Georgia Mancio - Hang 2019

Georgia Mancio

Robert Mitchell (piano/poetry)

Shirley Smart (cello)

Rick Simpson (piano) 

Kim Macari (trumpet/spoken word)

Georgia Mancio (voice) 

Tom Cawley (piano)

9th October 2019

Kim Macari 

Storytelling, soul and compassion was at the beating heart of award-winning vocalist Georgia Mancio’s 3rd Hang this year at Pizza Express. She presented a collection of collaborations that illuminated the art of the lyrical, both in writing and music.

Shirley Smart

For an excellent insight into this year Hang please read Sebastian Scotney's review at https://londonjazznews.com/2019/10/10/where-we-once-belonged-georgia-mancios-2019-hang-at-pizza-express/

A group of multi-faceted artists shared stories, songs and music of their heritage, in reflection of and response to our current times. The night started with Rick Simpson alongside Kim Macari who wove spoken word with improvised solo trumpet in evocative soundscapes, exploring her roots as a Scottish woman. It brought a tearful response from the audience, with one well-known jazz promoter visibly shaken by the depth of feeling.

Robert Mitchell

Pianist/composer Robert Mitchell (True Think, Alicia Olatuja) presented a poetic response to the Windrush scandal in the pin-drop moment of the evening (himself a child of the Generation) with Shirley Smart on cello (Avishai Cohen, Yasmin Levy).

Tom Cawley

The night culminated with a beautiful set by vocalist Georgia Mancio (Alan Broadbent, Liane Carroll) as she leafed through her intriguing family scrapbook from Europe and beyond. With songs co-written with pianist Tom Cawley (Peter Gabriel, Catenaccio) it was an uplifting end to another successful Hang concert. 

Peter Freeman

A special note to the jazz community who came out in force to support Georgia Mancio. Across the tables at Pizza Express it was a Who's Who of the UK scene. Alongside the pubic and jazz musicians was jazz face and serial gig aficionado Peter Freeman.

Rick Simpson

Georgia Mancio - Hang 2018

Georgia Mancio

Hang 2018

Georgia Mancio - voice

with

Nikki Iles - piano

Alina Bzhezhinska -harp

Tom Cawley - piano

10th October 2018

Pizza Express Soho, London, UK

Tom Cawley

Award-winning vocalist, lyricist and producer, Georgia Mancio, returned with her second Hang – a series of stunning bespoke collaborations and new writing featuring the cream of the UK’s jazz, latin and improvised music scenes in one of Europe’s most iconic venues.

From last year’s landmark recording, Songbook, with co-writer Alan Broadbent and their subsequent performances in Europe and the US (including Ronnie Scott’s and Rochester International Jazz Festival, NY) to her iconic  ReVoice! Festival, work with luminaries Ian Shaw, Liane Carroll, Bobby McFerrin and Kate Williams, to nominations in the Urban Music, Parliamentary and British Jazz Awards, Georgia is an artist of boundless creativity and dedication in constant evolution. 

Alina Bzhezhinska

2018 is also Georgia’s 18th anniversary as a professional musician. To mark this joyous coming of age she crafted 4 unique shows.

A celebration of female writers with pianist/composer Nikki Iles, a homage to vocalist/songwriter Abbey Lincoln with harpist Alina Bzhezhinska and fascinating character studies in new songs co-written with pianist/composer Tom Cawley.

Nikki Iles

Georgia Mancio - Jazz's popular vote

Georgia Mancio

The public voted with their feet last Thursday (25/04/2013) at Twickenham Jazz Club by standing on them and applauding without constraint. In my short time as TJC's in-house artist this was the most positive response I have seen for any group. Sometimes you keep it simple, a trio, purity of voice, skill and intensity, the stars collide and BANG!

The performance had started much earlier in the day with a hot topic on the online agenda. Just that morning Big Bear Music had announced the nominations for their annual 'mainstream' British Jazz Awards (including TJC's Henry Armburg Jennings, and the imminent Julian Stringle). Despite not being nominated, tonight's guitarist Nigel Price had urged his friends to vote, citing it as a popular poll where the public had a chance to show their appreciation for once. He wrote,
 "The less we vote the more likely it is for the whole "jobs for the boys" mentality or cronyism to creep in."

He was challenged on this point by Jazz royalty's free spirit Gabriel Garrick
"Don't believe the hype!!
Awards only serve to further any existing exclusivity within any given area. They only reinforce more of the same dumb behaviour: that of encouraging blind following."

Nigel Price - Guitar

Nigel is never one to sit on the fence and his reasoning that followed was well balanced but unfortunately too long to reproduce, so here's a snippet,
"...it's still a totally open vote and if we get enough people to cast theirs then it could turn into a true representation of who and what musicians and non musicians alike find most worth applauding on a national scale.
What's wrong with that?"

Colin

Both had a point of course, Big Bear had pre-selected or chosen the nominations, so its wasn't entirely a free vote and yet here was a chance for our voice to be heard. An opportunity I grasped with both hands, well, at least my two digits on my laptop keyboard.

To metaphorically 'live or die' in front of an audience, Nigel Price has laid down the gauntlet this evening. With just three performers on the stage, there was nowhere to hide, although the mood lighting meant they operated like cold war spies in a purple tungsten glow. This was the cleverest of performances, full of subtleties, the trio tonight played their hands with a deftness that teased the crowd in front of them.

Larry Bartley - Bass

Georgia Mancio sat well back from the stage's edge, as though succumbing to an intolerance of 'The limelight'. This only pulled the audience forward and many of us sat with elbows on knees. Earlier in the week I had sketched the multi-instrumental-voiced singer Jan Ponsford for Mr Rainlore and Mancio's voice felt gentle in comparison. First impressions can be deceiving, it seems her power isn't like a wave that crashes over you but that lapping Mediterranean kind which casts the mind adrift into playful daydreams.

Nigel Price is a hard man to read visually, particularly this evening, he was flanked by the tall figure of Larry Bartley and willowy Mancio. This made him look like a grumpy garden gnome who was fishing for imaginary carp, an image that was totally dispelled once he reeled in the audience on the end of his guitar hooks. He looked happy. Excelling on Latin intricacies, like the samba styled Coots tune 'You go to my head'. His solo on 'That old black magic' was granted a standing ovation from TJC dude Colin amongst others.

Zoran Matic

I've drawn Larry Bartley before at Alex Hutton's Friday Nolias residency and knew I was in the company of a fellow artist, so I hope my drawings will find his approval. Larry and I weren't the only artists in attendance and I managed to get a quick sketch of an intense Zoran Matic.

Kelvin Christiane - Sax

Twickenham Jazz Club favourite Kelvin Christiane joined the trio for a superb Stanley Turrentine finale on Soprano and then chaos ensued. Price had earlier urged the public to vote for their heroes and his plea hadn't fallen on deaf ears. They stood and kept applauding until an encore was granted, confusion reigned because of Mancio's imminent Stansted flight to Germany and the Jazzahead Festival/Conference. She sacrificed her precious sleeping time and gave the people what they wanted.

Later that night a bewildered Nigel Price commented
"The crowd literally went mental!
It was a bit disconcerting in a way.
Very odd."
Well you asked for the people's opinion.
They voted for you, Georgia and Larry.

We still stand up for what we believe in!

AL.