JULIET KELLY

„Smooth Operator“
A Soul Jazz Voice in the Tradition of Sade and Cassandra Wilson

05.10.2007- 10.30 pm - Heilig-Geist-Saal - Tickets for this concert here

The delicate counter-alto voice of the young London singer Juliet Kelly has often been compared to “soul sistas“ like Sade and Cassandra Wilson. In 2003, the world-famous American jazz mag Downbeat wrote about Kelly’s first CD “Aphrodite´s Child“: "A young Londoner with film star looks, Juliet Kelly serves up a good first recording that begs for listening by adherents of jazz and pop-jazz." And The Independent simply wrote: "One to watch”.

The electrifying live performer defines her headstrong jazz poetry as follows: “Many colleagues of my generation recorded standards. Gave myself time, simply waited for awhile—hoping to find my very own voice and then to record an album of my own songs. The result is my first CD ‘Aphrodite's Child’”. And Kelly continues: “My goal is to write music that attracts a younger, more numerous audience as well as mainstream jazz fans. I do love jazz standards, but I also want to share my vision of the beauty and the greedom of jazz-influenced music with my audience. “

Juliet Kelly is a “slow starter” and a “smooth operator“ (as Sade said) whose feeling for subtle grooves in acoustic jazz settings is simply marvelous.
Juliet Kelly discovered her vocal talents as a university student of economics—and she took ample time to find her musical identity. And rightly so, as her second CD “Delicious Chemistry“ convincingly demonstrates. This CD is a perfectly balanced mix of acoustic soul, ballad jazz and torch songs. It will fascinate fans of Paul Weller’s legendary band COUNCIL as well as lovers of the classic aesthetics of Nina Simone. Just delicious chemistry.
Juliet Kelly recorded “Delicious Chemistry“ in 2005 with the best young Englisch jazz musicians gathered around the young London drum star Seb Rochford. The star sax player Courtney Pine also joined the team. The reviews were enthusiastic, afain. The Guardian bestowed attributes like “soulful, and dinified“ on “Delicious Chemistry“, and Downbeat wrote “emotional credibility“.