Linda Angelis Quartet – 11th January 2019
To get the New Year swinging we had Linda Angelis, no stranger to the Bonded Warehouse having sung and played flugelhorn here before and being part of the audience on occasion. Her rhythm section for the night comprised Fred T Baker on semi-acoustic guitar, David Etheridge on six-string electric bass and Nick Twyman on drums. This was the first time the quartet had played together, but with jazz that can add to the vitality of the music and so it was tonight.
The evening was billed as ‘Swing to Bossa’, and mainly alternated between beautifully swinging versions of well-known standards like ‘Stella by Starlight’ and familiar, and not so familiar, bossa nova favourites mainly by Jobim. The samba beat presented no problem for drummer Nick, who had spent 12 years in Brazil. And the latin pieces provided solid jazz with an authentic bossa feel, helped by Linda using original Portuguese lyrics on some such as ‘The Dreamer Sang’.
Each set opened with a work out by the rhythm section, getting straight into a relaxed, swinging groove that set the tone for evening. Linda then joined them to add her cool vocals in similar vein, plus contrasting mellow flugelhorn solos on some numbers. ‘Only Trust Your Heart’ showed the depth and clarity of her vocals to notably good effect; and ‘It Could Happen To You’, to samba beat, had Linda scatting without losing the melody or relaxed rhythmic feel that characterised the evening.
Half way through the set, Fred T Baker gave us an amazing guitar solo – ‘Spinal Trap’. Perhaps echoing his middle name – Thelonious – he based this on a difficult chord which he nonetheless negotiated with apparent ease to hold everyone in the room captivated, not least the other musicians. And we were treated to another of his jaw-dropping solos in the second set.
The excellent music continued in the second set: including an individual treatment of ‘One Note Samba’; a lovely mid-tempo version of Sting’s ‘Walking on the Moon’, with crackling drumming by Nick; and the unusual ‘Bossa Nova Nursery Rhymes’ which had Linda effortlessly soaring up and down the vocal range as she had done all through.
This was an evening that passed all too quickly, as the music flowed from a group of experienced, master musicians, who connected with a clearly appreciative audience from start to finish. Incidentally, the gig was filmed for Linda so we may get to enjoy some of it on YouTube or the like, although that cannot compare with being there on the night.
Recognized as an International Artist
Linda took a trip to the States and was discovered by KRML radio singing at a hotel in Monterrey. This soon followed with a concert for Black Hawk records, recorded at the station owned by Clint Eastwood. It was here she met with the finest musicians on the West coast including Brazilian pianist Weber Iago and since played on numerous concerts together.
Back home in the UK Linda Linda teamed up with hit record producer Andy Whitmore to write a jazz/pop album. This being her latest album “Everlasting Circles” also covering an old 70s hit song “Oh Lori” originally by Alessi. The song was heard by a major film producer, now being used as the background music for a French movie. Qui A Envie D’être Aime was released in 2011 and now Linda is currently working on more songs for movies.In 2012 Linda went on tour with her UK Jazzanova band delighting audiences with her beautiful voice and compositions.
2013 brought new horizons for her return to Portugal playing at several casinos including the Grosvenor chain in London. On her return to the UK Linda was asked to present a new radio series in her home town of Telford promoting her own music and interviewing guests diverse as Ken Dodd and leading percussionist Airto Moriera.
2014 - 2016 brought Linda back to our screens on Sky TV (Different Kind of Woman) with an interview about her career and a new video 'Floating On Air'. This was seen by ITV who filmed Linda in a new pilot series showing her skills as a teacher and talented performer.
In 2015 Linda joined the Dragon Jazz Band as their vocalist, singing songs from the 40's and 50's swing era and more recently the West Midland Light Orchestra.
In 2018 Linda returns to producing a jazz album co-written with pianist Stuart Goodhew titled ‘Jazz in my Heart’, this stellar line up includes trumpeter Dick Pearce and Steve Berry on bass.
Now in 2019 her albums being played worldwide on radios stations and her music recently signed with Prestige Elite Records.