Focus On Jazz Presents: Zara McFarlane

Focus on Jazz presents: 

An evening with Zara McFarlane & her full, live Band

One of the UK’s finest Jazz & Soul Vocalists

Featuring DJ Perry Louis (JazzCotech & Mi-Soul Radio)

Multi-award-winning Singer-Songwriter Zara McFarlane first caught the attention of world-renowned DJ Gilles Peterson on the release of her self- produced EP in 2010 and has since released four studio albums on his label Brownswood Recordings.

Zara went on to win best Jazz Act at the MOBO awards (2014) and Urban Music Awards (2015). From her Jazz roots, honing her craft with Tomorrow’s Warriors, Zara continues to push the boundaries of Jazz adjacent music via an exploration into the folk and spiritual traditions of her ancestral motherland, Jamaica, described as a ‘potent hybrid’ in ‘Arise’.

The twice Jazz FM vocalist of the year winner has led her band in festivals from British Summer Time (Hyde Park), Field Day and BoomTown Festivals to prestigious international Jazz festivals and venues such as Ronnie Scott’s, Jazz Cafe, Royal Albert Hall, Love Supreme (UK), Rochester Jazz (US), Cully Jazz (CH), St. Lucia Jazz Festivals and SXSW (US).

With a voice that has been described as ‘a caressing voice of sparkling clarity’, Zara is an in-demand vocalist internationally and has performed with acclaimed musicians including Hugh Masekela, Gregory Porter, Gary Bartz, Ernest Ranglin, Shabaka Hutchings, Moses Boyd and Ezra Collective. She has also collaborated with esteemed producers Lil’ Louie Vega, Swindle, Floating Points, Osunlade and Dennis Bovell.

In the centenary year of her birth, Zara McFarlane is releasing album “Sweet Whispers: Celebrating Sarah Vaughan” on June 14th on Eternal Source of Light / k7! Records.

We are thrilled to bring Zara to Luton’s Hat Factory where she will perform a selection from all her albums, promising an evening of amazing, UK home-grown Jazz- and Soul.

Rounding off the evening will be Luton legend and Focus on Jazz’s own DJ Perry Louis who has DJ’d and danced his way around the world twice over. Perry will play Vinyl sets of Soul, Funk and Jazz before, between and after Zara’s live music sets to keep the vibe going from start to finish.

This will be a wonderful evening of home-grown, live music and one not to be missed!