Arun Ghosh and Claire Martin lead Jazz For Europe live fundraiser

Organised weeks in advance by the same musicians behind Jazz for Labour, the Jazz for Europe concert fell on the day after Boris Johnson prorogued parliament in order to push through a no deal Brexit. With this as a backdrop, Jazz for Europe featured a diverse range of musicians such as Arun Ghosh, Camilla George, Sara Oschlag and Claire Martin OBE, who came together in a show of impassioned unity.

The house band of saxophonist Julian Nicholas (pictured top, with Ghosh), trumpeter Dave Morgan and the rhythm section of Terry Seabrook, Nigel Thomas, Jon Newey and Alex Eberhard were joined by their first guests, vocalist Imogen Ryall and pianist Rod Hart. Ryall performed a slow, moving version of Ellington’s 'Mood Indigo' before German vocalist Miriam Kisters brought a European flavour with her version of 'Mack The Knife', sang in its original German.

Saxophonist Camilla George performed two contrasting Horace Silver tunes, an energetic version of 'Nica’s Dream' that displayed her fluid soloing style followed by an absorbing rendition of the ballad 'Peace', which featured a beautiful solo from bassist Nigel Thomas.

The second of three sets during the evening began with a superb performance from Danish vocalist Sara Oschlag. A regular at Llandudno Jazz Festival, she is gaining some well-earned popularity with her energy and enthusiasm and performed some superb and engaging scat solos on the Bobby Timmons classic 'Moanin’' and Horace Silver’s 'The Preacher'.

Clarinettist Arun Ghosh gave an exciting performance of his tunes 'Aurora' and 'Bondhu' from his debut album Northern Namaste, together with a solo rendition of Beethoven’s 'Minuet in G'. He brought his own energy to the stage, encouraging the other musicians as he built up the tension to a rousing climax. In a short, emotional speech he laid out his feelings: “I’ve been feeling very, very disillusioned and powerless over the past few years and although there’s a huge way to go, I don’t feel powerless anymore.”

Tom Eagle from the Musicians Union outlined the work that they are doing in preparation of Brexit to protect a musician’s right to travel, ensure copyright protections and arts funding, protect workers’ rights and the rights of EU citizens within the UK.

The third and final set of the evening featured vocalist Claire Martin with an upbeat version of 'Caravan', followed by an inspiring duet with Terry Seabrook on 'Turn Out The Stars' by Bill Evans. Another highlight of the evening was when Martin invited Imogen Ryall back on stage to perform their version of 'It Could Happen to You', which included a vocalised version of Chet Baker’s trumpet solo using lyrics by Georgie Fame.

In the spirit of unity and co-operation, Martin brought all the musicians back on stage to perform the final number, 'Let Me Love You Baby', ending a night of great music that raised hundreds of pounds for The People’s Vote campaign.