Gwilym Simcock - Premier At London Jazz Festival 09

Gwilym Simcock & The Voice Project
London Premiere at The London Jazz Festival

Saturday 21 November, 2pm
Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall
0844 847 9911 / wwwsouthbankcentre.co.uk
Tickets: £10 / £15 + bkg

Gwilym Simcock, who is rapidly emerging as one of the finest players of his generation and has been labelled a 'genuis' by Chick Corea, is set to bring his acclaimed choral work I Prefer The Gorgeous Freedom to the capital as part of the London Jazz Festival in association with BBC Radio 3.

The piano prodigy will be performing with The Voice Project, the Norwich 100-piece community choir, conducted by Sian Croose, who have also performed works by other jazz luminaries such as Andy Sheppard, Dennis Rollins and Jon Hassle.

I Prefer The Gorgeous Freedom effortlessly blends classical and jazz themes into a sonorous whole and was originally commissioned by the Norfolk & Norwich Festival. The work is a series of poems put to music including Homeward Bound the brooding thoughts of a Guantanamo detainee and No Rack Can Torture Me by Emily Dickinson.

The concert will open with a short set from Simcock's new trio featuring Yuri Goloubev (bass) and James Maddren (drums) plus special guest Klaus Gesing (reeds).

The concert will be broadcast in BBC Radio 3's The Choir on Sunday 27 December 2009.

Gwilym Simcock's new double album Blues Vignette (Basho Records) is out on 16 November 2009.

For the full Festival programme visit www.londonjazzfestival.org.uk