 |
| Nel Begley |
NEL BEGLEY is a jazz vocalist and songwriter. She lives in Leeds and works in the UK, South America and Europe. She has performed at festivals – Manchester Jazz, Latitude, Bestival and Boom Town. She will be one of the tutors on this summer’s Global Music Foundation London Jazz Workshop and Festival based at Pizza Express Dean Street in London on 16-20 August. She will be assisting Guillermo Rozenthuler with the vocal teaching, run an ensemble, and present and perform at the festival’s Rising Stars gig on 20 August 20. Nel writes about the importance of GMF in her own development:
In 2015, I was very fortunate to be invited to attend the GMF summer school in Certaldo, Italy. The experience opened me up to the possibilities of music and I found myself completely immersed into a jazz community: creating, sharing and listening to music together! After coming out of conventional music education at an institution it can sometimes be easy to forget why it is we make music, but the nature of the course, its tutors (and the sun) softened me and re-awoke my true love for song!
Performance, song interpretation and working with other musicians can be quite daunting for singers and the course helped me relax into sharing my music with others, removing these obstacles.
The first year and the next I learnt from two incredible vocalists, René Marie (Grammy nominee) and Guillermo Rozenthuler, who both brought diverse approaches to exploring voice and song interpretation. The second time I helped as part of the team.
Meeting musicians from across the country, and from overseas, and learning from some of the best jazz artists around the world builds strong connections and brings such life and exploration into the music you create. The course has given me the opportunity to perform at Pizza Express in February this year and with new musical friends from all over, including in Norwich Cathedral with the talented guitarist Nick Fitch (NYJO).
I am so excited to be in the jazz hub of London again this coming summer as we return to Pizza Express, Soho. Feeling the buzz of the city and hearing the extraordinary music that everyone creates together makes me realise exactly what it is that I love about jazz! (pp)
LINK: Morning Love by Nel and the Elephants
READER OFFER: GMF is offering a £50 discount to vocalists or instrumentalists who apply to come on the course by way of reading LondonJazz News. Just mention having heard about the course by way of this piece.
LINK: GMF London Jazz Workshop and Festival – with full faculty listing
Categories: miscellaneous
Recent Comments