ReVoice! Festval 2014

Acclaimed British jazz singer Georgia Mancio celebrates five years of ReVoice, her festival of jazz song, next month, with an expanded event, now twice its original length. In a series of glorious programmes, Mancio has combined some of the most charismatic and original performers worldwide with irresistible flair to create twelve days that display the art of jazz singing in its cosmopolitan best. Every night presents a delectable glimpse onto a musical scene, ever so slightly neglected in Britain, that exudes passion and sensuous skill.

Claire Martin and Joe Stilgoe (son of Richard), who perform on 9th October, were both already well known as soloists before coming together in a duo that’s quickly gathering a reputation as one of the best musical nights out anywhere. Uniting sublime musicianship - Martin is arguably the best jazz singer in Britain today - with Stilgoe’s cabaret exuberance and lethal humour, they create an evening of effortless musical style, drawing on the American songbook as well as more recent adaptations and originals.

Christine Tobin, performing on Tuesday 14th, is little known outside jazz circles, despite winning 2013 Edinburgh Festival and 2014 Parliamentary Jazz award, but she’s a singer-songwriter who combines the rarest musical sophistication with stunning emotional impact. As a songwriter, her range is immense, from her own settings of WB Yeats to versions of Leonard Cohen. What’s more, with guitarist Phil Robson and pianist Liam Noble, her band contains some of the most outstanding jazz musicians of their generation, playing at the peak of their careers. A fantastic opportunity to uncover a brilliant corner of British music.

Cameroonian-French singer/songwriter Sandra Nkake (Thurs 16th) performs an extraordinary soul-jazz informed by film noir aesthetics with flautist and composer, Jî Drû. Little known in the UK, but a popular figure in West Africa, Brazil and France, where she won the best act prize at the Marciac Jazz Festival (2012), Sandra Nkake’s music combines the vocal dexterity of jazz, with the immediate emotional impact of soul. Her song arrangements, often with Drû’s flute the principle effect, have a stunning, original sensuality.

Not forgetting Mancio herself, of course, who sings at every gig, either supporting or as the main act. (Her joint performance with Ian Shaw and Liane Carroll on Monday 13th will be unmissable fun.) Her repertoire of standards, with a strong international flavour (she sings in five languages), is acknowledged as one of the most stylish and diverse on the jazz scene, and she is a widely respected and sought-after act, both live and on CD.