Theatre / Performance

Polly Gibbons - Ian Shaw/Claire Martin - Imaani/Wayne Hernandez & the 606 Horns -50th Anniversary

90 Lots Road

Sun 25 Oct · 19:30 · £26

Music

About this event

INTRO BY STEVE RUBIE: Tonight we will be finishing our 50th Anniversary Festival with an evening packed full of great friends, fun, laughter…and maybe a bit of dancing! Starting the evening will be Polly Gibbons , a singer who first performed at the Club at the tender age of 17 with the great Ian Shaw (also featured tonight) and who we have witnessed going on to establish herself as one of the finest singers of her generation. Following Polly will be two of the finest Jazz singers in Europe and two performers whose support and encouragement have been hugely influential in helping keep the Club (and myself!) going, the great Claire Martin and Ian Shaw , very much family to us here. And helping us finish the Festival with a bang will be two more artists who have become an integral part of what we do here and who are widely seen as the “heartbeat” of the Soul/Groove offering here and great friends of mine and the Club, Imaani and Wayne Hernandez . And supporting them will be our “New Year’s Eve” horns featuring Mornington Lockett (see Saturday 24th) and the great saxophonist Tim Whitehead , who’s heartfelt musical contributions have been an integral part of what we do here since the old Club in the 1980’s. No Festival here could be complete without him. Oh, and making up the rear as the third saxophonist in the horn section I’ll be doing my best to keep up! Enjoy! Polly Gibbons is one of the most respected and talked-about singers of her generation. A consummate performer with a rich, soulful voice and a truly distinctive style, Polly is as much at home singing tender jazz ballads as she is rockin' R&B classics. Nominated for Vocalist of the Year by both Jazz FM and the BBC, she was signed to US label Resonance Records, recording three critically acclaimed albums and touring extensively, notably performing at the Montreal Jazz Festival and the legendary Birdland Jazz Club, NYC. In 2022, Polly fulfilled a long-standing ambition with the release of "As It Is" - an album of all-original songs written, arranged, and produced by Polly alongside co-producer and Artistic Director of Ronnie Scott’s, James Pearson. A sensational singer. "Polly Gibbons is unmistakably a class act” Guardian Described as “the outstanding voice of her generation”, Claire Martin OBE is a multi-award-winning, internationally acclaimed artist with no less than eight British Jazz Awards and more than 20 albums, including numerous “Best Album” choices, to her name. Formerly the host of “Jazz Line-up” on BBC Radio 3, Claire’s vast cv includes work with the likes of Kenny Barron & Sir Richard Rodney Bennett as well as the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the BBC Big Band and the BBC Concert Orchestra. A consummate artist, with her husky, perfectly controlled voice, flawless time and impeccable taste she never fails to impress. Record producer, broadcaster, raconteur, pianist oh, and one of Europe’s finest male jazz vocalists, Ian Shaw has it all. Named Best Vocalist of the Year twice(!) at the BBC Jazz Awards and the 2018 Parliamentary Jazz Awards "Vocalist of The Year", the multi-award-winning Ian Shaw is a huge talent with the most engaging personality and an ability to make every song his own. Described as “the voice of the decade” it is not by chance that he was the first British Jazz vocalist to be signed to American label, Milestone, which resulted in a number of highly acclaimed US recordings. A wry, witty and intelligent showman, Ian has an international reputation, including sell-out tours of the US, Canada and Australia. "Claire Martin...among the four or five finest female jazz vocalists on the planet" Jazz Times; “Shaw…an eye-watering vocal range and bucketloads of soul” BBC A terrific singer in the Soul/R&B tradition Imaani ’s worldwide tours, television, live and studio output includes work with the likes of Gloria Gaynor, Carleen Anderson, Michael Bolton and Beverley Knight, but she is probably best known as one of the featured singers with the iconic band “Incognito”, of which she’s been a member for more than 15 years. Undoubtedly one of the finest Soul singers in Europe. Wayne Hernandez is one of those fantastic singers who has been using his considerable talents for many years to make others sound good. Hugely successful within the music business he has worked with Tina Turner, Tori Amos, Blur, Grover Washington, Roberta Flack, Madonna and Rag'n'Bone Man. He has also toured extensively with Kool and the Gang, Regina Bell and Billy Ocean and is one of the singers with the band Gorillaz (oh, that guy!). Of Afro-Cuban heritage, Wayne is a long-time member of the Kingdom Choir who took the world by storm after performing at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle back in the day. Wayne describes his music as “a living fusion of music styles from the Black music scene”. Tim Whitehead is renowned throughout the UK, Europe and the USA as a remarkable performer and composer with a dazzling CV. In the 70’s he toured with Ian Carr’s “Nucleus” and “Graham Collier Music” winning the Young Jazz Musician of the Year Award on the way. In the 80’s he was a member of the ground breaking big band Loose Tubes and in the 90’s he made several critically acclaimed albums, winning The Andrew Milne Award for Jazz, as well as the BBC Music Magazine Jazz Album of the Year. As further testament to his extraordinary talent, in 2009 he was the first ever musician to be made Artist in Residence at Tate Britain, resulting in a number of brilliant gigs, a highly acclaimed album “Colour Beginnings” and a short-listing for the British Composer Of The Year Award. Mornington Lockett (see Saturday 24th). This promises to be quite a finish so come ready to dance! “The magnificent vocals of Imaani” DJ Times; “it was clear that Wayne had a very special talent, his voice, it was simply breathtaking” Livemusic.fm; “Whitehead is one of the most creative, exciting and passionate saxophonists in Europe” A Rough Guide; “Steve Rubie…in fine form.” Telegraph