Jazz Preview: Teal set to bring a smile to highlight festival

Kildwick-born Clare Teal returns to her county roots tomorrow night when she sings at Harrogate Royal Hall in a concert introduced by a longstanding fan, Sir Michael Parkinson.
By Reginald Brace
Published 29th Jul 2011, 11:07 BST

Clare will perform material from her most recent album Hey Ho, which is devoted to songs written by British composers from Snow Patrol’s Chasing Cars to Ivor Novello’s We’ll Gather Lilacs and Noel Coward’s If Love Were All, from which the record derives its title.

It is a winning combination from a gifted, outgoing performer, who apart from her strengths as a singer, has a smile which lights up the room.

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Tomorrow she will be supported by Ian Shaw, one of the vocal mainstays of British jazz, and Pee Wee Ellis the ebullient godfather of funk. It promises to be an evening to savour.

All this is part of Harrogate International Festival, one of the highlights in Yorkshire’s cultural calendar.

The event will also presents Soweto Kinch at Harrogate Theatre on Sunday night. Alto saxophonist Kinch turned his back on an Oxford degree in modern history in favour of jazz where he is now a standard bearer in demolishing musical barriers and his performances never fail to disappoint.

Away from the concert hall, the festival will move into the Spiegeltent in Crescent Gardens from today until Sunday with a wide variety of sounds and styles in convivial surroundings.

Harrogate International Festival, various venues, to July 31. For a full programme of events call the box office on 01423 502116 or go online www.harrogate-festival.org.uk