“Sara Colman has a rare ability. Not only does she do full justice to the music and lyrics of a song, she also shares the music with her audience with a deep generosity of spirit. And she does it all with wit, with grace and wisdom”

Vocalist and composer Sara Colman crossed our radar as one of six winners of Arts council funding awarded by Jazz South in 2019 with the six-piece band she was leading at the time. She duly brought them to our 2019 festival to deliver a very special set of original compositions and arrangements, to an enthralled audience in the Heritage Centre on the Sunday afternoon. She has since worked on a Joni Mitchell-inspired album, Ink on a Pin, and toured that work with a 10-piece mini orchestra. However it is her writing, her voice and her presence that are the key elements that draw the listener in and we thought a smaller setting would be the best way to showcase that. We are therefore delighted to welcome Sara in an "unplugged" trio format, with the possibility of a larger project in a larger venue some time in the future!

Sara's great collaborator through many of her projects has been pianist Rebecca Nash. As well as all the expected jazz skills and language, Rebecca Nash brings a lyrical, narrative quality to her playing which is not often heard but which takes it to another level of musicality. To hear what these two musicians can do together, we recommend that you download the track "Dreamer" from the album "What We're Made of" – better still treat yourself and buy the whole album at the gig! And making up a very accomplished trio, Danish bassist Henrik Jensen joins Rebecca and Sara for this gig.

We have had all sorts of gigs this year: loud, raucous, arty, groovy and we have had two or three smaller groups in for more contemplative, serene evenings. This will certainly be one of the latter and, we vouch, one you will not forget in a hurry.

Reviews for Sara's Joni Mitchell-inspired album INK ON A PIN – out now

“Colman intelligently negotiates the often perilous path of finding a balance between respecting the original song and making her own mark on it. It is testimony to her skill and vision that she manages not only to find that balance but to take the music beyond any such thoughts, successfully making an album that amplifies the wonder of Mitchell’s songwriting in a refreshing, thoughtful and joyful way.”★★★★ UK VIBE

Ink on a Pin follows What We’re Made Of (2018, Stoney Lane Records) her third solo album described by American jazz critic Ted Gioia as “Worthy of your attention” and met by wide critical acclaim. The title track won the ‘Jazz and Blues’ category in the UK Songwriting competition announced that year and Sara herself won ‘Lyricist of the Year’.

See the album trailer on YouTube.