Wendy Kirkland – The Music’s On Me

Wendy Kirkland - The Music’s On Me

The Music’s On Me is the much anticipated new album by jazz pianist and vocalist Wendy Kirkland. Described as “the unsung heroine of British Jazz” by The Jazz Mann and “mellow and stylish” by the Sunday Times, Kirkland continues to consolidate her status as a force on the international circuit, not least in the space occupied by ‘Piano Divas’ – the title of her debut album, described by The Observer as “proper jazz piano, excellent band. A very classy debut.”

Her new album, The Music’s On Me, is a selection of original and ‘lyricised’ pieces – Kirkland having written her own words to songs by Michel Petrucciani, Michael Brecker, Russell Malone, Wes Montgomery and Don Grolnick alongside her own compositions. Joining her long term collaborators Pat Sprakes on guitar, Paul Jefferies on bass and Steve Wyndham on drums are guest musicians Tommaso Starace on sax and Roger Beaujolais on vibraphone.

Wendy Kirkland’s voice has been likened to Blossom Dearie with hints of Diana Krall, though insists on being called a ‘pianist-singer’ rather than a ‘singer-pianist’ having been classically trained from an early age, then developing a love for jazz through inspiration from her father, who played piano and organ in social clubs as backing for guest singers and musicians. Wendy explains:

“I’d been playing through transcriptions of Dave Brubeck and Harry Stoneham compositions and solos, because my dad had the books. I was about 14 and really preferred the sound of jazz harmonies to those in most classical pieces I was playing – to me it was a much more sophisticated and intriguing sound.

Later, when persuaded to sing by her fellow musicians, Kirkland “saw it as an expansion of focus, as I developed the simultaneous vocal doubling of my piano solos, which I don’t learn, so I have to be at the same time spontaneous and accurate with my singing of the intervals I’m playing. It’s tough but very effective, and it also adds another timbre to the music.

Influences range from Nat King Cole, Sarah VaughanShirley Horn and Ella Fitzgerald through Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans, Wynton Kelly to Chick Corea and Eliane Elias, though her distinctive vocal style and accomplished piano playing occupy a space that’s very much her own.

Wendy Kirkland, together with husband and guitarist/bassist Pat Sprakes also runs the successful Chesterfield and Peak Jazz Clubs, frequently leading the house band and backing visiting musicians such as saxophonists Karen Sharp, Alan Barnes and Tony Kofi, guitarists Jim Mullen and Phil Robson and vibraphonist Roger Beaujolais, all of whom hold her in high regard as a musician at the top of her game.

The Music’s On Me is an imaginative, yet accessible body of work that adeptly showcases the skill of Kirkland and her band – a thoroughly entertaining album for all to enjoy.

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