Lucy Joy and Thomas Sladden

“Both exciting talents who understand the music… creating content that has real attention to detail, depth and is also highly entertaining”, says pianist Barry Green about Lucy Joy and Thomas Sladden, an up and coming jazz duo based in London.

They are currently studying jazz at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, performing a combination of luscious, sensitively interpreted standards and soaring, melodic original material. Influences range from Oscar Peterson to Blossom Dearie, from Cecile McLorin Salvant to Kurt Elling, all imaginatively drawn into a soulful, lyrical sound. Come and listen and they will draw you into their world.

Joy and Sladden are interested in exploring standards a little off the piano/voice-duo-beaten-track, whether through adding original vocalese to instrumental standards, finding a joyful sense of fun in 'character tunes', modern reharmonisation of older tunes or digging a little deeper for repertoire. They also include some original tunes by Joy and Sladden. Examples include a lyrically-updated version of I'm Hip, a compelling original take on Naima with a new lyric by Lucy Joy, and a sensual take on Pink Floyd’s Hey You. The jazz duo lends a unique opportunity for freedom and spontaneity, which they explore keenly. Each moment becomes an opportunity to work together to move the music in a different direction. Exploratory rehearsal and two like-minds often leads to spontaneous arrangements - as a result, no two performances are the same.

Presented by Next Door Records.

All ages