Tuesday 29 July 2014

Back in the Studio at Last... and I'm a Cover Girl!

 

I'm a Cover Girl!  Very excited to be on the front cover of the latest Jazz UK magazine.   I'm interviewed about Spellbound Stories ahead of my UK tour which is possible due to the support of the Arts Council, but I also owe a huge debt to Jazz Services as they supported my very first tours and are such an important part of the jazz landscape.  They've recently lost some of their funding but there has been such a huge show of support from the jazz community (including this specially set up Facebook Page) for all their excellent work that I'm hoping it will lead to a refresh and reboot of this important organisation that will enable it to carry on doing so much good for both jazz musicians and volunteer promoters.  Anyway, thank you Jazz Services!

And more great news...  It's been a looooong time but I'm finally back in the studio!  Really exciting about recording the new songs.  Have decided to release an EP to start, with the full album coming up in the not too distant future.

While we were in the studio we also recorded an impromptu version of the Kate Bush song, Wuthering Heights.  Really pleased with how that turned out too considering we didn't rehearse and just went for it.  Being spontaneous is fun!

You can hear snippets of the new tracks in the player below.




Sunday 20 July 2014

BBC Radio 3's "In Tune" and Manchester Jazz Festival

July has been an exciting month!  Nick Ramm and I performed live on BBC Radio 3's "In Tune" programme just before I nipped up to Manchester to perform Spellbound Stories at the Manchester Jazz Festival. We did 3 songs, Forbidden Fruit, No One Can Tell and Little Things (stripped down acoustic versions with just voice and piano) and I chatted to Sean Rafferty about the Spellbound Stories project.

Here's the link:

Juliet on BBC Radio 3's "In Tune" programme

And then it was up to Manchester.  Things didn't start too well as I got absolutely drenched on my way to the pavilion from the train station!  Yes - it was raining...  But due to the lovely warm weather and the even warmer packed audience it wasn't long before the cockles of my heart were well and truly toasty.  We had a great time and it was lovely to perform the songs in such a fabulous setting.

This was recorded immediately after.  A bit sweaty faced but was very pleased to feature in my first Vine!