London Jazz Diary

City Jazz Festival @ Ora Restaurant

It gives us great pleasure to announce our upcoming jazz festival at Ora Restaurant, the brand new Thai dining experience in the very heart of London. Each week we will be featuring the finest selection of our jazz musicians, drawn from our top pool of London jazz musicians and instrumentalists.

Head chef Tamas Khan has created a special three-course menu of innovative Thai dishes for the ORA Jazz Festival, on offer for four consecutive Sundays (20th and 27th March and 3rd and 10th April) from 6:30pm-10:30pm. With three-courses for just £25 per person and the chance to hear some of the finest live jazz in the capital it offers incredible value for money.

Jazz Schedule

For the City Jazz residency at Ora, Sam has invited one or more guests to accompany him each week, playing a mix of jazz standards in both classic and contemporary style, the perfect compliment to the dining experience.

March 20th – Sam Sharp / Liz Cass / Esben Tjalve
March 27th – Sam Sharp / George Moore
April 3rd – Sam Sharp / Kristian Borring 
April 10th – Sam Sharp / Brendan Dowse

Location
6 Little Portland St London W1W 7JE
Tube: Oxford Circus
Tel: 020 7637 0125
www.ora-restaurant.co.uk

Performer Biographies

Sam Sharp

City Jazz was formed by saxophonist Sam Sharp upon completion of his Master degree in jazz from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and formalises many years of performing experience on the jazz scene and at public and private events. Sam played his first paid “function gig” aged 13 and since then has had the pleasure of performing all over the world, including concerts at the Montreux, North Sea and London jazz festivals, and at many prestigious venues such as the South Bank Centre, The Barbican Centre, The 606 Club, Pizza Express Dean St, Pizza On The Park, the Royal Albert Hall, and Buckingham Palace. For more on City Jazz and their top London Jazz Musicians, visit www.cityjazz.co.uk

Liz Cass

Liz Cass is an exciting young vocalist on the London Jazz scene. With sumptuous vocals, and a unique and captivating performance style, she is inspired by movies and old-style glamour, and brings something new and special to her repertoire of classic Jazz songs. Liz has been performing jazz for over 7 years in the UK and abroad: she has been a regular at Pizza Express Jazz Club and Pizza On The Park, enjoyed a two year residency at Smollenky’s On The Strand, and headlined at such high-profile events as ‘The West End At War’ and ‘The West End Live’ festivals, and the Regent Street Festival in London. She has since performed at many high-profile private events for Dior, F1 Mclaren, James Murdoch, and several awards ceremonies at the Royal Albert Hall. Liz continues to perform at Jazz venues all over London, the UK and Europe, and next she embarks on her most exciting project to date – her debut album of original material.

Esben Tjalve

Esben grew up in Denmark where he played music from an early age. He graduated from the Royal Academy Of Music with Bachelor Honours and went on to do a masters in composition at the Guildhall School of Music and Daram. Since then he has composed music for the BBC and many theatre productions as well as an nominated film animation “the Marriage of the Thames and the Rhine”. His talents as a jazz pianist have seen him collaborate with James Allsopp, Mishka Adams and many other contemporary jazz artists. Not content with jazz he has also teamed up with Ghanaian Hip hop artist M3nsa for Radio One Live Sessions, and also Musical Direcotr for the Lucinda Belle Orchestra (Island Records). As for his latest news, an album with his acclaimed six-piece “Red Kite” is soon to be released on indie jazz label F-IRE.

George Moore

George Moore began playing piano and drums at an early age. He graduated from the jazz piano course at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 2009 and has since continued to build a reputation as a pianist, arranger and musical director with a wide range of jazz and pop artists. He performs on a regular basis with Juliet Kelly, The Heritage Orchestra (for both of whom he also arranges) and the London Vocal Project, and has also performed with Dave Liebman, Gareth Lockrane, Mike Walker, Steve Fishwick, Marti Pellow, Tony Christie, Sara Schiralli and Darius. As an arranger, he has contributed to performances featuring Chaka Khan (with the Metropole Orchestra), UNKLE, Phil Robson, Christine Tobin and the 2008 George Martin Tribute performances at the Guildhall. He has worked on BBC Television shows “Just The Two Of Us” and “Let Me Entertain You”, and on films including “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” and “Last Chance Harvey”, where he worked as piano tutor to the actor Dustin Hoffman. He is currently working on a variety of original projects with which he hopes to perform later in 2011.

Brendan Dowse

Brendan is a singer and pianist who trained at the prestigious Guildhall school of Music and Drama, and combines velvety vocals with beautiful keyboard work to offer a subtle and sophisticated performance. Brendan has performed at London’s leading music venues, including the Royal Festival Hall, Albert Hall, Pizza Express Jazz Club, the Vortex, 606 club and The Jazz Cafe. He has performed on four continents. In addition, he is the musical director for the East London Soul Singers; a community group who perform regularly throughout the capital. His influences include Frank Sinatra, Kurt Elling, James Taylor and Stevie Wonder.

Kristian Borring

The London based Danish guitarist and composer, Kristian Borring, has been cited as “a rising talent on the new London jazz scene.” – (Time Out). He plays regularly in Tommaso Starace’s Quartet and has among others performed with Pete Wareham and Laurence Cottle. He is regularly to be seen around London venues, such as The Vortex, Ronnie Scott’s and Charlie Wright’s. Kristian is a graduate of the prestigious European conservatoire, Conservatorium van Amsterdam as well as Guildhall School of Music in London. His forthcoming album is set to be released this spring.