08th April
Jazz at Morley 2024
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Morley College’s Jazz Series is back! Curated by Flavio Li Vigni and 2024/25 artist-in-residence Robert Mitchell.
Join us the first 3 Fridays of May for incredible jazz concerts. Plus, an open interview at 18:00 where artists discuss their favourite albums. Don’t miss out!
The first Friday jazz series kicks off with Zayn Mohammed and the Shirley Smart Trio.
Zayn Mohammed
Zayn Mohammed’s “Progressive Sounds of The Heart” – A melodic and harmonic exploration of both the ancient and the modern via a multitude of strings including, guitar, Ud and Rebab.
Shirley Smart Trio
Shirley Smart’s trio draws on a rich tapestry of musical influences drawn from 10 years spent living in Jerusalem in the overlapping worlds of North African, Arabic, Balkan music and jazz.
Featuring two leading lights of the world/jazz scene and long-time collaborators, John Crawford on piano and Demi Garcia Sabat on drums/percussion, the trio are currently touring the UK with the critically acclaimed album ‘Long Story Short’.
They have also performed at festivals around the UK and Europe, including the London Jazz Festival, Aberjazz, Birmingham and Scarborough Jazz Festivals, Vivacello, Moscow, and Biennale Festival at Bimhuis, Amsterdam.
Acknowledged as one of the UK’s most versatile and creative cellists, Shirley is equally at home and well versed in jazz, folk Middle Eastern and classical music and her music draws upon this infusion of influences. Originally trained under Raphael Wallfisch at the Guildhall School of Music, and Janos Starker in Paris, she subsequently moved to Jerusalem, working with some of the region’s leading artists, including Avishai Cohen, Omer Avital, Khaled Jubran, Sabreen and Yasmin Levy. Since returning to the UK, Shirley has quickly garnered a formidable reputation with her own groups and has worked with many leading jazz and World Music artists, including Antonio Forcione, Mulatu Astatke, Gilad Atzmon, Issie Barratt’s ‘Interchange’, Neil Cowley, Robert Mitchell and Alice Zawadzki.
Shirley is a keen educator, and is Professor of Musicianship and Improvisation at the Royal College of Music and a Lecturer at Kent University. She also teaches at Trinity Laban Conservatoire and the RCM Junior Department, and is in demand as a workshop leader, having given workshops for National Youth Jazz Collective, Jazzlines, Trinity Laban and Huddersfield, Manchester and Kent Universities.
Ticket prices range from £15.00 per concert or £35.00 season ticket for all three concerts. Tickets available from Eventbrite.
