Salena Jones & her band
Regularly described by critics as one of the worlds` great jazz singers and, occasionally as “not altogether a jazz singer”, Salena Jones is almost impossible to categorise. The attraction lies in her voice quality pure and simple. Salena Jones` cool, relaxed phrasing and delivery is wonderfully free from artifice.
At the lower end of the register, her voice is smoky and sensual; not for her, though, vivacious displays of double-time gymnastics or virtuoso scat choruses; she is a storyteller who allows the lyrics to speak for themselves and although ballads are her strongest suit, she swings with the very best.
During Salena`s outstanding career she has worked with numerous music legends around the world including Louis Armstrong, Antonio Carlos Jobim and Sarah Vaughan as well as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. To date, Salena has made forty-three solo albums and twenty-two singles. She is totally comfortable in diverse styles that she makes her own: blues, jazz standards, pop, latin, big band and orchestral are all in her repertoire.
"A superb singer who effortlessly delivers the lyrics with grace, charm and innate swing" - Ronnie Scott`s
“In our opinion and many others too, Salena Jones is one of the finest jazz singers EVER and we’d just love to have her back at our Festival” - Dr Ian Darrington MBE, Director, Wigan International Jazz Festival
“Salena always has a way of making even the best-known standards sound fresh and original. There is so much experience and soul in everything that Salena sings, the kind of authenticity you cannot contrive” - Alyn Shipton, BBC Jazz Broadcaster, Jazz Author and Historian
"Infinitely versatile, she swings from jazz standards to more intimate material, America's loss is Britain's gain; Jones is pure class ….” - The Times Arts
Pete Billington - piano
Oil Hayhurst - bass
Pete Cater – drums
Martin Shaw – trumpet, flugelhorn
Richard Shepherd – saxophones