Talented and charismatic Jake Morley has had a very busy year so far following the release of his debut album. This week he arrives in Norwich for an intimate date at the Bicycle Shop. Plus: Seb Roachford and Kit Downes, Emily Portman Trio.
SEB ROACHFORD & KIT DOWNES TRIO/RANJANA GHATAK QUARTET
Norwich Arts Centre, September 5
The brightest and most interesting new hopes on the British jazz scene, Seb Roachford and Kit Downes have been playing together in different combinations for a number of years, but it is in this duo that they have been able to explore their mutual interests that lie between the composed and improvised.
The music is a mixture of quiet layered patterns and small bursts of colour. The pair are two of the most innovative British jazz musicians of the last decade.
Both hugely successful bandleaders in their own right, pianist Downes, who hails from Norwich, with his excellent trio or sextet and Rochford at the heart of Polar Bear, together they create a performance of spacious and meditative music.
For this special double-bill they will be joined by Ranjana Ghatak and her quartet. London-born Ranjana has always felt a strong passion and curiosity about her South Asian roots. She has expressed her love of this culture through several years of training in North Indian singing, whilst immersing herself in the life and sounds of contemporary Britain. Working with some of the UK's most exciting musicians, Ranjana has created a sound that juxtaposes the beauty of Indian vocal music with the dynamic, yet sensitive sounds of the keys, double bass and drums.
t Further listening:
www.kitdownes.com
www.polarbearmusic.com
www.ranjanaghatak.com/
EMILY PORTMAN TRIO
Norwich Arts Centre, September 6
Emily Portman is a singer and concertina player from Glastonbury - the town not the festival - hailed as one of the new British folk scene's most beguiling presences.
With her 2010 debut album, The Glamoury, gaining her two BBC Folk Award nominations, she is fast gaining a reputation for her unique songwriting, described as 'remarkable and original' and 'the raw stuff of great ballads'.
She first cut her teeth on the folk scene with harmony trio The Devils Interval, annually tours with Waterson:Carthy, and has commendations from folk luminaries including Shirley Collins and Bagpuss's own Sandra Kerr.
Last year, Portman released a new three-track EP Hinge of the Year. The title track was inspired by the character of Fevvers from Angela Carter's Nights at the Circus and Bright Young Folk magazine called it a 'sprawling, beautifully balanced and complex arrangement, brimming with plucked harps and guitars, angelic harmonies, swelling, chocolatey cello and woozy saw'.
Her second album Hatchling came out in the spring, featuring indie songster Alasdair Roberts. An off-kilter collection of contemporary lullabies, apple-tree wassails and folk carols it was set against a backdrop of England's country lanes and urban backstreets.
Emily will be performing live with Rachel Newton and Lucy Farrell as the Emily Portman Trio.
t Further listening: www.emilyportman.co.uk
JAKE MORLEY
Bicycle Shop, September 6
The supremely talented and charismatic Jake Morley has had a very busy year so far. Following the release of his debut album with accompanying live DVD, he played a sold out headline gig to an ecstatic crowd at the Jazz Caf� as part of HMV Next Big Thing 2012.
He followed it up with a 15 date headline UK tour and is now getting ready for a full schedule of summer festivals, his first Irish tour and a run of gigs in France.
Jake's intriguing lap tapping guitar style, his strong songs and engaging performances convert initially curious audiences into ardent fans at every gig. In the past year he has performed across the length and breadth of the UK, from Thurso in Scotland down to Exeter.
Along the way, he was asked to deliver a marriage proposal from the stage on behalf of one fan to another (she said yes!), one supporter spent six months making an animation video of one of Jake's songs, several drove over 180 miles to see him play, many came to four or five gigs in a row with more friends each time, and another made a 10 foot long banner and hung it in the street to greet him.
'I love writing but I'm at my happiest on a stage performing with my amazing band,@ he says when quizzed about his amazing appeal. 'I've met wonderful people who come to my gigs so I'm really looking forward to everything we've got planned for the coming year.'
t Further listening: www.jakemorley.com
SOUNDS IN THE CITY
TONIGHT
Sensi-Jam (reggae/jungle) — Waterfront
Firewire (rock/pop) — Brickmakers
Gravedale High + more (rock) — King Edward VII
Jake Morrell (folk/pop) — B2
Dave Thomas & Friends (blues) — Walnut Tree Shades
Raw Edge (rock) — Unicorn
We Ghosts (indie) — Brewery Tap
Floating Greyhounds (rock) — The Moles Rest
Unlawfully Yours (rock/pop) — Woolpack Inn
Norwich Folk Club — Christ Church Centre
SEPTEMBER 1
Sundown Festival: feat. Olly Murs + Katy B + more (pop) — Norfolk Showground
Mastema + Burn The Headlines + Depth + Let Us Proceed (metal/rock) — Open
The Burning Crows + Breaking Belief + The Divide (rock/indie) — Waterfront
Acker Bilk & His Paramount Band (jazz) — Playhouse
Floating Greyhounds + The Foolish Wise Ones (rock/funk) — Brickmakers
Truescape + Blind Tiger (pop/rock) — B2
Dirty Havana (rock/indie) — Blueberry
Johnny Jump Band (country/blues) — Golden Star
Honeydripper (rock/blues) — Eaton Cottage
SEPTEMBER 2
Sundown Festival: feat. Chase & Status + Labrinth + more (pop/hip hop) — Norfolk Showground
Johnny Jump Band (country/blues/5.30pm) — Silver Road Cottage
Lee Vasey Big Band (12pm) — Brickmakers
Gerry Welsh (60s/70s) — The Freedman
SEPTEMBER 3
Jeffrey Lewis & The Junkyard (indie) — Arts Centre
Death By Stereo + The Smoking Hearts + Swarmed + more (punk/metal) — Waterfront Studio
Brickie Jazz Jam — Brickmakers
Jazz Jam: feat. Rich Buddie — Walnut Tree Shades
Jazz Jam — Silver Road Cottage
SEPTEMBER 4
Enigma (rock/indie) — Brickmakers
Jam Night — Rumsey Wells
SEPTEMBER 5
Seb Roachford & Kit Downes Trio + Ranjana Ghatak Quartet (jazz) — Arts Centre
Lovely Promo: feat. Lydia Mcfarlane + Matchbox Heroes + more — Walnut Tree Shades
Pure Acoustic (open mic) — Brickmakers
SEPTEMBER 6
Emily Portman Trio (folk) — Arts Centre
Jake Morley (singer/songwriter) — Bicycle Shop
Epic Acoustic: feat. Feral Mouth + Crumbs For Comfort + Ash Woolnough (acoustic) — Epic
Faith (rock) — Brickmakers
Acoustic Jukebox: feat. Dan Scoggins (open mic/requests) — Brewery Tap
Honeydripper (blues/rock) — Walnut Tree Shades
Soothsayer Promo (metal) — B2
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