Rosie Frater-Taylor

interviewed by Jazz FM's Nigel Williams

The Pheasantry (Chelsea)

Jazz FM’s Breakfast Show host Nigel Williams is presenting a series “Nigel Williams Presents” that showcases the finest in jazz and soul talent to include in conversation interviews.

Fast-emerging British singer-songwriter and guitarist Rosie Frater-Taylor is widely regarded as a virtuoso guitarist and a vocalist with a powerful emotional range and depth. Out now on Cooking Vinyl, Frater-Taylor’s new album ‘Featherweight’ deftly blurs the boundaries between rock, alt pop, neo soul, new-school jazz and folk. Drawing influence from the likes of Joni Mitchell, through PJ Harvey and Kate Bush, to the rockier roster - where John Mayer, Meshell Ndegeocello, St Vincent and Madison Cunningham hold court, ’Featherweight’ has garnered praise from an equally eclectic mix of supporters including : KCRW, BBC Radio 1, Radio 4 and Jazz FM through to MOJO (4*s), Hi-Fi (5*s), Total Guitar, Guitar.com and Jazzwise coining her “fiercely feminine”.

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£25.00

“A gnarly rock foundation heightened by nuanced jazz chords and folk-style finger-picking. Astonishingly mature album for one so young”

Mojo Magazine

Book tickets for Rosie Frater-Taylor

The critically-acclaimed radio presenter Nigel Williams has featured live sessions and conversations with some of the world’s finest Jazz talent; from multi-Grammy award winners to the brightest new stars. Nigel says, “There is some incredible talent out there. Each artist has a unique story to tell. The Pheasantry is the perfect venue to experience it all.”

In 2021, Rosie independently released and produced her sophomore album ‘Bloom’, which garnered in excess of 3 million streams, was nominated at Gilles Peterson’s Worldwide Awards and took Rosie and her trio across the UK and Europe for over 60 shows in 2022. This included performances at We Out Here Festival on the main stage, the Barbican for International Women’s Day and several shows supporting Madison Cunningham. Shortly after, Rosie and her band headed into the studio to record ‘Featherweight’, capturing the band’s newly found boisterous energy and chemistry. ‘Featherweight’ asserts an emotional and musical maturity through the exploration of deep emotional themes such as duality and gender and a vast selection of sound-worlds all tied together by Rosie’s trademark songwriting, guitar and vocal style.

Descended from a long line of musicians, songwriters & performers, Rosie has been turning heads for her playing since a young age. Initially given drum lessons by her father at the age of 8, she wrote her first song by the age of 10 and started gigging her own original music in and around London at the age of 14. It was at one of these performances that Rosie first caught the attention of Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page, commenting that Rosie had “such a connection with the guitar”. A decade later, in February 2024, Frater-Taylor represented the iconic guitar brand Gibson alongside Jimmy Page, Brian May, Tony Iommi and James Bay at their flagship store launch on ITV News at Ten.

In her teens, Rosie relished the vast and varied record collection of her musician parents, an eclectic mix of artists that would come to influence her own writing : Zero 7, Tania Maria, Seal, Sting, Pat Metheny and more. She began exploring her own love of songwriting, jazz and alternative harmony studying in her teens at the Roundhouse, then completing a jazz guitar degree at the Royal Academy Of Music. Rosie set o? laying out multi-layered guitar-based demos on Cubase at the age of 16. These would eventually become her self-produced debut album 'On My Mind' (2018), a unique collection of songs which garnered praise from BBC Radio 1’s Abbie McCarthy, Becca Stevens badass”, with Jazzwise Magazine hailing her “one to watch”.