Louise Gibbs

Louise Gibbs returns to join the irrepressible tenor saxophonist Renato D’Aiello and his band at their regular Monday night fixture at Ronnie’s Bar in London on 10 October.

For this date Louise draws on the one hundred years of song associated with jazz to deliver standards, some originals and, in true jazz fashion, improvisation. We won’t always know what song’s coming next or who might be sitting in. But you can be sure that you’ll hear exciting music made in the moment!

Get your table early! Note the 8pm start! There’s now booking for Ronnie’s Bar (upstairs) and the price of £10 is a steal. You can turn up any time after 7.30pm. https://www.ronniescotts.co.uk/ronniesbar/reservation-form

 http://www.renatodaiello.net

If you’re looking for a freer jazz approach to singing and performing then this one-day workshop is for you. Singers from all genres (pop, soul, gospel, classical, folk) are welcome. No previous jazz experience or music reading skills are necessary, just a willingness to sing and learn. You’ll explore your “jazz voice”, learn new repertoire, how to improvise, how to direct a band, prepare for a jam session, and perform with greater confidence. You’ll also gain invaluable experience working with a very supportive trio of top young UK musicians: Sam Leak (piano), Mark Lewandowski (bass), and Sam Gardner (drums).

The workshop is led by Louise Gibbs who brings depth of experience and expertise as a performing artist, composer, teacher and workshop leader. She has taught voice, jazz, improvisation and musicianship at all levels at Leeds College of Music, Royal Northern College of Music, Guildhall School of Music & Drama, and Goldsmiths, University of London. She currently teaches voice at the Universities of Hull and Leeds.

The workshop takes place in Leeds and is limited to 10 participants.

Cost: £75 for the day (£60 full time student) – includes lunch & refreshments. For more information and to book a place: louise@jazzmine.co.uk or 07813 684077

To mark 100 years of jazz song and improvisation, Louise Gibbs, has devised The Jazz Song Uncovered especially for the Headingley Music Festival. The programme traces its blues roots from Marion Harris and Bessie Smith, through the American Songbook with Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, and Sarah Vaughan, the bebop of Anita O’Day, the African Soul of Abbey Lincoln, to the contemporary jazz fusion of Esperanza Spalding.

The programme will finish with a contemporary mix of lyrics by Norma Winstone songs by Christine Tobin and some of Louise’s Seven Deadly Sings and other originals.

Louise is accompanied by Sam Leak (piano), Mark Lewandowski (double bass) and Sam Gardner (drums). Together they are the Louise Gibbs Quartet.

Louise is special guest for the Nottingham Jazz Jam at the Malt Cross. She’ll be singing with: Matthew Ratcliffe (piano), Martyn Spencer (double bass) & Andrew Wood (drums)

For more information contact: Andrew ‘Woody’ Wood at www.andrewwoodjazz.co.uk

My Seven Deadly Sings suite will receive its Southern Hemisphere premiere in my home town Auckland, New Zealand, on 18 November at The Creative Jazz Club. I’ll be joining trumpet player, Mike Booth, and other members of the Auckland Jazz Orchestra. Sounds like it might be a tour in the making. More information to come…

Jazz Singing Beyond the Standard: new roles and repertoire is the title of my performance-presentation which has been accepted for the First International Jazz Voice Conference at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland. Carmen Lundy, Judy Niemack, Michele Weir, are amongst some of the key presenters.

Louise is back again at Ronnie Scott’s upstairs as Renato D’Aiello’s special guest on 13 July. Saxophonist Renato and his band have a regular Monday night fixture at Ronnie’s featuring a top UK/European singer.

For this date, as well as singing some of her own and Renato’s original songs, Louise will honour the first anniversary of Horace Silver’s passing with his: Song for My Father, Tokyo Blues, Pretty Eyes, Peace, amongst a few others. In true jazz fashion we won’t know what song’s coming next or who might be sitting in. But you can be sure that you’ll hear exciting music made in the moment!

Get your table early! There’s now booking for Ronnie’s Bar (upstairs) and the price of £8 is a steal. You can turn up any time after 7.30pm. https://www.ronniescotts.co.uk/ronniesbar/reservation-form

 http://www.renatodaiello.net

Vocalist and composer/lyricist Louise Gibbs is reunited with the original Seven Deadly Sings band: Tony Kofi (alto and baritone saxophones), Tim Whitehead (tenor saxophone, bass clarinet), Quentin Collins (trumpet), Tom White (trombone), Sam Leak (piano), Oli Hayhurst (bass), and Sam Gardner (drums) for the London premiere of Louise’s suite, Seven Deadly Sings. This is the band as on the eponymous recording released in 2014 which garnered a 4 star Jazzwise review:

“Both in its conception and execution, 7 Deadly Sings…is an unqualified triumph…From the hard-edged lines of ‘Envy’ and the stasis of ‘Sloth’ to the insistent ostinato of ‘Anger’, 7 Deadly Sings grips you to the very end.”

Louise wrote the 50-minute song suite  Seven Deadly Sings (lyrics, music and arrangements) to explore the idea of “sin” and desire in the 20th century, and to challenge herself beyond the standard jazz repertoire and the usual themes of romantic love. Held together by the singer’s wickedly provocative narrative, the suite demands an ensemble of virtuosi – strong improvising soloists and storytellers, each a protagonist for sin – alto sax for greed, tenor sax for lust, trumpet for envy, trombone for gluttony, piano for pride, double bass for sloth, drums for anger.

Seven Deadly Sings will be performed on Wednesday 17 June, 8pm, at the Bulls Head in Barnes (373 Lonsdale Rd, Barnes, London SW13 9PY) together with a set of Monk and Monk-inspired material from the band. It’s part of the Way Out West series of jazz gigs at “the Bull”.

LGQ – Louise Gibbs (vocals), Sam Leak (piano), Simon Read (double bass), Sam Gardner (drums) will be at HEART in Headingley, Leeds to deliver two engaging sets of music for you.

This will be the first time that LGQ has performed at HEART, and we’ll be offering a preview of material from our latest Missing project, new arrangements of songs by Peter Spafford, ‘Sins’ from Louise’s Seven Deadly Sings song suite (especially arranged for LGQ), along with some of our favourite jazz standards (Thelonious Monk, Duke Ellington, Arlen & Mercer).

The performance space at HEART has a particularly warm acoustic that encourages subtle and interactive music making. It’s a singer’s treat! And especially rewarding if you’re interested in hearing the lyrics of a song. We’re keeping our fingers crossed (that is, until we have to play) that the grand piano which has just been donated to HEART will be in place for Sam Leak to dispense his magic.

For more information on the LGQ band members:

www.samleak.com

www.samgardnermusic.com/

Louise runs a jazz vocal workshop for singers on Saturday 16 May at her home studio in Leeds. The workshop welcomes singers wanting to become more confident jazz performers and improvisers, and also soul, pop and classical singers who’d like to take a freer jazz approach to their sound and performance.  Bring your own material and try some new jazz repertoire.

Participants also have the valuable opportunity to direct a live accompanying trio – working with some of the best young musicians on the UK scene: Sam Leak, Simon Read, & Sam Gardner.

Louise brings depth of experience and expertise both as a performing artist and educator. She was course leader at Leeds College of Music for the jazz and postgraduate programmes 2007-2011, has taught and run workshops in most major UK conservatoires, was voice tutor for the Jamie Aebersold clinics in the UK.

£75 for the day (£60 full time student) – includes lunch & refreshments. To book or for more information: louise@jazzmine.co.uk or 07813 684077