Piano Day at Servant Jazz Quarters with: Douglas Dare + Ell Kendall (Quintet) + Frances Shelley
Piano Day is held on the 88th day of the year, in reference to the 88 keys on a standard piano. To celebrate this year’s Piano Day we present an evening with Douglas Dare, Ell Kendall (quintet performance) and Frances Shelley at east London’s Servant Jazz Quarters.
Frances Shelley is a composer based between Portugal and South Africa. She performs regularly both as a solo artist and with the soundscape and piano duo Pianofield. Her atmospheric, emotionally charged sound layers reflect her interest in the natural landscape and wild places. Frances’ compositions have been included for 3 years running on the Piano Day playlist curated by Nils Frahm.
“Slow burning atmospheric beauty, an otherworldly landscape that takes you to another time and space” – Thomas Dolby
https://www.francesshelley.com
Ell Kendall is a composer, sound artist and orchestrator from London. He is known for his use of experimental scoring techniques to create notated works for classical instrumentation. His influences range from avant-garde composers and performance artists to early religious music and ritual. His music has been featured on BBC Radio 3’s “Unclassified” and Seattle’s KEXP Radio in the U.S. Ell will be performing tonight for the first time with his quintet.
DOUGLAS DARE
Singer/songwriter Douglas Dare grew up in the small coastal town of Bridport in SW England. Encouraged by his mother, a piano teacher, he began composing music at a young age but didn’t take up songwriting until 2008 while at University in Liverpool. His elegantly moody, piano-based songs and haunting voice drew comparisons to artists such as Thom Yorke and James Blake. After relocating to London, he signed with the Erased Tapes label and 2013 saw the release of his first EP “Seven Hours”. In 2014 Dare released his acclaimed debut album “Whelm” and established his musical dexterity on the much darker follow-up Aforger (2016). Douglas was invited by Robert Smith to perform at his Meltdown Festival at the Southbank Centre in 2018, followed by the David Lynch-curated Manchester International Festival alongside Anna Calvi in 2019. He released his third and most stripped-back studio album to date “Milkteeth” in February 2020. Produced by Mike Lindsay – founding member of Tunng and one half of LUMP with Laura Marling – in his studio in Margate in just twelve days, “Milkteeth” saw Douglas become confident and comfortable enough with his own identity to reflect on both the joys and pains of youth. In doing so, he has established himself as a serious 21st century singer-songwriter with an enduring lyrical poise and elegant minimalist sound.
