Steinway 2-Piano Festival

Wendy Kirkland + Charu Suri

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Last Show: Sunday 24 th March 2024

PizzaExpress Jazz Club (Soho)

Wendy Kirkland, described by Jazz Journal as 'The Singing Pianist', the Guardian as 'a terrific pianist and singer' and the Sunday Times as 'mellow and stylish', has been a mainstay of the UK jazz scene, breaking through when her album, Piano Divas was released in 2017, resulting in national press attention and Arts Council England funding for a tour and three further tours in 2018, 2019 and 2021. Her eclectic repertoire varies from the Great American Songbook through to her own original material and into the realms of musical theatre, pop and funk. During lockdown in 2020 she recorded 86 live streams which have been viewed over a million times and led to her nomination for a Parliamentary Jazz Award for Lockdown Innovation. Award-winning pianist and composer Charu Suri treads fearlessly between genres and has been praised by critics and audiences for pioneering a sound all her own. Together Wendy and Charu will provide a genre-busting set including raga, jazz and song, to entertain and entrance.

Wendy Kirkland

Pianist and singer Wendy Kirkland has been a mainstay of the UK Jazz scene since the late noughties, but it was her first album, Piano Divas, released in 2017 that began her ascent to wider recognition as a “Singing Pianist”, as dubbed by Jazz Journal. The ability to sing at the same time as comping and craft solos on the piano or unison piano/voice scat lines is her forte, with influences such as Diana Krall, Eliane Elias and Dena DeRose. Further accolades were given for her 2019 release The Music’s On Me, dubbed “a huge leap forward” by Jazz Views. Both albums prompted ACE funded tours all over the UK and constant radio airplay ever since.

Charu Suri

Using Indian ragas anchored to a certain time of day, she has composed four albums, the latest being RAGS & RAGAS with John Patitucci on the bass, Joe Lastie from Preservation Hall on the drums, and Steve Gadd on percussion. Her work has been played by Yo Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, and New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, among others.

She is one of the few female jazz composers from India; Winner, International Singer Songwriters Association (ISSA), a three time performer at Carnegie Hall, a winner, Intercontinental Music Awards and a GRAMMY voting member.

Steinway 2-Piano Festival