This is an archived post from our old website. Please excuse us if it looks a bit off, we are working through old posts and making sure they look tip top!
Singing has always been a central part of jazz going back to plantation and minstrel songs. This year’s Scarborough Jazz Festival, which take place on 25-27 September, has four exceptional vocalists who will bring very different styles to the Spa’s Grand Hall stage.
Top UK vocalist Liane Carrol says of singer Ben Cox: “…We may have found the best new jazz talent to emerge from the UK.” Ben’s quintet put on a superb live show with a mixture of classic songs and superb groove based originals.
Zoe Gilby is a great favourite at Scarborough Jazz and is increasingly a highlighted vocalist at UK jazz festivals. “Modern, mature… swings like a bell,” says Carol Kidd MBE.
The amazing Vimala Rowe is one of the singers fronting the nine-piece Café Society All Stars recreating the thrilling world of the legendary New York nightclub in the 1940s.
Finally, Ian Shaw is the Saturday night highlight act. He has twice been the winner of the BBC Jazz Awards Best Vocalist. Time Out says: “Our finest jazz singer. Marvellous!” And from the Sunday Times: “He has few rivals.”
Here, Festival Director Mike Gordon interviews Ian Shaw, who headlines the Saturday evening session:
MG: I think we first met, Ian, in 1990, when your CD ‘Lazy Blue Eyes’ – which I still play – came out. You were performing at Scarborough Jazz at the Mermaid with Carol Grimes. Since then you have appeared at four of our festivals. Good memories of Scarborough?
IS: Immensely good memories. From that initial gig with Carol, Tony Remy on guitar and Steve Lodder on piano (I wasn’t playing piano on the circuit then. It was Claire Martin that pushed me that way, suggesting we may… ahem, make better bread! We did, but lost Dave Newton and Arnie Somogyi on the way. The guilt lasted about half an hour).
My parents (both gone now) came to my first two Scarboroughs. I remember we all stayed at the lovely “Flower In Hand”, a tiny hotel, perched up the cliffs. I also remember taking fish ‘n’ chips there and eating them with the wind howling through the windows. Magical.
MG: How did you get into singing and jazz? And playing the piano?
IS: I can’t ever remember NOT being able to play piano. My Uncle Tom bought me a mini piano from Ellesmere Port market when I was four. The piano lessons started, I joined my dad’s brass band (Flint Silver Prize Band) and got heavily into American Soul, assisted by dad who, every Friday, bought me an LP from Penny Lane Records in Chester.
Jazz singing? I was concurrently playing pop and show tunes in European piano bars, writing originals and playing the burgeoning alternative cabaret circuit. Dave Illic from City Limits listings described me as a “jazz singer.” That epithet never occurred to me. There were no crap Sinatra clones then. The man was still alive and no one dared copy him. I was more interested in Betty Carter and Mark Murphy, Bill Evans and Miles Davis.
MG: You’ve been on the Alternative Cabaret Circuit alongside such performers as Julian Clary, Rory Bremner and Jo Brand. Spontaneous humour is very much a part of your act. Is there another career looming?
IS: Well, I’m writing this in Sydney, having debuted at the behest of Barry Humphries, at the famous Adelaide Cabaret Festival, where I fused music and Stand Up to form a show called ‘A Bit Of A Mouthful’ which originated at the 2012 Edinburgh Festival 2012. The Adelaide Daily News said: “… seamlessly weaves wit and effortless jazz …”. Ronnie Scott used to make ‘em laugh and Alan Barnes and Liane Carroll. We all love words and humour.
MG: You’re well known for nurturing young talent. We have vocalist Ben Cox at the festival. Any comments?
IS: Ben and Jamie Safiruddin, the prodigiously talented pianist, have a project that they approached me to produce. I said I’d be happy to get on board, so long as there were original, pop structured songs happening. They proved to be ace writers and the album has been received well. Their jazz core abilities also appeal: think Fagen/Becker, Sting, Cullum, Amy.
MG: You have the world class trumpeter Guy Barker playing with you. Guy has been twice before – with Georgie Fame and later with his own orchestra. I believe Guy is a good friend and you have worked with him on a number of projects?
IS: Yup. My Jazz Brother, GB. A funny, connective, knowledgeable artist of startling virtuosity. He and I can slip into any context. Big band, orchestra, duo, or simply inviting him to guest with my great trio.
MG: So it’s you and Guy and the wonderful Barry Green Trio. Can you give me some idea of the music you will be playing?
IS: We’ll be playing from my new album. It’s oddly a first for me. Just trio and voice. Most of my previous releases have worked through denser, more orchestral textures, or the simple piano/voice approach. All my new arrangements of songs, old, new and original, that we’ve been playing on the road (North Sea Jazz, Hamburg, Ronnie’s etc) will be played. To have Guy at Scarborough, with the trio, is to have a kind of ‘exclusive’ luxury guest. I’m looking forward to it hugely.
MG: Many thanks for taking time to talk to me Ian. Really looking forward to meeting up again and see you for an early morning dip.
IS: Can’t wait. Do they have ‘bathing machines’ in Scarborough? I look forward to descending into the fragrant North Sea waters, in my horizontal all-in-one ‘Front-pouched’ for modesty.
Scarborough Jazz Festival 2015 takes place on 25-27 September at the Scarborough Spa.
Weekend tickets are priced at £90 per person, with day and session tickets available. You can buy online at www.scarboroughjazzfestival.co.uk or from The Spa’s box office (01723 821 888).
