Keep on keeping on! | Interview with Georgia Mancio

"I had good advice at the very start, that the prize is just keeping going,” Georgia Mancio reflects on her longevity in the music industry. “I’m not the type of person who makes five-year, 10-year plans. Maybe it would have been a good idea! Things have happened very organically.”

The award-winning vocalist, lyricist and producer stands at a remarkable milestone – 25 years as an independent artist with nine albums to her name. Celebrating this quarter-century journey, she embarks on a 10-date tour alongside the release of her latest album, A Story Left Untold (Roomspin Records), co-written with the Grammy-winning pianist and composer, Alan Broadbent, with whom she’s written over 40 songs, published two books – and performed across Europe and the US during the past 12 years.

A captivating storyteller, Mancio’s work blends creativity with social consciousness. Her achievements include first prize at the Brussels International Jazz Singers’ Competition (2006) and Parliamentary Jazz Awards for Best Album (Finding Home) and Best Vocalist. Beyond performing, she has produced festivals, run jazz clubs with Dave Ohm, established Roomspin Records, and teaches at City University – embodying the multi-faceted, independent artist who maintains creative control while navigating the business realities of the industry.

Her production credentials include the acclaimed ReVoice! festival (2010-2014), which hosted Gregory Porter and other notable artists, and its successor, Hang (2017-2019). This anniversary year features performances with her Quartet (Robin Aspland, Andy Cleyndert, Dave Ohm), new collaborations (Sam Dunn, Tony Kofi, Alex Hutton), and reunions with key musical partners (Liane Carroll, Ian Shaw, Nigel Price, Kate Williams, Gareth Lockrane).

When asked how she manages her diverse portfolio career, Mancio explains: “I trust my gut. All the albums, the people I’ve collaborated with, ReVoice!, or running two jazz clubs, they haven’t felt forced. They’ve had their time, and then when the time has come to close a circle, I’ve been fairly sure about closing things, which isn’t really like me, I’m quite stubborn – I will stick at things. But somehow it feels quite natural in this career to recognise when, not necessarily something isn’t working anymore, but you know that it’s reached a plateau and it’s good to re-energise.”

“It’s not bad considering they’ve all been self-funded and self-released. Probably could have done with a few more holidays!” she jokes. “But, again, they’ve all felt like they’ve come at a time when they needed to be written, and they’ve all had a different aspect of what I wanted to say at that time.”

At the heart of her recent work lies her remarkable collaboration with Broadbent, a partnership that began almost by chance when Mancio – at the suggestion of her long-standing friend, collaborator and co-producer, Andy Cleyndert – sent Broadbent an email suggesting that they do some gigs together.

“The biggest lesson ever is just try reaching out to somebody, especially if you do it in a human way and it’s not forced. I think it’s taken us both by surprise that it’s carried on and grown. We were fortunate in that there was a lot of trust right from the start – that’s allowed it to have its own life, and for it to breathe.”

Their latest album, A Story Left Untold, completes a trilogy with Songbook (2017) and Quiet Is The Star (2021). Mancio notes that the powerful title track almost didn’t make it onto the album. “What’s so rewarding about working with Alan is there’s always this element of surprise. And this one certainly came in the orchestral track where it was so all consuming, it just enveloped me. He sent it to me, and I missed it.”

Created using Sibelius software rather than a physical piano, Broadbent had described it as “just practising my orchestral chops”. The production process became an international affair, with a Macedonian orchestra brought in to realise Broadbent’s orchestration.

(Collaborators: Georgia Mancio with Alan Broadbent Credit: Tatiana Gorilovsky)

“We did it all on Zoom – they were there, Alan was in New York, we were in London,” Mancio recalls. “Before we even started recording, Alan was going through the parts with the harpist. They recorded everything and Andy put it all together. Then I did the vocal later. It was an amazing experience. I want to pay credit to Andy because he has been extraordinary. At every turn there was another layer – now there’s an orchestra to deal with – and he brought so much care, attention to detail, patience, and skill.”

Mancio’s songwriting has embraced both personal experience and political awareness. Her award-winning collaboration with Kate Williams, Finding Home, features a powerful trilogy of songs (‘The Last Boy on Earth’, ‘Halfway’, ‘We Walk’) told from children’s perspectives, inspired by Georgia’s direct experiences while volunteering with refugee communities across Northern France and the UK. Songs such as ‘Same Old Moon’ on A Story Left Untold similarly speak to contemporary issues.

“It’s taken till now to be able to stand on stage and say, categorically, this is about Brexit, and this is about the first Trump administration,” Mancio tells me. “Whereas, before, I did go there, but it was hard because of the reaction of certain people. After a while you can’t hold that in anymore, you have to be honest.

“I had the idea early on that ‘A Story Left Untold’ should read as though it was one person’s personal, almost secret, confession. But the backstory was the history of a nation, an unknown nation. We want to feel that we’ve gone on a potentially 200-year journey with that nation, and that the land holds all the memory, like an imprint of all the terrible things that have happened and will continue to do so. I liked that ambiguity. I wanted it to be that if you dug into the lyric deeper, you would start questioning, what does this actually mean? And sometimes it’s much more literal than it appears.”

This outspokenness hasn’t come without cost: “For sure, I know I’ve lost work and occasionally people have walked out, particularly when you mention Brexit.”

Yet the positive responses have far outweighed the negative: “What’s been so heartening is the opposite. I’ve had to keep myself in check because I went in defensively, expecting a reaction, and actually having the most amazing, positive reactions from people – and that’s been so heartwarming.”

“When I wrote the lyrics it was last January, February, the US election was brewing, Italy had already elected Giorgia Meloni. And here, we’ve been on a knife-edge for years about which direction are we going in. It’s been so chilling to feel like it’s already way beyond what I was trying to say.”

Despite her many roles, live performance remains Mancio’s true passion. Running Eltham and Crystal Palace Jazz Clubs has also deepened her appreciation for the audience relationship.

“It’s made me super-conscious of how important the audience is. Not that I took them for granted before, but I think in a way, they get forgotten. When you’re in front of an audience – and because, for me, live is my favourite medium – that’s it, you’ve got that time with them. You may have to work harder to win them over. You may be lucky that they’re onside from the beginning. If you’re playing work that involves contentious issues, as has happened with Finding Home and will a little bit with this album, there’s a whole other layer of how you deal with people, and how you expect them to deal with you, and where you meet each other.”

For someone who once struggled with performance anxiety, this evolution showcases a profound transformation. “I was shy for so long about the performing element, it was always the final barrier. But now I think – and I say this to all my students because I recognise that reticence to let go in performance, because it’s hard, some people are naturals, but most of us have to learn how to be performers – but I say to them, try and let it in because it’s the best bit, it’s the most rewarding, and it’s where you grow.”

The freedom of independence comes with its challenges: “As much as I will be the first to rail about how difficult it is to keep all these plates spinning, and I have really struggled with that the last couple of years, I have to remind myself that it does afford you total freedom. It’s sort of good and bad that you’re almost not accountable to anybody else. I feel like we often give away the power of the business side of things where we don’t need to.”

Mancio advocates for supporting artists on their own terms. “I think that whether it’s Bandcamp or whether it’s their own website, or even a newsletter, if the artist is saying to you, this is where I need support, it makes you feel more connected," she explains. "It’s a more honest relationship.”

This direct artist-audience connection contrasts sharply with streaming platforms: “It’s amazing, when you look at the breakdown of countries listening to your music – but it’s so impersonal and it doesn’t bring in any revenue, and that just promotes this idea that art is not something to be valued or cherished.”

Recent years have been incredibly tough personally, with Mancio enduring a series of painful losses: “I know with grief it’s lonely, because you can’t really impose that much on people, and the world is quite unforgiving and moves on very fast. Plus, I was preparing this album and the tour, so it was a lot of hours alone, listening or emailing or whatever.”

During these difficult times, she found inspiration in the work of her peers – “I thought, look at all these people who are trying to make work and be artistic, and knowing how hard that process is for everyone” – and the creative process itself.

“When you’ve got the space to write something down and you’re slightly removed – I don’t journal, I don’t meditate – you’re processing feelings, but then immediately you’re trying to make them sound beautiful. You’re filtering your emotions, which is quite healing in itself, because it takes you away from yourself a little bit.”

After an 18-month creative block, songs like ‘A Lark’s Lament’ and ‘When The Time Has Come To Part’, both featured on the new album, emerged during the post-lockdown period.

“They were both in my head a long time, because I had a period where I just couldn’t write anything. It was quite scary. I think too much had been going on.”

Twenty-five years into her career, Mancio continues to evolve as an artist who balances intimate personal expression with broader social awareness, all while maintaining her independence. Her journey demonstrates that artistic longevity isn’t measured by commercial metrics but by authentic creative evolution and meaningful connection.

In navigating the jazz landscape, she has proven that perhaps the greatest achievement is simply keeping going – on your own terms, with integrity intact.

Georgia Mancio and Alan Broadbent Quartet play Dunkerton's Tap Room on 4 May as part of Cheltenham Jazz Festival

This article originally appeared in the May 2025 issue of Jazzwise – Subscribe Today