Award-Winning Pianist Emmanuel Waldron... Has shared a stage with a who's who of musical icons George Duke, Don Grusin, Ronan Keating, The Black Eyed Peas, Gwen Stefani, David & Carrie Grant, Ruby Turner, Karen Gibson & The Kingdom Choir, Annie Lennox, London Community Gospel Choir, Jools Holland, Steve Brookstein (world’s 1st X-Factor winner), Kenny Thomas and many other artists. Has performed for royalty etc Her Majesty The Queen & HRH The Duke Of Edinburgh, HRH The Prince Of Wales (who personally commended Emmanuel) & the Duchess of Cornwall, the London Mayor, the Queen Of Jordan, the Pope and other global dignitaries. Has toured the world extensively His music has taken him to the USA, Trinidad, Bulgaria, Jordan (for the royal family), Slovakia, Czech Republic, Dubai (Burj Al Arab 7* hotel), Russia, Spain, France, Norway, Germany, Jersey, Denmark, Italy, Ireland, Poland, Sweden, and Switzerland. Has set up a music school in Norway Emmanuel has set up a music school in Norway called SKALA (meaning ‘Scales’ in Norwegian). There he teaches and conducts piano/keyboard and band workshops from beginners to advanced musicians. He also performs his own concerts and features as an artist internationally. Has just released his fifth studio album....CHAORDICISM!! | Emmanuel Waldron's brand new release ‘Chaordicism’ (Kay-Ord-Ik-Izm) is a unique jazz album full of simple melodic phrasing, and soulful and harmoniously funky, grooving numbers including the Stevie Wonder inspired cover version of the ‘Sting’ classic Fragile (feat. Jaz Ellington) which Emmanuel released as a single earlier this year. Chaordicism is also receiving growing acclaim within the music industry and is available from all major online digital stores and CDs are available on the website store page (see below). It was at the age of just 6 that Emmanuel’s musical journey began when, through private tuition he was introduced to classical music. Over the next 8 years, he developed a wealth of understanding in other music genres such as Jazz, Gospel, Blues, R’n’B, and Soul. He also discovered he had perfect pitch, and with frequent opportunities in his local church and other events, Emmanuel developed in his ability to play the piano, keyboard & synths (as a soloist and accompanist) and established himself as a sought after musician having worked with a vast array of artists and bands in the UK and internationally. Emmanuel also has two solo piano albums to his name. ‘Portrait of a Journey’ (2000) and ‘Still Waters’ (2009). Both albums were recorded spontaneously. His albums are available from the store page on this website (see below) and from online digital stores. In 2002/03 Emmanuel produced the GEM award winning album ‘Lifter of My Head’ from talented songwriter & artist – Brian Martin and has been involved in a number of recording projects in the UK and internationally, even for Bollywood! |  CLICK IMAGE TO VIEW VIDEO OF 'FRAGILE' | | Having featured in theatre productions, Emmanuel had the opportunity to be music director for the musical ‘Simply Heavenly’, which won several awards and was nominated for ‘Outstanding Musical’ at the Laurence Olivier Awards in 2005. Emmanuel was also the pianist at the Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre for the hit show ‘The Frontline’ in 2008 and again in 2009. | "Jo Harrop Quintet. Jazz music at it's best" Stash Kirkbride, Artistic Director Holt Festival "No worries here, this girl was born to sing jazz! Jo has all the emotional warmth and sensibility to melt the chilliest of hearts, and her laid back charm implies the right sort of tact she naturally has for her engaging take on soul jazz. Undeniable star quality" Blues & Soul Magazine “ A singing sensation”.... Her voice is amazing – think Islay whisky, dark porter or tannin-rich red wine –deep, the lissome lady is a class act" Bebop Spoken Here Blog Excellent tone and great stage prescence" Marlbank | Durham-born Jo Harrop now London resident is a jazz singer who has a refined mellow sound evoking the greats such as Anita O’Day, Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn & Billie Holliday and has graced many prestigious stages and studios around the UK & Europe, including the Royal Albert Hall, The Sage, The 606 club, Jazz Cafe, Pizza Express Jazz Club, The Hideaway, Zedel, to name a few. Before finding herself on the jazz scene, Jo began her career as a singer/songwriter and also provided backing vocals for international stars, such as, Leanne Rimes, Enrique Iglesias and Neil Diamond, as well as writing and recording a song for Acoustic Alchemy’s album “Radio Contact”. 'Songs For The Late Hours', is a collection of bittersweet jazz standards, sung straight from the heart, with feeling, soul, and depth, featuring Jo Harrop’s cool & swinging trio, rising jazz players, Will Barry (p), Harry Sankey (g) & Joe Downard (b) – inspired by the recordings of the greats, Julie London & Barney Kessel, Anita O’Day with Oscar Peterson & Ella Fitzgerald with Joe Pass. The sleeve notes were written by Lance Liddle, of Jazz Blog, Bebop Spoken Here. | “My love for the art of song writing and interpreting the story within the song, from my own personal experience, is what I love most about singing these amazing timeless standards by some of the worlds greatest writers. You can really get inside of them. One favourite track on the album for me, is the McCoy Tyner track, ‘You Taught My Heart To Sing’ ” JH |  CLICK IMAGE ABOVE FOR VIDEO 'You're Not The Kind' | | Upcoming 25th Aug: Ushaw Jazz Festival, Ushaw College, Durham
28th September: Scarborough Jazz Festival
21st October: Pizza Express Jazz Club with Denmark St Big Band
18th October: The Hideaway, Streatham
22nd November: The Elgar Room Jazz Royal Albert Hall | |
