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One of the Jerwood Rising Stars at the forthcoming Cheltenham Jazz Festival, this Perrier Jazz Vocalist of the Year Award winner of 2000 and the band will be appearing at the Town Hall (Sunday, 30th April) and is bound to be one of the highlights of the four days of jazz.

The band (both live and on the album) features some of her F-ire Collective colleagues that are so dominant at the moment; Tom Herbert (Double Bass) and Sebastian Rochford (Drums) both F-ire Collective and Acoustic Ladyland with Ben Davis on Cello (Fire Collective and Ingrid Laubrock).

But don’t expect anything like Acoustic Ladyland’s brash punk-rock-jazz as Julia and her writing partner Jonny Phillips (guitars) favours a more laid-back feel. Whilst her early jazz influences were Pharoah Sanders, Miles Davis, Billy Holiday and Gil Evans, this album has been described as folk-like. Not a bad time to be ‘folk-like’ at the moment with the current revival. With a gentle Latin breeze blowing through the ten tracks, it is another album to enjoy.

Julia’s voice has even been compared to Thom Yorke (!) (of Radiohead fame), which could have come from ‘Uncomfortable Somehow’ featuring Ben’s cello and containing uncomfortable angst. ‘By The Light Of You’, by way of contrast, is a reggae-ballad that could be even be a “pop” song. Either could sit with the Festival’s new partners, BBC Radio 2 and their playlists…

Radio 2 may also enjoy ‘Souvenirs’ which is too Dido-like for me but ‘Falando De Amor’ is reminiscent of the Laubrock/Tolentino gig. Idris is particularly prominent on ‘Rhythm Of The Treetops’ (clarinet) and ‘Shh…’ (flute) but all the musicians really play as a band with no signs of any ego-exhibitionism.

Julia was featured in Straight No Chaser (Autumn, 2005) and she said of comparisons with Holiday, Bjork, Sting and Thom Yorke, “I am flattered to be mentioned in the same breath [as them] and because there’s such a wide range of artists, at the end of the day, it kind of means that I’m doing my own thing.”

Long may she continue to do her own thing.

Reviewed: Julia Biel - Not Alone (Rokit Records) Cat. No. RKT 010 CD Release date: 2005
Cello - Ben Davis, Double Bass - Tom Herbert, Drums - Sebastian Rochford, Acoustic Guitar - Jonny Phillips, Vocals/Cavaquinha - Julia Biel, Clarinet/Flute - Idris Rahman.
Written By - Jonny Phillips (tracks: 1 to 5, 7 to 9) , Julia Biel (tracks: 1 to 5, 7 to 9)
Tracklisting:
1. Shhh… (4:21)
2. Paradise (3:43)
3. Souvenir (5:09)
4. By The Light Of You (4:17)
5. Interlude (1:27)
6. Falando De Amor (3:37) Written By - Antonio Carlos Jobim
7. Uncomfortable Somehow (4:39)
8. Rhythm Of The Treetops (4:12)
9. Where Is She Now? (6:36) Piano - Dorian Ford

See Julia Biel at the Vortex, Fri 14th April Box Office: 020 7254 4097 || www.vortexjazz.co.uk

Links:
Cheltenham Jazz Festival 2006 www.cheltenhamfestivals.co.uk - Booking now available on-line
Saturday: Polar Beer (Seb Roachford, Pete Wareham, Mark Lockheart, Tom Herbert, Leafcutter John)
www.straightnochaser.co.uk