BRISTOL JAZZ FESTIVAL  presents GWYNETH HERBERT at Jazz in the Loft at The Tobacco Factory
Headfirst Editor's Pick

"Sell out warning! Gwyneth Herbert blends neo-soul and late-night jazz with cinematic precision, her vocals floating somewhere between Peggy Lee’s smoky poise and Beth Gibbons’ spectral devastation. This special BJF show sees her joined by fellow UK circuit legends Al Cherry and Sam Burgess in a magnetic-beyond-belief appearance FFO: Cécile McLorin Salvant, Billie Marten, Joan Shelley."

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A gig held at The Tobacco Factory on Saturday 2nd May. The event starts at 19:30.


Gwyneth Herbert is a performer, composer / lyricist and multi-instrumentalist and has been hailed as one the most imaginative and idiosyncratic artists of her generation. She has collaborated with artists, academics, communities, companies, orchestras, pole dancers and puppets to produce a huge canon of interdisciplinary work that seeks to find dialogue with the world. As well as releasing seven critically-acclaimed albums and performing at venues and jazz festivals around the world, she is the co-creator of eight musicals, including the record-breaking productions of “A Christmas Carol” and “The Nutcracker” at Bristol Old Vic (both with writer Tom Morris). Other composition work has involved major commissions from the London Sinfonietta, Mahogany Opera Group, Snape Maltings, and the BFI, and she has this year been nominated to join the 75th edition of the Southbank New Poets' Collective.

Tonight's special, intimate performance sees her joined onstage by bassist Sam Burgess (Ronnie Scott's All Stars) and guitarist Al Cherry ("genius" - The Times) - both long-term collaborators and outstanding jazz musicians in their own right. Expect an evening full of hope, humour and heart as Herbert invites us on an expansive journey through her work - with haunting sea laments, witty character vignettes, soaring melodies, rousing choruses... and maybe even a poem or two!

✶✶✶✶✶ "A remarkably gifted talent" The Guardian; "Her voice is a thing of beauty" The Times; ✶✶✶✶✶ “Brilliantly original” MOJO; “Her lyrics are consistently engaging … singing with a rare balance of passion and control … one of Britain’s brightest talents” - The Telegraph "By turns moving, thrilling and entrancing" - Jazzwise

“A precociously powerful chemistry of taste and meticulous care for every sound – from a whisper to an exhortation” – The Guardian “Of the let’s say top 10 singers I’ve ever seen, Herbert is two of them” – Rochester City Newspaper, USA

Entry requirements: no age restrictions

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