London Jazz Festival: Vimala Rowe/ John Etheridge Quartet

This is a mouth-watering band featuring two award-winning musicians. Whilst still in her teens, singer Vimala left England for the Far East where she quickly established herself as a solo artist, writing and recording a hit album before moving on to spend a year studying Hindustani Classical vocals in Nagpur India, which profoundly influenced her future style. Back in England she made the eponymous EP ‘Vimala’ with Simon Horn, a recording of original compositions that garnered the 2008 Indy Music award for Best Soul, Jazz & Funk act. Since then she has gone on to establish herself on the London jazz scene as a remarkable live performer, with appearances at the likes of Ronnie Scott’s and The London Jazz Festival. Her style has been described as a mix of "jazz sophistication and swing, soulful passion and a hint of Indian exoticism" and is quite enthralling. An iconic figure on the UK jazz scene, John Etheridge first came to prominence in the mid 70’s with the classic fusion band “Soft Machine”. During the same time - demonstrating his remarkable and now well-documented versatility - he also spent a number of years touring with the celebrated swing jazz violinist Stéphane Grappelli. More recently, he has been busy performing and recording as a solo artist and with his own bands, notably the “Zappatistas” (his tribute to Frank Zappa), “Sweet Chorus” dedicated to Stéphane and “Soft Machine”, with whom he still appears. A virtuoso guitarist he includes work with the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Tony Williams, Yehudi Menuhin, Pat Metheny and John Williams on a remarkable CV. Making up the rest of the quartet tonight will be the world class rhythm section of Dudley Phillips-bass and Mark Fletcher-drums.

“Vimala...A captivating and seemingly effortless soulful voice” Kiss FM;
"Vimala Rowe is sensational" The Arts Desk;
“John Etheridge....one of the best guitarists in the world” Pat Metheny;
“Etheridge....gifted…spectacular” The Times;
“…a master guitarist…brilliant” The Observer