Jazz breaking news: Gill Manly Plays Special Purcell Room Show With Ian Shaw
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Singer Gill Manly commemorates 25 years on the British jazz scene with a special performance at London’s Purcell Room with Ian Shaw on 12 April paying tribute to the music of Nina Simone and Ray Charles.
Initially involved in West End fringe musicals it was a meeting with Shaw in 1983 that inspired her to sing jazz and she has gone on to appear at most jazz clubs in the UK with her debut album, Detour Ahead, appearing in 1995. After a layoff to study Buddhism in Tibet and India for nearly ten years she returned to jazz in 2007 and has since built up a sizeable following with regular gigs at Ronnie Scott’s, the 606 and Pizza Express Jazz Club as well as releasing With A Song In My Heart on Linn records in 2008. Her Portrait of Nina Simone tribute show has been awarded Time Out’s Critics Choice a number of times over the past three years and currently features Simone’s drummer Paul Robinson as well as pianist Simon Wallace and bassist Robert Rickenberg.
Gill Manly’s other forthcoming dates are Archduke, Waterloo (7 May); 606 Club, Chelsea (18 May); Portrait of Nina Simone at the Hideaway, Streatham, London (29 May); The Spice of Life (8 June); Margate Jazz Festival (3 July); Swanage Jazz Festival with Ian Shaw (8 July); Ignite, Royal Albert Hall (10 July) and Portrait of Nina Simone at Ronnie Scott’s (July).
– Jon Newey