The ferociously talented Sarah Gillespie is kicking off the Oxford Jazz Festival with a gig at the Corner Club on Thursday 9 April. And the buzz surrounding her just got even buzzier, with a 4-star review in MOJO magazine this month for her debut album Stalking Juliet.
It’s fantastic that the critics are starting to take note of her because Sarah is truly something special, and a potential Mercury Award-winner if I ever heard one. Her electic mixture of gypsy jazz, folk, country, pop, blues and Middle Eastern sounds is utterly unique, and I’d even go so far to say that she’s one of the best lyricists this country has ever produced. No, really. She’s also funny as hell and smart as a whip 
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Don’t miss her Oxford performance with her quartet, which features her musical collaborator and the producer of Stalking Juliet, Gilad Atzmon - a man who needs no introduction. Well, hopefully he doesn’t. If you’ve been paying attention there at the back.
Some of Sarah’s press:
“A major new singer-songwriter…Sarah Gillespie is one of the most individual yet recognizable voices to emerge in some time.” All About Jazz
“A leftfield singer-songwriter…wry lyrics and sinuous melodies” John Bunjey, Mojo ****
“Gillespie’s fiery originals offer a contrasting combination of sweet folkish melodies and a lyrically witty, street-talking attitude, that transports Lou Reed and Dylan to multicultural London.” Jazzwise
“Excellent Greenwich born singer-songwriter Gillespie crafts acoustically-styled songs that shimmer with beauty while accompanying herself on finger-picked guitar. New album ‘Stalking Juliet’ mixes blues, jazz, vaudeville and gypsy swing… very much a talent to watch” Time Out
As we posted here, Oxford Jazz Festival performers Art Themen and 3BPM performed a pre-festival show at the North Wall Arts Centre.
Take a look at the video of their brilliant performances here:
(And no, I have no idea why when you type in ‘Art Themen’ and ‘North Wall’ into the search box in YouTube, you get the video for ‘That Don’t Impress Me Much’ by Shania Twain. But you do. Go on, try it.)