Monsterosa: The Seasons In The City
Friday 26th September, 8pm
Melodies rooted in jazz but taking in the band’s wider love for soul, folk, and Latin music, and played with the verve and precision of some of the UK’s leading performers.
The band Monsterosa emerged from a lockdown project to write new songs and instrumentals for five jazz musicians based on Italo Calvino’s Marcovaldo collection of stories.
The songs follow a man trying to recapture country life in an urban setting, and the music follows the joy in each moment of possibility he finds: for sleeping outdoors, or gathering firewood, or eating well.
London Jazz News praised the album as “a beautiful jazz collection.”
“The band are terrific…crystalline vocals convey the joy and poignancy of these tales…the whole ensemble play with a deftness and sensitivity”
Rebecca Hollweg Vocals
Graeme Wilson Saxophone
Paul Cavaciuti Drums
Andy Hamill Double Bass
Mike Outram Guitar
Listen to Monsterosa’s The Seasons In The City
Rebecca Hollweg is a singer and songwriter based in in South London (‘A great singer who I love very much…’, Jamie Cullum). She has released three albums featuring her own songs, June Babies, Orange Roses and Country Girl, as well as 2021’s Other People’s Songs, performed in its entirety at the EDF London Jazz Festival. International festival appearances include including Glastonbury and Latitude in the UK and Rochefort en Accords in France. She has been hailed as ‘akin to an old Brill Building songsmith’ (UNCUT); the Sunday Times praised her ‘soaring vocal lines’.
Saxophonist Graeme Wilson has performed with Julian Siegel, Marilyn Crispell and John Faddis and recorded extensively with his own Quartet (‘a magnetic aura… a firecracker’, London Jazz News). His writing, including for Voice of the North Jazz Orchestra and a score for silent film Die Bergkatze, is performed worldwide; A Bit in the Air, with sculptor Cath Keay was nominated for Scottish Jazz Album of the Year 2018. His writing on the psychology of improvisation includes The Art of Becoming (OUP) with Raymond MacDonald.
Paul Cavaciuti is an internationally renowned performer, composer, educator and music therapist. After graduating from the Berklee College of Music in Boston in 1986, he began a performance career that has encompassed a wide variety artists and musical styles, from Indie rock and pop, to jazz, fusion, Latin music and West End shows. His credits include work with; Jim Mullen, Donovan, The David Gordon Trio, Tina May, Jacqui Dankworth, Sarah Moule, Steven Blier and The New York Festival of Song, Alison Bentley and the Jazz Menagerie, Dave O’Higgins, Nick Meier, Theo Travis, John Donaldson, Tim Whitehead, Cayenne, Roberto Pla, Christie Hennessy, Chris Garrick, John Etheridge, Craig Schneider, Colin Oxley, Paul Moylan, Annie Whitehead, Mornington Lockett, Gail Thompson Big Band, Rob Hall, The Piccadilly Dance Orchestra, Carmen Leggio and The Royal Shakespeare Company. His playing has been described as “inspired” (Jazz Journal International), “outstanding” and “virtuosic” (Musician Magazine), and “one of the best jazz drummers in the UK” (Bath and West Times). He has toured extensively throughout Europe, the USA and the Middle East
Andy Hamill has had the pleasure of playing double bass & bass guitar with Laura Mvula, Natacha Atlas, 4 Hero, Eska, Annie Lennox, Kylie Minogue, Rumer, Lou Rhodes, Nitin Sawhney, Annie Ross, Tracey Thorn, Cara Dillon, Martin & Eliza Carthy, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas and John Hegley. Andy’s own album Bee For Bass features singers Mark Murphy, Anita Wardell, Rebecca Hollweg, Carleen Anderson, Omar, & saxophonists Chris Bowden, Ben Castle & Tony Woods.
Mike Outram is a guitarist & improviser who has worked with Tim Garland, Donny McCaslin, Till Brönner, Carleen Anderson, Theo Travis, Jeff Williams, Steven Wilson, Tony Remy, Herbie Mann, Tim Ries, Nikki Iles, Gerard Presencer, and Laura Rossi. He teaches the guitar at The Royal Academy, Trinity Laban & The Guildhall, London.
Tickets: £22, Students: £12
Running Time: 120 Minutes Including a 20 minute interval
Age Rating: Age 14+
A £2 booking fee is included in ticket prices. This applies when booking online and in person. The booking fee covers costs charged to the charity for the booking system and payment processing.
