Anjali Perin
Stunning young vocalist, Anjali Perin, is taking vocal jazz and turning it on its head with her accomplished debut CD. Anjali's voice is warm, soulful, beguiling and powerful and she is a great scat improviser. The album is a mix of original compositions, delightfully arranged standards and cleverly penned vocalese, all showcasing Anjali's musical talents. Anjali Perin - vocals, Liam Noble - piano, Amy Baldwin - bass, Jim Hart - drums. "Anjali is a creative and inspiring young singer" Anita Wardell - BBC Jazz Award winner
Trudy Kerr
"The idea for JAZZ FOR JUNIORS came from a desire to sing songs other than nursery rhymes to my kids. I started to teach them lyrics and melodies to the tunes I grew up with and I thought other parents might like to do the same. This musical adventure brings old favourites to children in a jazz style that's different, new and exciting. Have fun....!" Trudy Kerr Musicians Trudy Kerr vocals Tom Cawley piano Geoff Gascoyne bass Sebastiaan de Krom drums Martin Shaw trumpet Derek Nash saxes Children singers: Emily, Laura and Ruby Gascoyne, Laura and Kristy James All arrangements: Geoff Gascoyne
Zena James
Tell Me More blends cool bass and voice intros to elegant swing and strong blues-based tunes with occasional detours into sultry latin rhythms and modern pop grooves. Featuring two original tunes, a versatile collection of well-known and more unusual jazz standards and even a gospel-influenced Motown track. Tell Me More.... is an album that displays real passion and character. Zena James - vocals Geoff Castle - piano Geoff Gascoyne - bass Mike Bradley - drums Simon Allen - tenor, alto, soprano sax "A triple play from Zena James - love it to bits ....you'll be hearing a lot more from this album over the coming weeks at Smooth Fm" Dave Brown - Smooth FM, Jan 2007 "A new British jazz talent worth listening out for is Zena James, whos debut album Tell Me More is an impressive opus..." Charles Waring - Record Collector, April 2007 "Commanding and expressive,,, if you like your mainstream jazz coming from a blues soul perspective - think Eva Cassidy rather than Dinah Washington - then this CD won't disappoint." Selwyn Harris - Jazzwise, March 2007
Ben Waters
Ben Waters is the finest young boogie-woogie pianist in the UK and has already been featured on "Later with Jools" alongside Jools himself, Axel Zwingenberger and Rolling Stones' star, Charlie Watts. He has the kind of two-handed technique that sets the piano keys flying in all directions. The words "Powerhouse boogie-woogie" pretty well sum it up. It's a driving, energetic sound, to put it mildly, and you would have to be in a pretty dismal mood not to get carried away with it! Ben Waters - piano; Derek Nash - saxophone; Special Guest Jools Holland - piano; Chris Longergan - bass; Sam Kelly - drums "'Boogie Woogie is alive and well! Ben Waters - who incidentally is PJ Harvey's cousin - has got the touch and feel for it. Half of the secret of boogie woogie is knowing the tempo at which to play and not making things too fast, and Ben really understands that. I saw him yars ago and I thought he was great so ended up playing with him. Then he ended up playing at my wedding and very kindly gave me some Albert Ammons sheet music. which is strange because neither he, I nor Albert read music! He is a really great talent and someone to look out for. He is always plaing so do go see him because he is terrific live." Jools Holland - Mojo Magazine Jan 07
Iain MacKenzie
Straight from the 'Cool School' of Chet Baker, Mel Torme & Nat Cole comes the stylish, smooth swinging voice of Iain Mackenzie. Twice on Sunday is the debut album from Iain and is a refreshing selection of Swing and Jazz standards. Ian's band are Pete Churchill - piano, Simon thorpe - bass, Troy Miller - drums, Pete Wareham - saxophone. Twice on Sunday includes hip new arrangements of Angel Eyes, Sugar, I've got you under my skin and of course Sunday (twice). There's a welcome appearance from Stevie Wonder's seldom performed classic If it's Magic and original lyrics for Clare fisher's beautiful Pensativa. Johannes Strauss gets an airing with Poppy Day, and affecting introspective adaptation of The Blue Danube. The sound is relaxed, understated cool and swinging. "Iain Mackenzie is it!" Richard Niles - Arranger/Producer/Producer "...immediately likeable....Mackenzie always sounds in complete control of the vocal line....great rapport between singer & band.... with pleasingly effortless flow to the music" Peter Quinn - Jazzwise Magazine "...fine up and coming jazz singer...." Michael Parkinson's Sunday supplement BBC radio 2