22/11/2020

2:00 PM / 4:00 PM

Building on her praised debut album ‘Long Story Short’, Shirley extends her trio to a sextet, and presents a new programme drawing on the evocative world of Middle Eastern melodies, dance grooves and jazz improvisation. Acknowledged as one of the UK’s most versatile and creative cellists, Shirley Smart is equally at home and well versed in jazz, folk, Middle Eastern and World Music. Building on her acclaimed debut album ‘Long Story Short’, she now extends her trio to a sextet, and presents a new programme drawing on the evocative world of Middle Eastern melodies, dance grooves and jazz improvisation. Long influenced by Israeli bassist Omer Avital, her music aims to bring these two worlds together and explore the world between.

She is joined by a line-up of some of London’s leading jazz musicians, all of whom also have shared interests in music from around the world, and their intersections with jazz.

Promo Video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84Ib6gGEH-g

LINE – UP

Shirley Smart – Cello
Tim Quicke – Trumpet
James Arben – Tenor Sax/Flute
John Crawford – Piano
Liran Donin – Bass
Demi Garcia Sabat – Drums/Percussion

Originally trained under Raphael Wallfisch at the Guildhall School of Music and Janos Starker in Paris. Shirley subsequently moved to Jerusalem where she where she studied and performed and absorbed the rich and overlapping worlds of North African, Arabic, Turkish and Balkan music as well as jazz, working with some of the regions leading artists, including Avishai Cohen, Omer Avital, Khaled Jubran, Sabreen and Yasmin Levy.

She has worked with many leading jazz and World Music artists, including Antonio Forcione, Mulato Astatke, Gilad Atzmon, Issie Barratt’s ‘Interchange’, Neil Cowley, Robert Mitchell and Alice Zawadzki.

Her debut album ‘Long Story Short’, released in 2018, was critically acclaimed, and she has since performed at festivals around the UK and Europe, including the London Jazz Festival, and Vivacello, Moscow. Highlights in 2020 included Biennale Festival at Bimhuis, Amsterdam, Birmingham Jazz Festival and a UK tour.