Shirley Smart Trio
Friday 16th September 2022
Tickets: £20.00 Seat at a shared Table for 4 /£15.00 Seat – No Table
Doors: 7.30pm
Show: 8.00pm-10.00pm
Returning to Hampstead Jazz Club once again, she brings her dynamic brand of Middle Eastern infused jazz with John Crawford on piano and Demi Garcia Sabat on drums.
Tonights show draws on music from her acclaimed album ‘Long Story Short’
Shirley Smart is recognised as one of the UK’s most versatile and creative cellists – and her trio draws together the vibrant and eclectic mixture of influences resulting from 10 years present living in Jerusalem before establishing herself on the UK scene.
Originally trained under Raphael Wallfisch at the Guildhall School of Music, and Janos Starker in Paris, she subsequently moved to Jerusalem. She remained for 10 years. studying and performing a wide variety of musical traditions from the region, and working with artists including Avishai Cohen, Omer Avital and Yasmin Levy. Since returning to the UK, she has quickly become established as a unique performer, and is in demand with artists such as Mulatu Astatke, Maya Youssef, Neil Cowley, and Robert Mitchell. She also leads her own projects and released her first trio album ‘Long Story Short’ in 2018 to critical acclaim.
Current projects in which she is involved also include Issie Barratt’s Interchange Dectet, which has just recorded its debut album ‘Donna’s Secret‘ for release in 2019, and Nikki Yeoh’s trio project Cafe Oran debuting at the Ronnie Scotts International Piano Trio Festival in 2019. She also released an acclaimed duo album ‘Zeitgeist’ with pianist Robert Mitchell earlier in 2022.
Shirley has appeared at numerous festivals in the UK and abroad and highlights for 2019 with ‘Long Story Short‘ include the Cheltenham Festival, EFG London Jazz Festival and Vivacello Festival in Moscow.
She is also a keen educator, and is currently Head of Performance at City University, and teaches Improvisation at the RCMJD. She has given workshops for Chethams School of Music, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, National Youth Jazz Collective, Jazzlines, Trinity Laban and Manchester and Kent Universities.
” Shirley Smart can now be considered one of the best improvising cellists in the UK” – The Jazzmann
“…some of the most inventive use of the cello I have heard for some time..” – Kind of Jazz
‘As a cellist-composer she morphs seamlessly from Stephane Grappelli like swing and Bird-like bebop…a charming kaleidoscope and jazzy showcase of her global folk music-inspired compositions‘ – Jazzwise
LINE-UP:
Cello – Shirley Smart
Piano – John Crawford
Drums – Demi Garcia Sabat
Please note, The Club is not licensed to allow access to Children under the age of 16 after 9pm, so for evening performances, please do not book tickets for children under the age of 16. Children aged 16 and above are welcome at any time.
For £20.00 Tickets:
Seats are not numbered and you will be seated at available tables. Please note tables seat 4 people, so for bookings of less than 4 people, you will be seated and share a table for 4.
For £15.00 Tickets:
This is a fully seated event. Seats are not numbered and will be allocated on a first come first serve basis.
Please note the Jazz Club is situated in the basement of the Duke of Hamilton Pub and access is via a number of stairs. The nearest toilets are situated on the 1st floor of the Pub.
Showtimes
Doors: 7:30 pm | Show: 8:00 pm