Remembering Blossom Dearie with Zoe Francis and the Jim Mullen Trio.

Event Phone: 01890 750099

Zoe Francis and her great trio led by multi award-winning guitar legend Jim Mullen take a fresh look at the repertoire of iconic American singer-pianist Blossom Dearie, whose unique vocal style and accompaniment personalised every song she sang. Blossom arrived in New York during the Birth of the Cool era and one of her first recordings was accompanying singer Annie Ross. Later, while living in Paris and performing at Mars club on the left bank, she came to the attention of jazz impresario and Verve Records founder Norman Granz, who invited her back to New York. She made six albums for Verve and in 1966 she recorded Blossom Time live at Ronnie Scott’s where she was a well-loved regular. Zoe, who recently released her Remembering Blossom Dearie album to enthusiastic reviews, will be performing a selection of the smart, stylish songs associated with Blossom including Peel me a Grape, I’m Hip and My Attorney Bernie.

Born in Glasgow and a former regular at Perth’s Blues Workshop, Jim Mullen moved to London in the late 1960s. He was soon recording with Cream lyricist Pete Brown before joining Brian Auger’s Oblivion Express and soul-funk band Kokomo. A period in New York led to work with the Average White Band and Herbie Mann and the formation of the hugely popular, long-running jazz-funk band Morrissey-Mullen with saxophonist Dick Morrissey. Jim has since played and recorded with a host of top names including pianist Gene Harris, blues singer Jimmy Witherspoon and Chicago folk-jazz poet Terry Callier.