March is a significant month for jazz in Belfast kicking off on Monday night with the launch of Dana Masters’ Basement Sessions live EP at the Lyric theatre.
Coming not long after the recording session back in December and following extensive gigging as a backing singer for Van Morrison – up there in the Van backing singer firmament, to many fans already, with Katie Kissoon – trumpeter Linley Hamilton who performed with Dana on the EP and plays on Monday says the Lyric show will be a very special night:
“I started working with Dana Masters about three years ago when she expressed her interest in jazz. She is such an expansive singer with a huge vocal range, incredible power but also an emotion in her delivery that I haven’t heard live that often. She listens to everything and has a huge armoury of songs that she knows and loves from hip-hop, R&B, soul, groove, jazz gospel, singer/songwriter. She is powerful but sincere and one of the most genuine people I have ever met who is committed to helping as many people as she can with a generosity of spirit that makes her so easy to work with. As a result, she is taking the world by storm... the McHughs sessions bringing her to an enthusiastic underground audience and helping her form relationships with musicians that eventually led to her work with the Ulster Orchestra at the BBC Proms and latterly with Van the Man.
“The Basement recording sessions were held over two nights just before Christmas with her new band that featured a horn section and a cracking rhythm section which included Paul Hamilton from the Foy Vance band on drums, and Johnny Taylor on piano from Mary Coughlan’s band. It was extraordinary: her army of fans came out in force and we produced a five-track recording which will be launched at the Lyric Theatre gig on Monday at 8pm. She has further put changes to the band bringing in top Dublin bass player Paul Moore [Van Morrison band] and guitarist Paddy Groenland and has moved away from the jazz which was the core of her repertoire for several years, instead turning to a more eclectic mix of modern songs that she visits with the usual intensity. It has to be the gig of the year so far.” SG
Dana Masters, above. Tickets for Monday's show: here
Linley Hamilton's latest tour begins on 12 March