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| © Ilze Kitshoff |
The award-winning pianist Zoe Rahman headlines the first in a
series of concerts curated by saxophonist Helena Kay at the Queen’s Hall in
Edinburgh on Thursday September 19.
Chichester-born Rahman, who won the Ivor Novello Impact Award in 2021
and the MOBO Award for Best Jazz Act in 2012, has become a much-respected
figure on the UK and European jazz scenes. Her powerful performances marry her
classical training with studies in jazz with the revered JoAnne Brackeen at
Berklee College of Music in Boston and her strong engagement with her Bengali
heritage.
Rahman will play solo piano before being joined in a series of duets with Kay in a concert that will be opened by the Glasgow-based Ghanaian guitarist Nathan Somevi’s trio.
For Kay, who has included a number of “inspirational” musicians
including saxophonists Laura Macdonald and Tommy Smith and violinist Seonaid
Aitken in the concert series, sharing the Queen’s Hall stage with Zoe Rahman is
exciting for two reasons.
The two women have worked together before, when Kay joined the octet
that recorded Rahman’s 2023 album, Colour of Sound. Having first met Rahman as
a teenager, however, Kay says that the sixteen-year-old Helena wouldn't believe
this turn of events.
“My mum is also a big fan of Zoe’s and she made sure we both went to
meet Zoe after a concert she played with Courtney Pine,” says Kay. “It was so
inspiring for me to meet Zoe at that stage in my musical life.”
The Queen’s Hall is also a source of inspiration for Kay.
“I’ve played there quite a few times with the Scottish National Jazz
Orchestra and I’m always aware that I’m following in illustrious footsteps,”
says the saxophonist. “The brilliant composer and pianist Carla Bley and
saxophone legend Sonny Rollins are just two of the people I admire who have
appeared in the venue. So to play there with some of my heroes is really
special.”
Kay first came to public notice in winning the Young Scottish Jazz
Musician of the Year title in 2015. The Peter Whittingham Jazz Prize followed
the year after that and having graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and
Drama in London, Kay went on to become a City Music Foundation Artist and won
the Drake YolanDa Award in 2023.
The concert on September 19 is the first of five due
to take place over the coming year under the Jazz Thursdays banner and Rahman
and Kay have rehearsed in preparation for their debut as a duo.
“Zoe is such a brilliant duo partner,” says Kay. “It’s almost like
playing in her octet. She puts so much energy and passion into her playing and
her flow of ideas is amazing. It really makes you want to play.”
Further information HERE.
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