Art Themen - Riverside Arts Jazz

Art Themen

Art Themen - saxophones
Terence Collie - piano
Stuart Barker - bass
Rha Stranges - drums

23rd December 2018
Riverside Arts Jazz, Sunbury on Thames, TW16 5QF

Terence Collie topped a fantastic year for his team at Mood Indigo and Riverside Arts Jazz with a night of glowing embers and perpetual fire from Art Themen. A legend on the UK Jazz scene it seems Themen's energy and verve show no signs of losing their spark, even on such a cold and inclement night as this. Mince pies and mulled wine only added to the half-time ambience, and it is always a welcoming room for any jazz fan. As someone who enjoys the movement and theatre as much as the sound of jazz, it is a pleasure to see the band lit with sensitivity and with an eye for the dramatic.

Stuart Barker

Riverside Arts Jazz is a monthly night fronted by pianist Terence Collie and vocalist Janet McCunn. It is but one jewel in the crown of Collie and McCunn's Mood Indigo empire, and is appreciated throughout West London, Surrey and beyond. Their repertoire includes the music of top international musicians alongside some of the finest players on the UK scene. They have just launched a new Central London jazz satellite at the 1901 Arts Club in Waterloo.

Terence Collie

Terrence Collie has been playing music since he was 10 years old. He has done his formal studies with the Open University and Berklee and has been lucky enough to play with a whole host of musicians over the years (Bobby Wellins, Gilad Atzmon, Dave O'Higgins, Simon Allen, Mornington Lockett, Roberto Manzin, Nigel Hitchcock, Brandon Allen, Vasilis Xenopoulos, Duncan Eagles, Art Themen, Phil Meadows, Tony Woods, Allison Neale, Graeme Flowers, Quentin Collins, Gabriel Garrick, Mark Nightingale, Gareth Lockrane, Jim Mullen, Nigel Price, Femi Temowo, Jo Harrop, Aisling Iris, Sarah Dowling, Noemi Nuti and Anita Wardell). He released his fourth album TC3+ in March 2018.

Rha Stranges

Howard Blake - The Snowman Cometh

Howard Blake

19th December 2018
A World in London, Resonance FM, London, UK

Walking In the Air with legendary composer Howard Blake OBE on this A World in London! 
Click: https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/a-world-in-london-19th-december-2018/

Christmas wouldn’t be complete without The Snowman, and sure enough when I darted into Sainsbury’s with AWIL producer Sophie Darling just before this week’s show, his smiling face was on the front cover of the Radio Times. Later in the studio I asked Sophie when The Snowman will be on TV, and her prompt reply was ‘when isn’t it on TV?!’. The Snowman’s enduring popularity has stretched beyond three decades now and it’s Howard Blake’s aural interpretation of Raymond Brigg’s 1978 book that has sealed it’s place in popular culture. But Howard is no one-hit wonder guy – you’ll know his music from films like A Month in the Country, The Duellists (his personal favourite), as well as collaborative works with pop idols like David Bowie for The Hunger and Queen for Flash Gordon. From big & small screen to classical works, Howard Blake is omnipresent in the soundtrack to our lives, and began his career as a session musician at Abbey Road Studios, playing piano for Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, and Cilla Black. His passion for cinema and gift for creating glorious & epic compositions is perennial, and now in his 80th year, Howard remains as vibrant as ever, conducting The Snowman at The Royal Albert Hall today, and as a ‘jobbing musician’, about to embark on his first viola concerto commission. Howard says ‘’Music is the mathematics of emotion'’, and in each of his score sheets all the numbers add up into genius mood-swinging equations. As for The Snowman, a wordless book that was given the musical & lyrical kiss of life by Howard back in 1982, catch the stage version at The Peacock Theatre till New Year’s Eve! 

19/12/18 – AWIL 191  Online: https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/a-world-in-london-19th-december-2018/ Production & pics by Norman Druker, Sophie Darling, Lucas Keen, and artist Alban Low. 

Have a magical festive season & we’ll speak again on JANUARY 9th! Look out for the AWIL Album Wonderland 2018 – Top 50 global CDs handpicked by [http://#AWorldinLondon – #TheSoundofDiverseLondon 

Lydian Collective - High 555

Sophie Alloway

Lydian Collective
Aaron ‘Lazslo’ Wheeler - keys
Todd Baker - guitar
Ida Hollis - bass
Sophie Alloway - drums

5th December 2018
Jazz Café, Camden, London, UK

Aaron Wheeler

Lydian Collective support jazz legend Bill Cobham at Camden's throbbing live spot the Jazz Café. Unveiling a new single 'High 555' and building on the success of their debut album ‘Adventure’, (which has generated over 1 million album streams on Spotify in just 6 months).

Their debut album helped to put them firmly on the map of the instrumental Jazz Funk Fusion scene, and leading onto recent appearances at festivals such as Cheltenham Jazz, ‘So What’s Next’ Festival in The Netherlands, Cambridge Jazz Festival and plays on BBC Radio 3’s Late Junction show; as well as features on Spotify’s ‘The State of Jazz’ and ‘Fusion Fest’ playlists.

Todd Baker

After the intricate and rhythmically complex ‘Adventure’ album, they have now shifted gears on this single with a hi-octane stomping four to the floor danceable fun and funky groove, led by a juicy distorted synth bass line!

Ida Hollis

‘High 555’ takes the listener through the usual compositional twists and turns that have made Lydian Collective tunes so popular, but this time the focus is on a solid groove to get the body moving! This single is available here https://lydiancollective.bandcamp.com/album/high-555 and will be part of an EP, which is due to be released in Spring next year.

Eliza Shaddad - Futurenik Creative

Eliza Shaddad

5th December 2018
A World in London, Resonance FM, London, UK

Enigmatic singer songwriter Eliza Shaddad on this A World in London! 

Click: https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/a-world-in-london-5th-december-2018/

When a musician wrestles with the capital’s rush hour traffic  to reach AWIL and arrives with 3 guitars plus an assortment of bags filled with pedals, plectrums, and leads, it’s a sign of complete dedication and devotion, plus good practice for her European tour which kicks off in Hamburg this week! Eliza’s tenacity was echoed in her determination to complete her album after two years of dodging obstacles and challenges that many independent artists face today. The resulting debut, ‘Future’, came out in October on Beatnik Creative, and is a magnificent debut, criss-crossing tempos & styles, built around themes of love & life that connect with everyone. Eliza Shaddad has taken the personal and translated it into universal, selflessly sharing her joys & sadness, which she interprets with heartfelt passion when singing in her beautiful, emotive voice. She’s vulnerable, sincere, and authentic, baring her soul and digging deep into the depths of anguish, but finds uplifting moments, and of course hope in ‘Future’. Between recording tracks with Clean Bandit of ‘Rather Be’ fame, or supporting Turin Breaks on tour, Eliza is a fearless champion for women’s empowerment, part of the new wave of young feminists like actress Emma Watson, and this activism, along with her remarkable musical talent drew her to the attention of Sounds Like London, the Mayor’s first music month festival in June. Eliza is a founding member of ‘Girls, Girls, Girls’, the feisty collective creating new platforms for women in music, and she’s also involved with the Orchid Project, which aims to end FGM worldwide. We’ve caught Eliza Shaddad somewhere in the early stages of her journey in music, where the personal is political, and where she hasn’t yet capitalised on her Sudanese roots, but is already ‘successful’. Beyond ‘Future’, we reckon there are some extraordinarily exciting times ahead! www.elizashaddad.com

5/12/18 – AWIL 189  Online: https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/a-world-in-london-5th-december-2018/ Production & pics by Norman Druker, Sophie Darling, Lucas Keen, and artist Alban Low. Also this week visionary composer Shirley Thompson at SOAS Radio, click: https://www.mixcloud.com/SOASradio/awil-281-shirley-thompson/ Next week The Sages at 4pm at SOAS Radio, and Peyman Heydarian at 6.30pm on Resonance. #AWorldinLondon –  #TheSoundofDiverseLondon #ConnectingCulturesThruMusic – twelve years - #DJRitu! Live on Wednesdays 6.30pm Resonance 104.4  www.resonancefm.com & 4pm SOAS Radio  mixlr.com/soasradio 

Two sides of Sara Dowling

Sara Dowling

Joe the Hat presents

Sara Dowling - voice
Gabriel Latchin - piano
Dario di Lecce - bass
Steve Brown - drums
Vasilis Xenopoulos - saxophones

3rd December 2018
The Exchange, Twickenham, UK

Steve Brown

Jazz aficionado Joe the Hat presented a high calibre night of entertainment and music at The Exchange in Twickenham this week. Sara Dowling has long been a darling of the West London set with regular appearances at Twickenham Jazz Club, and it is a testament to her appeal that both recent local gigs have been sell outs. She shared the front of the Exchange stage with popular saxophonist Vasilis Xenopoulos.

Gabriel Latchin

Sara Dowling is undoubtedly making an impact on the UK jazz scene. Her passion for both music and film from the 1930’s and 40’s inspires and informs her choice of material and her performances. Those who have seen her shows saluting Jerome Kern, George Shearing and their contemporaries will attest that she is an absolute delight. Sara has just released her second album, “Two Sides of Sara”, a duo record featuring the piano of Gabriel Latchin and the unique joy of Bill Mudge's organ playing.

Vasilis Xenopoulos

Saxophonist and composer Vasilis Xenopoulos is one of the most accomplished Greek jazz musicians of his generation. London became his permanent home after graduating from the infamous Berklee College of Music, and gradually established himself as one of London’s up and coming jazz saxophonists. He has worked with some of the best musicians in the British jazz scene, such as Jim Mullen, Steve Waterman, Alan Barnes, Derek Nash, Bruce Adams, Martin Shaw, Nigel Price, Ray Gelato, and many others. On an international level, he has appeared with a variety of top performers such as sensational pianists Hiromi, and Jason Lindner.

Dario di Lecce

The Exchange is a newly built venue owned by Richmond Council and leased to St Mary’s University under an agreement that the building will be used for a mixture of University use, Community Group use and public events. The building has a 300 seat theatre, 5 studio rooms, a cafe and a bar. It is the building directly opposite the entrance to Twickenham station.

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OuterNation - The Refreshment Room

Jason Eli

OuterNation
Jason Eli
Leon Jean-marie
Future World Beats (Amar Saeed)

1st December 2018
The Refreshment Room, Stratford, London, E15 4BQ

Future World Beats presents "OuterNation" a monthly night based in East London bringing together musicians, Djs and artists to explore the best music from all corners of the globe. OuterNation represents freedom of expression in a global village. Resident DJ's FWB, Leon Jean-Marie & Jason Eli take you on a musical journey from South America to Asia, Africa to the Middle East and many places in between.

The Refreshment Room is a retro inspired bar in the heart of Stratford City. A chilled environment with interesting decor, which includes a wall of vinyls, Banksy inspired artwork, retro movie posters and one of the best beer gardens in Stratford.

Jason Eli's music covers breaks, funk, reggae, House, Garage & good grooves. He's remixed and produced major artists including Whitney Houston and Mos Def. Born in London, Eli's big break happened after sending his DJ mix cassette to Ministry of Sound, and he was immediately made their Saturday night resident DJ. Always on a journey for new sounds Eli formed Albino Productions with top UK producer Amar Saeed, with a mission to fuse eastern beats with electronica. They played weekly at “Swaraj” (based in London’s seminal Blue note club) which was one of the first clubs to play fresh World music that could come from both New York and New Delhi. Jason Eli was heavily involved in the nurturing of the UK Garage and UK Urban scenes during the late 1990’, producing and remixing five UK national top 40 hits in that time.

Leon Jean-Marie

London-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Leon Jean-Marie caused a stir in 2008 when he debuted on Island Records with an R&B- and funk-influenced style of pop that often drew comparisons to Prince. Jean-Marie's debut album, Bent Out of Shape (2008), featuring production work by Mark Ronson and Bloodshy, was preceded by the release of the singles "Bed of Nails" and "Bring It On." He promoted the album with live performances on the Wonky Pop tour with Alphabeat and Frankmusik, along with a performance at the Glastonbury Festival and supporting dates with Estelle. In recent years he has established himself as a sound designer and composer, his film scores feature on a several award winning films. Clients/Projects include Vogue, Valentino, Mark Ronson, Jimmy Choo, Universal Island Records, Sony/ATV, BBC and Pirelli.

Amar Saeed

Future World Beats (Amar Saeed) is a world music label, created to introduce listeners to new music through a journey of traditional, eclectic, rhythmic urban and electronic sounds from all over the globe. At FWB they believe that music is music irrespective of its origins. As mainstream music dominates charts in all territories around the world, we have the tendency miss out on quality music from other lands.