Martin Taylor & Alison Burns | Tour
February 18th 2009 06:20
INTERNATIONALLY ACCLAIMED AND GRAMMY AWARD-WINNING GUITARIST MARTIN TAYLOR TO TOUR AUSTRALIA WITH UK'S FASTEST RISING JAZZ SINGER ALISON BURNS IN MARCH 2009
When Grammy award winning guitarist Martin Taylor (pictured), who has collaborated with great singers including Peggy Lee, Martin Carthy, Jamie Cullum, Dionne Warwick and Bryn Terfel, chose to record a special duo album with a vocalist he chose the UKs fastest rising jazz singer Alison Burns.
MARTIN TAYLOR MBE
Award winning guitarist MARTIN TAYLOR has established a unique musical career as an internationally acclaimed musician, and his inimitable style has seen him recognized as the world's foremost exponent of solo jazz guitar playing. Although completely self taught, he has enjoyed a remarkable musical career spanning across four decades, and during that time has invented and developed a way of playing the guitar that is admired, and often imitated, by guitarists all over the world.
As well as being a true guitar innovator, he is also a master concert performer, dazzling audiences with his solo shows, which combine virtuosity, emotion, humor, with a strong stage presence. He spends much of the year traveling the world, playing in concert halls in Europe, North America, Japan, Asia, and Australasia. As well as his solo concerts and recordings, he has also collaborated with musicians from many different musical genre including Stephane Grappelli, Chet Atkins, Bill Wyman, Dionne Warwick, Sacha Distel, Bryn Terfel and Jamie Cullum.
From 1979 to 1989 he toured the world and recorded over 20 albums with the French jazz violin legend STEPHANE GRAPPELLI. Monsieur Grappelli described him as Rich in talent and elegance, he's a great artist.
In 2002, he was appointed MBE For Services to Jazz Music, in The Queen's Birthday Honors List, which he received personally from Her Majesty the Queen at an investiture at Buckingham Palace.
In 2007 he recieved the prestigious BBC Radio 2 Heart of Jazz Award in recognition of his career in music, was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the North Wales Jazz Guitar Festival for his Contribution to Jazz Guitar Worldwide and was voted Best Guitarist in the British Jazz Awards for a record eleventh time.
When not touring he divides his time between his homes in France and Scotland where he writes music for TV and film.
His autobiography MARTIN TAYLOR - AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A TRAVELLING MUSICIAN and his latest CD/DVD FRETERNITY are available worldwide.
ALISON BURNS
The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work. Surrounded by the surfeit of little girl voices prevalent in jazz today, it's almost a relief to encounter a mature but flexible voice like ALISON BURNS. Beyond the vocal quality is imaginative delivery and interpretation that comes from experience in life as well as extensive touring in the US, UK, Italy and China. TV host Michael Parkinson has declared himself as a fan and her debut album 'Kissing Bug' featuring Guy Barker and David Newton and produced by guitarist MARTIN TAYLOR has received rave reviews. At home in any setting, from festival and theatre stages to small, intimate venues, Alison Burns never fails to touch the audience with her soul-stirring performances.
Born in Scotland, ALISON BURNS grew up drawing inspiration from the recordings of the jazz greats like Sarah Vaughn, Nat King Cole and Ella Fitzgerald. In demand as much abroad as in the UK she has performed concerts in Tokyo, Nashville, New York, Cannes, Capri and Shanghai.
French writer Emile Zola never met ALISON BURNS, and his perceptive quote may seem like an unusual introduction, but it's wholly appropriate for this rising star of the jazz world, and her rather unusual road to success. With the release of her second album 1:AM, a collaboration with world-renowned and multi award-winning jazz guitarist MARTIN TAYLOR, Alison brings her unique interpretation to a combination of traditional jazz standards, classic contemporary songwriting, and an original song which holds particular personal significance. It's a track listing which reflects the Dundee singer's lifetime love affair with music.
“My father was a guitarist and my mum would get into his gigs around Dundee for free by carrying the case...he still carried the guitar! He used to sing to me, numbers by Peggy Lee, Lena Horne, Bessie Smith. That's what I heard around the house. I also used to watch old Hollywood movies and dream of being a singer and actress. We had linoleum flooring in the bathroom, so I used to sprinkle it with salt and try my hand at tap dancing! The first time I sang was trying to pick out harmonies in songs on the radio.”
No matter what else has happened in Alison's life, that involvement with music has run in parallel - only now is it being allowed to take the lead. Life has certainly provided inspiration. As the first female apprentice engineer in the famous Timex watch factory in Dundee, the 16-year-old refused to compromise glamour in the workplace and never forgot her lipstick. The experience showed that she was perfectly capable of holding her own in a man's world.
Other jobs followed (including being sacked from a bingo-calling job) but it was at the age of 21 that Alison realised that her childhood dreams would only be realised if she actually did something about it. The death of her brother Alan, who was serving in the Falklands brought home the reality of a life lived unfulfilled. Alan was very much the inspiration for the lyrics of the original song True on 1AM, which has music written by Martin Taylor.
Still based in Dundee, ALISON BURNS's acting, singing, and presenting career took off. As singer and songwriter in a band called The Rainmates, she tuned down two record deals which just “didn't feel right at the time”. Her first love was still the music she had heard in her childhood, however, and this led to the formation of a three-part female harmony group, The Penny Dainties. Not only did Alison get the group together, it was normal for her to be hanging over a sewing machine in the early hours, making the frocks!
Like every other performer, the days could be empty. However, never one to waste any time, Alison used the days productively and gained a law degree from Dundee University. She practised briefly, but the pull of music was too much and she found herself working in the music business, albeit behind the scenes. For a while, her own music career was put on the back burner, but it's telling that as soon as she turned her attention to jazz singing again, there was instant acclaim. The release of her debut album, Kissing Bug, in March 2007 was received with universal acclaim and became the first album by a Scottish jazz singer to reach the Jazz Top 10. She was lauded by the likes of jazz guru Michael Parkinson who invited ALISON BURNS to play at his hotel. The man himself was in the front row and threw his arms around her as she came off stage.
So far she has packed her bag to perform in far-flung destinations such as Tokyo, Nashville, New York, Cannes, Italy and Shanghai as well as exclusive events for the likes of Virgin Airlines and Sir Terence Conran. She has performed at jazz festivals and venues across the country, with her own group and guesting with Martin Taylor at a number of concerts. It was at these concerts that the idea for 1:AM came about. The recordings of Ella Fitzgerald and Joe Pass were the inspiration, stripping back the songs to vocal and guitar. Despite the smoky dark eyes and robust sense of humour, there's little of the jazz diva about Alison Burns. As a committed vegetarian, her greatest concern on the road is finding decent food as well as keeping in touch with her husband, family and friends. Venues will be shocked to find the only dressing room request is water and her only real superstition is “always wearing my granny's earrings”. For those who may think that Alison is where she has always wanted to be, that's true up to a point, but looking at her track record, this is obviously just the beginning. “I'd like to tour more and keep adding songs to my repertoire. It would be wonderful to sing with Tony Bennett and Michael Buble. It's also an ambition to sing with strings – I think it’s every singers ambition to sing with strings. I'd also like to write more songs.”
1:AM from ALISON BURNS and MARTIN TAYLOR is released on P3 Records. The album was inspired by the recordings of Ella Fitzgerald and Joe Pass. On the album, produced by Tony Platt, Alison Burns and Martin Taylor capture the essence of the recordings with just voice and guitar.
In 2009 the duo will hit the road to tour and promote this new album which is produced by legendary record producer Tony Platt (Bob Marley, The Who, The Rolling Stones, Buddy Guy). The tour and album take its inspiration from the Grammy award winning collaboration between Joe Pass & Ella Fitzgerald, mixing repertoire from The Great American Songbook and contemporary material.
Martin Taylor was the Head-line act at the last International Guitar Festival in Adelaide.
28 Feb 2009 20:00
Theatre of the Thailand Cultural Centre Bangkok, Thailand
3 Mar 2009 20:00
The Basement Sydney, Australia | Bookings: 02 9251 2791
4 Mar 2009 20:00
Shoalhaven Entertainment Centre Nowra, NSW, Australia | Bookings: 1300 788 503 with Special Guest George Golla
5 Mar 2009 20:00
Dizzy's Melbourne, Australia | Bookings: 03 9428 1233
6 Mar 2009 20:00
Dizzy's Melbourne, Australia | Bookings: 03 9428 1233
7 Mar 2009 20:00
Dizzy's Melbourne, Australia | Bookings: 03 9428 1233
8 Mar 2009 20:00
Gold Coast Arts & Cultural Centre Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia | Bookings: 05 5588 4000
9 Mar 2009 20:00
The Basement Sydney, Australia | Bookings: 02 9251 2791
11 Mar 2009 20:00
Avalon RSL Avalon, NSW, Australia | Bookings: 02 9918 2201
12 Mar 2009 20:00
Governor Hindmarsh Hotel Adelaide, Australia | Bookings: 08 8340 0744
13 Mar 2009 20:00
Ellington's Jazz Club Perth, Australia |
14 Mar 2009 20:00
Ellington's Jazz Club Perth, Australia
15 Mar 2009 20:00
Jazz Freemantle, Navy Club, High Street Freemantle, Australia | Bookings: 08 9384 4835
When Grammy award winning guitarist Martin Taylor (pictured), who has collaborated with great singers including Peggy Lee, Martin Carthy, Jamie Cullum, Dionne Warwick and Bryn Terfel, chose to record a special duo album with a vocalist he chose the UKs fastest rising jazz singer Alison Burns.
MARTIN TAYLOR MBE
Award winning guitarist MARTIN TAYLOR has established a unique musical career as an internationally acclaimed musician, and his inimitable style has seen him recognized as the world's foremost exponent of solo jazz guitar playing. Although completely self taught, he has enjoyed a remarkable musical career spanning across four decades, and during that time has invented and developed a way of playing the guitar that is admired, and often imitated, by guitarists all over the world.
As well as being a true guitar innovator, he is also a master concert performer, dazzling audiences with his solo shows, which combine virtuosity, emotion, humor, with a strong stage presence. He spends much of the year traveling the world, playing in concert halls in Europe, North America, Japan, Asia, and Australasia. As well as his solo concerts and recordings, he has also collaborated with musicians from many different musical genre including Stephane Grappelli, Chet Atkins, Bill Wyman, Dionne Warwick, Sacha Distel, Bryn Terfel and Jamie Cullum.
From 1979 to 1989 he toured the world and recorded over 20 albums with the French jazz violin legend STEPHANE GRAPPELLI. Monsieur Grappelli described him as Rich in talent and elegance, he's a great artist.
In 2002, he was appointed MBE For Services to Jazz Music, in The Queen's Birthday Honors List, which he received personally from Her Majesty the Queen at an investiture at Buckingham Palace.
In 2007 he recieved the prestigious BBC Radio 2 Heart of Jazz Award in recognition of his career in music, was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the North Wales Jazz Guitar Festival for his Contribution to Jazz Guitar Worldwide and was voted Best Guitarist in the British Jazz Awards for a record eleventh time.
When not touring he divides his time between his homes in France and Scotland where he writes music for TV and film.
His autobiography MARTIN TAYLOR - AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A TRAVELLING MUSICIAN and his latest CD/DVD FRETERNITY are available worldwide.
ALISON BURNS
The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work. Surrounded by the surfeit of little girl voices prevalent in jazz today, it's almost a relief to encounter a mature but flexible voice like ALISON BURNS. Beyond the vocal quality is imaginative delivery and interpretation that comes from experience in life as well as extensive touring in the US, UK, Italy and China. TV host Michael Parkinson has declared himself as a fan and her debut album 'Kissing Bug' featuring Guy Barker and David Newton and produced by guitarist MARTIN TAYLOR has received rave reviews. At home in any setting, from festival and theatre stages to small, intimate venues, Alison Burns never fails to touch the audience with her soul-stirring performances.
Born in Scotland, ALISON BURNS grew up drawing inspiration from the recordings of the jazz greats like Sarah Vaughn, Nat King Cole and Ella Fitzgerald. In demand as much abroad as in the UK she has performed concerts in Tokyo, Nashville, New York, Cannes, Capri and Shanghai.
French writer Emile Zola never met ALISON BURNS, and his perceptive quote may seem like an unusual introduction, but it's wholly appropriate for this rising star of the jazz world, and her rather unusual road to success. With the release of her second album 1:AM, a collaboration with world-renowned and multi award-winning jazz guitarist MARTIN TAYLOR, Alison brings her unique interpretation to a combination of traditional jazz standards, classic contemporary songwriting, and an original song which holds particular personal significance. It's a track listing which reflects the Dundee singer's lifetime love affair with music.
“My father was a guitarist and my mum would get into his gigs around Dundee for free by carrying the case...he still carried the guitar! He used to sing to me, numbers by Peggy Lee, Lena Horne, Bessie Smith. That's what I heard around the house. I also used to watch old Hollywood movies and dream of being a singer and actress. We had linoleum flooring in the bathroom, so I used to sprinkle it with salt and try my hand at tap dancing! The first time I sang was trying to pick out harmonies in songs on the radio.”
No matter what else has happened in Alison's life, that involvement with music has run in parallel - only now is it being allowed to take the lead. Life has certainly provided inspiration. As the first female apprentice engineer in the famous Timex watch factory in Dundee, the 16-year-old refused to compromise glamour in the workplace and never forgot her lipstick. The experience showed that she was perfectly capable of holding her own in a man's world.
Other jobs followed (including being sacked from a bingo-calling job) but it was at the age of 21 that Alison realised that her childhood dreams would only be realised if she actually did something about it. The death of her brother Alan, who was serving in the Falklands brought home the reality of a life lived unfulfilled. Alan was very much the inspiration for the lyrics of the original song True on 1AM, which has music written by Martin Taylor.
Still based in Dundee, ALISON BURNS's acting, singing, and presenting career took off. As singer and songwriter in a band called The Rainmates, she tuned down two record deals which just “didn't feel right at the time”. Her first love was still the music she had heard in her childhood, however, and this led to the formation of a three-part female harmony group, The Penny Dainties. Not only did Alison get the group together, it was normal for her to be hanging over a sewing machine in the early hours, making the frocks!
Like every other performer, the days could be empty. However, never one to waste any time, Alison used the days productively and gained a law degree from Dundee University. She practised briefly, but the pull of music was too much and she found herself working in the music business, albeit behind the scenes. For a while, her own music career was put on the back burner, but it's telling that as soon as she turned her attention to jazz singing again, there was instant acclaim. The release of her debut album, Kissing Bug, in March 2007 was received with universal acclaim and became the first album by a Scottish jazz singer to reach the Jazz Top 10. She was lauded by the likes of jazz guru Michael Parkinson who invited ALISON BURNS to play at his hotel. The man himself was in the front row and threw his arms around her as she came off stage.
So far she has packed her bag to perform in far-flung destinations such as Tokyo, Nashville, New York, Cannes, Italy and Shanghai as well as exclusive events for the likes of Virgin Airlines and Sir Terence Conran. She has performed at jazz festivals and venues across the country, with her own group and guesting with Martin Taylor at a number of concerts. It was at these concerts that the idea for 1:AM came about. The recordings of Ella Fitzgerald and Joe Pass were the inspiration, stripping back the songs to vocal and guitar. Despite the smoky dark eyes and robust sense of humour, there's little of the jazz diva about Alison Burns. As a committed vegetarian, her greatest concern on the road is finding decent food as well as keeping in touch with her husband, family and friends. Venues will be shocked to find the only dressing room request is water and her only real superstition is “always wearing my granny's earrings”. For those who may think that Alison is where she has always wanted to be, that's true up to a point, but looking at her track record, this is obviously just the beginning. “I'd like to tour more and keep adding songs to my repertoire. It would be wonderful to sing with Tony Bennett and Michael Buble. It's also an ambition to sing with strings – I think it’s every singers ambition to sing with strings. I'd also like to write more songs.”
1:AM from ALISON BURNS and MARTIN TAYLOR is released on P3 Records. The album was inspired by the recordings of Ella Fitzgerald and Joe Pass. On the album, produced by Tony Platt, Alison Burns and Martin Taylor capture the essence of the recordings with just voice and guitar.
In 2009 the duo will hit the road to tour and promote this new album which is produced by legendary record producer Tony Platt (Bob Marley, The Who, The Rolling Stones, Buddy Guy). The tour and album take its inspiration from the Grammy award winning collaboration between Joe Pass & Ella Fitzgerald, mixing repertoire from The Great American Songbook and contemporary material.
Europe's finest guitarist Jazz Times, New York
Martin Taylor was the Head-line act at the last International Guitar Festival in Adelaide.
28 Feb 2009 20:00
Theatre of the Thailand Cultural Centre Bangkok, Thailand
3 Mar 2009 20:00
The Basement Sydney, Australia | Bookings: 02 9251 2791
4 Mar 2009 20:00
Shoalhaven Entertainment Centre Nowra, NSW, Australia | Bookings: 1300 788 503 with Special Guest George Golla
5 Mar 2009 20:00
Dizzy's Melbourne, Australia | Bookings: 03 9428 1233
6 Mar 2009 20:00
Dizzy's Melbourne, Australia | Bookings: 03 9428 1233
7 Mar 2009 20:00
Dizzy's Melbourne, Australia | Bookings: 03 9428 1233
8 Mar 2009 20:00
Gold Coast Arts & Cultural Centre Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia | Bookings: 05 5588 4000
9 Mar 2009 20:00
The Basement Sydney, Australia | Bookings: 02 9251 2791
11 Mar 2009 20:00
Avalon RSL Avalon, NSW, Australia | Bookings: 02 9918 2201
12 Mar 2009 20:00
Governor Hindmarsh Hotel Adelaide, Australia | Bookings: 08 8340 0744
13 Mar 2009 20:00
Ellington's Jazz Club Perth, Australia |
14 Mar 2009 20:00
Ellington's Jazz Club Perth, Australia
15 Mar 2009 20:00
Jazz Freemantle, Navy Club, High Street Freemantle, Australia | Bookings: 08 9384 4835
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