Nov ’17: Cambridge Jazz Festival performance

Robin will be featuring twice in the 2017 Cambridge Jazz Festival. First with his trio and special guest Sara Dowling in a performance at the Gonville Hotel on Thursday 23rd November, then in a jazz vocal masterclass with Emilia Martensson.

Performance – Thursday 23rd Nov ’17

Robin Phillips returns to the Cambridge Jazz Festival in 2017 to continue his series of vocal performances in partnership with the Gonville Hotel whilst introducing another significant vocalist on the UK jazz scene to the city. Following his 2016 teaming-up with award-winning jazz vocalist Anita Wardell, this year he brings exciting emerging vocalist Sara Dowling to the festival, alongside his London trio.

Tickets are available just for the concert or to also include a special Cotto restaurant two-course meal, served before the performance.

Sara and Robin share a dedicated passion for song, always looking to uncover the stories and history behind the classic jazz repertoire. This has led them both, though separately, into the world of the ‘lost verses’ of jazz standards: the ‘sectional verses’ that often worked as an introduction to songs that first appeared on the stage, offering a segue between the script and song. Whilst a few, like Stardust, have stood the test of time and still remain as a part of the song, many were lost due to numerous factors, including the restriction of available vinyl recording length and the memory of working musicians. These introductory sections of the standards often give great insight into the true meaning of the song, as well as delivering an interesting additional dimension to each piece.

At their Cambridge Jazz Festival performance, Sara and Robin will take turns delivering their picks of the lost verses, whilst accompanying each other with a comfort and ease developed through many performances together in the capital. The singers will be backed by The Robin Phillips Trio, with Jihad Darwish on bass and Alex Best on drums. The performance will also preview material from Robin’s upcoming lost verses album.

Click here for more information and to book tickets.

Nov ’17: Cambridge Jazz Festival vocal masterclass

In the 2017 Cambridge Jazz Festival, Robin returns with another masterclass for jazz singers, but one which is also relevant to instrumentalists wanting to improve their skills at leading a jazz ensemble.

For the masterclass, Robin is teaming up with award-winning jazz vocalist, Emilia Martensson, who will be leading the workshop in the morning, whilst Robin will lead the workshop with her in the second half with help from his trio.

Emilia will be covering many areas including: Improvisation as a group; Composing a piece of music on the spot; Performance technique; Different feels and tempos (counting in); How to lead a group and communicate with musicians; Ear training; and Music theory and much more.

In Robin’s part of the workshop, participants will be given practical tips about working with a band, becoming part of the band, and controlling the performance from within and in the moment. They will also get the opportunity to perform with the trio (time dependent). Emilia will also participate in this section, adding her own insight and tips developed through her own experience. As this section of the workshop is more about band-leading and performance, it would be applicable to instrumentalists as well as singers.

Participants will learn how to lead a jazz performance with a group and be asked to prepare two standards in advance of the workshop (not mandatory and instructions will be sent). At the workshop participants will learn about how to prepare tunes for performance, whether this means putting together lead sheets or arrangements and how each differs, or just knowing the song, key and feel of each number in your repertoire. Participants will also be given the opportunity to lead a tune with the trio, trying out techniques that will be discussed, including: communicating feel to the band, counting in, delivering the tune to the audience – accurately and emotionally, developing the performance by singing/playing around the melody; leading the solos in the moment, and communicating endings on the fly.

Click here for more info and to book a place.

Sept ’17: New Dog & Duck trio album launch – Sun 3rd Sept ’17

The new Dog & Duck trio album, DownBeat, will be launched on Sunday 3rd Sept, at the monthly jazz session at the Dog & Duck pub, in Linton, Cambridgeshire.

The album was recorded, mixed, mastered, and designed by repmusic in the repmusic studio. All video footage and editing was also done by repmusic.

The album features Robin Phillips on piano and vocals, Jim Free on sax, and Louis Thorne on bass.

See below for two videos from the studio sessions. The album will be available to buy via this website soon.

Dog & Duck Jazz Trio:

Jul ’17 news: Tribute to Nat King Cole trio at Annie’s Jazz on 1st Aug

Robin will perform in trio format at Annie’s Jazz at Thorpe Hall Golf Club, Southend-on-Sea, SS1 3AT, on Tuesday 1st August, recreating the classic line-up favoured by Nat King Cole of piano/vocals, guitar and bass. For the performance, the trio, featuring Louis Thorne on guitar and Jay Darwish on bass, will delve into Nat’s unbelievable collection of songs…

Click here for the Annie’s Jazz Facebook page..

Feb ’17 news: Additional Pinstripe performances at Oriole, London

repmusic’s energetic speakeasy swing band Pinstripe Reduit wil be increasing its regular performances at Oriole bar in Smithfield, London, from January 2017. The band will now perform at this world-leading cocktail venue every 1st Saturday (including a late set) as well as every 2nd Thursday.

Pinstripe Reduit is the quartet line-up of Pinstripe Suit, which has performed at Oriole’s sister bar, Nightjar in Hoxton, for over five years.

Click here to see more information about Pinstripe Suit and Reduit.