

Throughout May and June 2015 Judith Owen will be opening for Bryan Ferry from Belfast to Bristol and plenty in between.

AL.