The London Vocal Project

A Seasonal Celebration of Hope and Harmony

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Last Show: Saturday 2 nd December 2023

PizzaExpress Jazz Club (Soho)

Recently nominated for a Parliamentary Jazz Award, jazz choir London Vocal Project (LVP) returns to Soho to celebrate Christmas. LVP is one of the UK's leading contemporary vocal ensembles led by jazz composer and educator Pete Churchill. They are a vibrant community of performers comprising professional singers, instrumentalists, composers and music educators. This Seasonal Celebration is a culmination of a triumphant year’s residency at PizzaExpress, Dean Street, that has followed the challenges presented by lockdown. Their performances throughout the past twelve months at this iconic venue have proved to every audience that they have come back stronger! We will, of course, include a host of old favourites from our groove repertoire as well as further offerings from our singer/songwriter project that was developed over lockdown. This exciting and varied programme will also include an exclusive glimpse at upcoming projects and collaborations. So join us for a joyous mix of repertoire past, present and future and you can be sure that this rich mix will be liberally seasoned with our unique Christmas arrangements - all to help you escape those Bleak Midwinter Blues!

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"I can’t see how it would be possible for anyone present [Miles Ahead show, Kings Place, December 2018] not to have been affected emotionally in some way, maybe even profoundly, and also regularly spellbound by the level of achievement on show in the hall.’"

Sebastian Scotney, London Jazz News

Alongside their regular performances of their own compositions and arrangements the London Vocal Project is a champion of new music, especially by British jazz composers, and this has led to performances of works by Nikki Iles, Gwilym Simcock, Mike Walker and Tim Whitehead. Equally important, however, is their active education programme introducing young choirs to the unique sound and ethos of LVP. Past collaborations with some of the world's leading writers and performers have included Bobby McFerrin, Johnny Dankworth & Cleo Laine, Kenny Wheeler, Dave Holland and Jon Hendricks.

Close collaboration with Kenny Wheeler culminated in the acclaimed 2013 recording of his Mirrors Suite, featuring Kenny and the great Norma Winstone MBE. The album followed a memorable performance with Kenny and Norma as part of the London Jazz Festival in 2011. As they continue to perform and promote Kenny’s music, LVP have recently finished recording a new album with Dave Holland and Norma Winstone MBE of new compositions that were written especially for the choir.

Before lockdown Pete Churchill and LVP completed the the realisation of Jon Hendricks vocalese treatment of the Gil Evans, Miles Ahead album. Churchill’s collaboration with Hendricks on this choral adaptation began in 2012 and led to a New York premiere of this work made possible by the generous assistance of Quincy Jones. There were two further sold-out shows at Kings Place (2017 and 2018), and the recording of this project is now nearing completion. 

Being a ‘project-based’ choir it is customary for LVP to rehearse and maintain several contrasting programs at the same time and over the past year, alongside their upcoming Kenny Wheeler Project,  they have been focusing on their unique singer/songwriter project with the music of James Taylor, Joni Mitchell and other contemporary writers. Future projects include a collaboration with The Printmakers called ‘The Many Voices of Eve’ which focuses on the music of female composers, lyricists and poets and there is also in the pipeline a project of a rare, never recorded choral work by the great British jazz pianist, John Taylor.