The much-awaited return of Tomomi Takahashi, this time with a nine-piece band.

"Into the Starry Sky" will feature original piano compositions by Tomomi, orchestrated for her large jazz ensemble.  The kind of music you don't hear very much, because it's very difficult to write, rehearse, and perform.  But for us, she's doing it.

Jay Byrnes : saxes
Anne-Marie Brade : violin and viola
Mary Rapp : cello and double bass
Pete Atkins : drums
Ben Crocker : euphonium
Meredith Cheng : voice
Meg Collis : flute
Esther Lamb : voice
and of course
Tomomi Takahashi : pianist and composer

Everybody who knows Leonie knows how great she is.  Everybody who has a copy of the Pony album loves it.  She hasn't been playing so much the last couple of years, but she's doing a duet set for us.  Leonie says she's "thrilled to be performing as a duo with bassist Hugh Fraser......... On an evening following superb pianist/composer Tomomi Takahashi who’ll be playing the first set with her ensemble."

Tomomi will be opening the night with her quintet - piano, double bass, sax, violin and euphonium.  She's an improvising musician who works with improvised theatre, and will be mostly playing premieres of original music.  I have a photo, but it's hard to get two photos on this website thingy, so you'll have to show up and meet her in person.