Fri 27th Sep 2024
Focus On Jazz Presents: Zara McFarlane
7:00pm - 11:30pm
Price: £25 + 10% booking fee
An evening with Zara McFarlane & her full, live Band
One of the UK’s finest Jazz & Soul Vocalists
Featuring DJ Perry Louis (JazzCotech & Mi-Soul Radio)
Multi-award-winning Singer-Songwriter Zara McFarlane first caught the attention of world-renowned DJ Gilles Peterson on the release of her self- produced EP in 2010 and has since released four studio albums on his label Brownswood Recordings.
Zara went on to win best Jazz Act at the MOBO awards (2014) and Urban Music Awards (2015). From her Jazz roots, honing her craft with Tomorrow’s Warriors, Zara continues to push the boundaries of Jazz adjacent music via an exploration into the folk and spiritual traditions of her ancestral motherland, Jamaica, described as a ‘potent hybrid’ in ‘Arise’.
The twice Jazz FM vocalist of the year winner has led her band in festivals from British Summer Time (Hyde Park), Field Day and BoomTown Festivals to prestigious international Jazz festivals and venues such as Ronnie Scott’s, Jazz Cafe, Royal Albert Hall, Love Supreme (UK), Rochester Jazz (US), Cully Jazz (CH), St. Lucia Jazz Festivals and SXSW (US).
With a voice that has been described as ‘a caressing voice of sparkling clarity’, Zara is an in-demand vocalist internationally and has performed with acclaimed musicians including Hugh Masekela, Gregory Porter, Gary Bartz, Ernest Ranglin, Shabaka Hutchings, Moses Boyd and Ezra Collective. She has also collaborated with esteemed producers Lil’ Louie Vega, Swindle, Floating Points, Osunlade and Dennis Bovell.
In the centenary year of her birth, Zara McFarlane is releasing album “Sweet Whispers: Celebrating Sarah Vaughan” on June 14th on Eternal Source of Light / k7! Records.
We are thrilled to bring Zara to Luton’s Hat Factory where she will perform a selection from all her albums, promising an evening of amazing, UK home-grown Jazz- and Soul.
Rounding off the evening will be Luton legend and Focus on Jazz’s own DJ Perry Louis who has DJd and danced his way around the world twice over. Perry will play Vinyl sets of Soul, Funk and Jazz before, between and after Zara’s live music sets to keep the vibe going from start to finish.
This will be a wonderful evening of home-grown, live music and one not to be missed!
Dates
- Friday, September 27, 2024
The Hat Factory
The Hat Factory is Luton's leading arts and entertainment venue featuring live music, club nights, theatre, dance, films, children's activities, workshops, classes and gallery exhibitions.
It's a centre of artistic excellence set within a vibrant urban environment. It offers the young and the young at heart the chance to engage with the arts, to be inspired by the UK’s leading arts practitioners, and to develop artistic skills and confidence.
The Hat Factory is a combined arts venue in the centre of Luton. It opened in 2003 and since then has been the area’s main provider of contemporary theatre, dance and music. We work with both emerging and proven producers and artists, through programming, engagement programmes and our Associate Artist scheme. Their music programming is vibrant, offering an eclectic portfolio of high quality artists from the worlds of jazz, blues, folk, world music, indie and hip hop. Complementing their own programming, they welcome local/regional promoters to the venue, broadening their music offer and at the same time supporting young promoters and their businesses. They programme contemporary theatre and dance with a focus on fresh, new and relevant stories from both established and emerging touring companies who are making high quality work in the UK. They’ve programmed companies like Earthfall, Chickenshed, New International Encounter (NIE), Trestle, Menagerie, Eastern Angles, Atma, State of Emergency, 30 Bird, Tavaziva, Analogue and Jean Abreu Dance to name but a few.
Venue Hire
The Hat Factory has flexible spaces of various sizes to suit every need. See Venue Hire for more information.
Programming
To become part of The Hat Factory's programme, please contact our Head of Arts & Cultural Programmes, Fahim Qureshi at Fahim.Qureshi@LutonCulture.com
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