Composer, violinist and vocalist Claire Victoria Roberts releases the first single Swooping of Swallows from her upcoming album Inconsistent on April 6th 2023.

When asked to describe her music, the Barcelona-based artist, whose melodic jazz sound is steeped in classical textures, describes her effort to move away from boxed-in genres:

 “Composers are constantly pushing the boundaries of contemporary classical music to new extremes… but I wanted to pull the classical compositions I write in a new direction, towards something more intimate, improvisatory, lyrical, telling a story…approaching contemporary classical, orchestral and choral writing as a jazz singer-songwriter.”

Alongside young jazz improvisers James Girling on Guitar, Tom Harris on piano, and Jeremy Brown on bass, Roberts presents her musical smorgasbord in an original E.P. of 4 songs and 4 instrumental interludes, aptly titled Inconsistent. Special guest trumpeter Alexandra Ridout joins for 2 songs, and an orchestra of friends and colleagues in Manchester perform her lush, Hollywood-esque orchestral arrangements.

The release of Inconsistent follows a host of awards for her writing in the contemporary classical sphere, including a Jerwood Arts composer award, a Royal Philharmonic Society Composition prize, and a Young Composer award from the Welsh Music Guild. Critics have regaled her accomplished, sultry vocals and assured stage presence, at performances in Brecon jazz, Wall2Wall jazz, and Begues jazz festival (Catalunya).

The original compositions make up eight tracks which focus on the inconsistencies and inadequacies which make up our being, from Jealousy to Bad Decisions, to our distance from nature and distorted sense of time in the track Swooping of Swallows with its whimsical lyric: “a thousand stars which could be ours each night, But we can’t find the time.”

Four wordless pieces come in the form of an intro, finale and interlude, showcases of Roberts’s skilful and dynamic scoring, and the musicality of David Coyle’s production and mixing (Coyle’s credits include orchestral recordings for Classic FM and the BBC as well as production on work by Everything Everything). The intro throws wide open the stylistic gambit, taking us through microtonal soundscapes to sweeping melodies and straight back to the raw and intimate setting of agile vocals and Girling’s guitar accompaniment. Hard-driving swing on the bonus track Bad Decisions sees Roberts at home in the traditional scat and pizzazz of American songbook-style vocal jazz, a fast-tempo, tongue-in-cheek tune which unites effortlessly with Ridout’s horn solo.

More divergent in its origins from the rest, Jealousy encounters a singer speaking directly with her emotions, in a stripped down verse of guitar, harp and cello, before branching into layered vocals in a haunting choral finale. The piece is influenced by her much-loved singers and composers she encountered in the diverse jazz scene of Barcelona that continue to inspire her work, Rita Payes and Silvia Perez Cruz, as well as singer-songwriters who move freely between jazz and acoustic styles, the likes of Melody Gardot, Esperanza Spalding, Joni Mitchell.

“I wrote the songs and interludes during lockdown, when I was also working on several classical commissions, an operatic work and a piece for Radio 3. It was a time when people were so focused on self-improvement. I felt like I wanted to write songs which acknowledged the inescapable contradictions and inconsistencies we all have within us, and to do so musically too… when I receive a classical commission, do I have to treat it differently, as though I don’t listen to a million other genres, as if I don’t feel moved by the artistry of Laura Marling, Lianne la Havas, Laura Mvula…if I’m making a plea to my emotions as a singer-songwriter, why can I not include a reference to renaissance polyphony - who gets to decide which styles fit in which boxes? I am as inconsistent in my everyday thoughts and feelings and listening habits as I am in my compositions”

For further info Claire Victoria Roberts

Sunday Lendis is releasing her debut EP ‘Long Exposure’ on the 6th April. It’s an alluring electronic jazz-folk affair that explores the moments of light and darkness in-between life’s milestones

Sunday Lendis has been quietly emerging from the worlds of jazz, folk and electronic music since she started her solo venture in 2021 alongside esteemed producer and guitarist Ed Allen (Mabgate Organ Trio, Mamilah). Telling tales of hope and adversity, Sunday’s glistening voice weaves through lush guitars and iridescent pianos offering the listener a generous sense of reflection and humanity. 

Although brand new, Sunday Lendis has carved out a refreshingly original sound from an assorted list of influences including the works of Jasmine Myra, Snowpoet, Maria Chiara-Agiro and Bahla. As part of the bustling, cross-genre, creative city of Leeds Sunday & Ed began writing together in the depths of lockdown where their musical partnership began to blossom, exploring the intricate relationship between organic and electronic sounds. They are joined by prominent and distinguished musicians from Leeds Theo Goss (K.O.G, Ben Haskins Quartet), Joe Wilkes (Awen Ensemble, Yaatri) and Felix Burtulis-Webb (Yaatri, Platimo) who contribute effortlessly to this emotive and euphoric music.  

Her debut EP Long Exposure is set to release on 6th April, which includes a single release and vinyl pressing on Leeds independent label Come Play With Me in January. Already Sunday’s music has gained acclaim with her first three singles accumulating over 6500 streams, being performed live in session on BBC Introducing West Yorkshire with Emily Pilbeam and Deepest Blue featuring on Jazz FM as Yolanda Brown’s track of the week. The singles have been included on Spotify editorial playlists such as Jazz UK, Serotonin & Somewhere Soul's New Music Friday Playlist and have received praise from publications like Atwood Magazine, The Colour of Spring and Twisted Soul. Embarking on her self-booked UK tour this April, with her breathtaking EP Long Exposure and her captivating and consuming live shows, Sunday Lendis is one to watch in the new era of UK jazz.

Born and raised in Australia Sunday moved to the UK in 2010 and graduated from Leeds College of Music in 2020. Since then she has performed at events and venues such as Jazz Cafe, The Old Queen’s Head Islington, Brudenell Social Club  and festivals such as Green Man and Shambala Festival, Liverpool International Jazz Festival, Manchester Jazz festival; and has worked with established Northern artists including KOG, Tom Excell, B-ahwe and Yaatri. Since the project’s beginnings Sunday Lendis has been supported by The Sound & Music Composers Award, Launchpad and Leeds Conservatoire’s Artist Development Grant.

Sunday Lendis: vocals, lyrics, composition

Ed Allen: guitar, composition, production

Theo Goss: drums

Glen Leach: piano

Jed Bevington: strings

Sunday Lewis on Facebook

Sunday Lewis on Spotify

Women in Jazz Media is excited to announce the release of the new album from Migdalia van der Hoven and the Migdalia van der Hoven Quartet, Point of Departure, which will be available worldwide on 05/04/2023.

Point of Departure

All tracks composed by Wikus van der Hoven. Album recorded by The Migdalia van der Hoven Quartet

Album recorded at Abbey Road Studio (London) and Battery Studios (London)

Track Listing:

1.  Point of departure

2.  Girl facing south

3.  Behind her mask

4.  G.M.T.

5.  PCH

6.  Savannah Rain

7.  Groove Therapy

8.  Red Skies

9.  Final destination

10. BONUS TRACK: Girl facing south (Reprise)

Personnel on each track:

Migdalia van der Hoven – Drums (Track 1-10), Percussion (Track 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 and 10)

Johnny Mayers – Bass (Track 1-10)

Josh Stidwell – Piano (Track 1-6 and 8-10)

Wikus van der Hoven – Tenor saxophone (Track 1-10), Soprano Saxophone (Track 3 and 6),

Electronic Wind Instrument (Track 10), Synth programming (Track 3, 4 and 7), Piano (Track 7)

Point of departure is the debut album by the Migdalia van der Hoven quartet. A set of contemporary jazz fusion tracks with a wide array of styles and grooves showcasing each individual musician and instrument. It invites the listener on a journey with a satisfying conclusion and the promise of more to come.

Available here

Billie Bottle’s Temple of Shibboleth are delighted to announce the release of their eponymous debut on March 31st.

Born in lockdown, The Temple of Shibboleth started life when Billie Bottle ran away from Gifford’s Circus in 2020, and started caring for a wise woman in deepest Devon. Here, she was taught the ancient art of traditional housekeeping – it eventually became this melodic, deep and gently humorous music.

It tells the story of The Week, the most commonly and widely practiced mantra for a good few thousand years! It is a celebration of the Home and beyond. An opportunity for ritual transformation and a means to deal with the grief of these difficult times. It also features toe-tapping tunes and in-depth sonic experimentation - it's all going on!

The album is produced by hitmaker, George Shilling (Blur/Primal Scream/Yazz) and features the voice and bass of the Canterbury Scene, Richard Sinclair. Billie Bottle continues to incorporate a scintillating blend of jazz and pop in her work and The Temple of Shibboleth go in deep with a fine balance of mythic prog and psych-folk.

Billie Bottle’s Temple of Shibboleth is released worldwide on double vinyl and digital download on 31st March 2023.

Billie Bottle Bandcamp

Billie Bottle Instagram

Billie Bottle Facebook

THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE FOR TOURING PROFESSIONALS

‘I wish this book had been around when I first started touring … It should be the first thing we all pack when we head out on the road.’ Philip Selway, Radiohead

This comprehensive manual will help musicians and those working in live music to identify and cope with the various physical and psychological difficulties that can occur during, or as a result of, touring. It covers topics including mental health, peak performance and performance anxiety, addiction, group dynamics, relationship problems, dealing with the media, physical health, diversity and inclusion, crisis management and post-tour recovery.

Written by health and performance professionals, this timely and essential book provides robust clinical advice, cutting edge research, practical strategies, resources and detailed illustrations. Each chapter is underpinned with personal recollections from musicians and prominent touring personnel, including Nile Rodgers, Justin Hawkins, Philip Selway, Charles Thompson, Katie Melua , Kieran Hebden, Jake Berry, Tina Farris, Taylor Hanson, Trevor Williams, Lauren Mayberry, Pharoahe Monch, Jim Digby, Will Young, Angie Warner, Dale ‘Opie’ Skjerseth and many more.

Touring and Mental Health is designed to be picked up, put down, read at length and passed around the tour bus.

‘This book can add decades to a career, give wisdom to the most exhausted mind, and offer encouragement to every burdened heart.’ James Ainscough, CEO Help Musicians UK

‘[it’s] like having a therapist in your back pocket. It helped deepen my understanding of myself as a performer and how the demands of the music business can take a toll’ Siobhan Donaghy, Sugababes

‘The perfect book at the perfect time.’ Marty Hom, Tour Manager Fleetwood Mac, Shakira, Beyoncé

‘A remarkable encyclopaedia of wisdom...  This impressive book needs to be read by every single artist and every single psychological worker as well.’ Professor Brett Kahr, Senior Fellow, Tavistock Institute of Medical Psychology

Publication Date: 23.03.23
ISBN: 9781913172343
Extent: 640 pages
Format: Paperback

Tamsin Embleton is an attachment-based psychotherapist and the Director of the Music Industry Therapists and Coaches (MITC). She worked as a music promoter, tour manager, and artist manager for ten years.

Link here

Trombonist and Vocalist Hailey Brinnel issues her soaring sophomore statement Beautiful Tomorrow, due out March 17, 2023 via Outside in Music 

Outside in Music is proud to announce the March 17, 2023 release of Beautiful Tomorrow, the sophomore recording from vocalist and trombonist Hailey Brinnel. When asked to define her style, the Philadelphia-based artist, whose sound is steeped in swing and bebop, describes her effort to move the genre into new spaces: “I like pushing the limits of the idiom, while staying true to jazz.” 

Alongside her entrusted quartet with Joe Plowman on bass, Dan Monaghan on drums and Silas Irvine on piano, Brinnel presents her extraordinary comprehension of vintage material throughout this new enterprise, offering two original compositions and eight arranged standards. Special guest trumpeters Terell Stafford and Andrew Carson join the date as well as saxophonist Chris Oatts .

The release of Beautiful Tomorrow follows a milestone year for the multi-talent in 2021. That March, Brinnel released her critically-acclaimed leader debut I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles, which reached #13 on Amazon’s New Release Chart and #44 on Jazz Best-Sellers. Fashioned by her warm and playful arranging expertise, the impressive collection features 8-tracks of early jazz standards. Later that June, Brinnel was named a finalist in the 2021 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition. Critics have regaled the budding talent for her versatile arranging sensibilities, which remain reverent to jazz tradition yet flushed with contemporary nuance.

Gleaned from the eternal optimist Walt Disney, Brinnel launches Beautiful Tomorrow fittingly with a reimagination of the Sherman Brothers classic “There’s A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow”, a  show tune popularly known as Disney’s theme song after being commissioned by the entrepreneur in 1964. Brinnel’s treatment embraces a reduced big band sound with a full horn shout section, where polished and succinct solos from Oatts and Irvine sit at the heart of the glorious arrangement.

Two original offerings make up the early tracks of Beautiful Tomorrow, both stellar showcases of Brinnel’s clever and dynamic storytelling abilities. The mischievous “I Might Be Evil” walks listeners through a whimsical tale of confidence. Playful contributions from Irvine help communicate Brinnel’s message beyond the lyrical. Hard-driving swing on “The Sound” follows, a fast-tempo episode of breathless scatting which unites effortlessly with Irvine’s keys. 

More divergent in its origins from the rest, “Walk Between Raindrops” reimagines the 1982 tune off Steely Dan member Donald Fagen’s first solo album, The Nightfly. Here, Brinnel substitutes Fagen’s original organ solo arrangement for her horn shout section, staying true to her mission to walk along the edges of the jazz frontier. Brinnel jokes that she tends to create “approachable” jazz. “I love making music that people can easily connect to, while still pus hing the genre into new spaces “

Brinnel gracefully interprets two well-known standards “Tea for Two,” with prolific input from special guest trumpeter Terell Stafford, and “I Want To Be Happy”, both written for the 1925 musical No, No, Nanette. On “Wayfaring Stranger”, a traditional tune that harkens back to the sounds of 1940s New Orleans, Brinnel offers a stunning vocal foray, tapping into her deeper register both vocally and on the trombone.

Though most of Brinnel’s musings on Beautiful Tomorrow are decidedly cheerful, the warm-toned vocalist takes a departure with the languorous ballad “A Cottage for Sale.” Irvine, fluid and diligent, follows Brinnel as she leads the venture, a parade of the quartet’s synergy.

Brinnel’s veneration of the piano trio format is most evidently brought forth on the playful and didactic “There Will Never Be.” Monaghan, Plowman and Irvine quickly establish a rhythmic phrase that, matched with Brinnel’s heartfelt phrasing, creates an unbridled sense of elevation and intimacy.

The album closes by the command of Plowman’s bass on “Candy.” The brief vocal/bass duet is sweet in every essence, acting as a lullaby to close the record while reminding listeners that tomorrow’s forecast is full of swing, tradition and most importantly, beauty.

Hailey Brinnel website