Alice Zawadzki

Described by MOJO magazine as “something of a phenomenon… as maverick as Fever Ray or Joanna Newsome“, Alice’s musical style has always been hard to categorise, but at its core lies a devotion to the art of storytelling, warmly embracing the audience, and luminosity of sound.

An early immersion in New Orleans jazz and gospel, her classical training as a violinist, and her constant exploration of improvised and roots music, inform a unique style and heartfelt performances, with Jazzwise Magazine declaring that “her lustrous vocal range is the real live deal. A commanding, intense performer.

Since her last performance at Bristol Jazz and Blues Festival, Alice’s rich and varied career has taken her all over the world, enchanting audiences all over Europe, Canada and the USA, Argentina, Brazil, the Far East, Central Asia and Russia. In addition to her own song-smithing, Alice’s trademark re-workings of multilingual folk songs captured the attention of ECM founder Manfred Eicher in 2023, with whom she has recorded a new album set for release in late 2024, with Fred Thomas and Misha Mullov-Abbado. “Loosely connected to the world of jazz but realistically inhabiting her own realm” (Clash Magazine), today’s show will feature music from two of Alice’s recent albums, both on the Whirlwind Recordings label, “Within You Is A World Of Spring” (Guardian Contemporary Album of the Month) and “China Lane” (described as “a genuine original” by music critic John Fordham), as well as new yet-to-be-released songs.

Joining Alice are two longterm collaborators; with his trademark warmth and expressiveness is the much loved pianist and composer Bruno Heinen, described by The Guardian as “eclectic, eccentric and unobtrusively erudite“, and the ubiquitous, multi-award winning bassist and composer Misha Mullov-Abbado, whose propulsive, energising bass lines and exquisite musicality are the hot news of the jazz scene today.

“Zawadzki’s talent is bursting at the seams. An exceptional, world-class singer.” Written In Music (Netherlands)

“The missing link between Ghost in the Machine-era Police and Hissing of Summer Lawns-era Joni Mitchell… lush and dynamically shifting…fascinating and stunningly original” New York Music Daily (USA)

Visit Alice Zawadski’s website

Alice Zawadzki – voice, violin

Bruno Heinen – keys

Misha Mullov-Abbado – double bass