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Portrait Of A Woman:
Heather Cairncross and David Newton, St Nicholas
Church, Arundel, Aug 28 By Barrie Jerram 4th September
2009 "Heather Cairncross made a
tremendous impression when I first saw her one
woman jazz musical at the Brighton Festival a
couple of years ago. She is one of the few
singers who successfully makes the crossover from
the world of classical music, where she has a high
reputation, to jazz. Renowned jazz pianist and
composer David Newton was encouraged by Cairncross
to add words to her Portrait Of A Woman song cycle
after hearing it in its orchestral
form. The result was a pleasing
mixture of songs with jazz trio accompaniment
augmented with the classical talent of the Arundel
Ensemble. The songs were about
relationships, mainly expressed through female eyes
with occasionally a man's perspective. Styles
ranged from haunting ballads, laments, lyrical
outpourings to those with a breezy
jauntiness. Newton's skilful piano
accompaniment often brought to mind the sound of a
sophisticated nightclub, and every song was
exquisitely delivered. 'Words Alone Can Never
Say' allowed Cairncross to release the soaring
power of her voice. Particularly captivating was
'Grace', a sweet song expressing the nervousness
and exhilaration of new-found love. The excitement
of the swinging blues of Hot Stuff, Latin tempo of
For The First Time and the encore number, Both
Sides Now, made one wish for more of the
same." This year Heather makes a welcome return to the
Arundel Festival with a fascinating new
project. With music and lyrics by David Newton and string
arrangements by Dee Palmer, Portrait of a Woman is
song cycle blending jazz with classical music where
each song is a chapter in the book of a real life
love story. David
Newton has been voted Best Pianist at
the British Jazz Awards eight times and arranger
Dee Palmer has worked with some of the world's
great artists from Jethro Tull to the London
Symphony Orchestra. With the addition of bassist
Chris Hill, who has recently joined Jamie Cullum's
band, the "phenomenal artistry" (Daily Telegraph)
of percussionist Owen Gunnell and the Arundel
Ensemble, this promises to be a truly great
night. "…her clarity, extraordinary range and
distinctive style seemed to me like a sort of
combination of Cleo Laine, Ella Fitzgerald and
Edith Piaf. Wonderful!" For information on buying tickets please visit
www.arundelmusic.co.uk
Or telephone 01903 882268 We look forward to seeing you there! La Vie en Rose won
a BAFTA On the 29th August
2007, Heather appeared at the Arundel Festival in
an exciting new jazz programme taking the timeless
songs of George Gershwin on a tour of South
America. The
concert featured breathtaking new arrangements
specially written for the Arundel Festival by her
pianist Joss
Peach and
bass player Steve
Thompson
. They enriched
your favourite Gershwin melodies with exciting
Latin colours and rhythms. Completing
this dynamic line up were the considerable talents
of Ben Reynolds on Drums and the sublime Joe
Auckland on Trumpet. Here's
what the critics said: "Standards
from the Gershwin songbook, all very familiar but
performed in a refreshing new style, resulted in an
outstanding concert for the festival music
programme. Brian
Shewry
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