Award winner to the Greenhouse

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Every now and again a gig creeps up on us and catches us by surprise, and to many it just passes them by when they hear about it all too late. So, here’s the heads up! Singer Christine Tobin, who plays concerts in Dingwall and Wick in May, has just been crowned Vocalist of the Year by order of Parliament! If that isn’t a wake up up call I’m not sure what is!

christinetobinNewThousandKissesPhoto 268x300 - Award winner to the Greenhouse
“I’m absolutely delighted. It’s always great to get recognition for your work and while I love performing for an audience, once the applause has died down, it’s gone until – hopefully – next time. An award like this trophy – it’s a shield with a portcullis, the parliamentary coat of arms, on it – is a permanent reminder and something physical to cherish.” -Christine on winning the Parliamentary Jazz Awards “

Dublin-born Tobin has just won the Parliamentary Jazz Awards, the UK’s most prestigious recognition for jazz musicians, educators, media workers and organisations. Nomination is open to the public but the final decisions was made by the 100-plus-strong All Party Parliamentary Jazz Appreciation Group, whose members represent both the House of Commons and the House of Lords and work to raise the profile of jazz in the UK.

“It’s always nice to get recognition for your work,” says Tobin, who won Best Vocalist at the 2008 BBC Jazz Awards and a British Composer Award for her 2012 album Sailing to Byzantium. She also won a Herald Angel at the Edinburgh Fringe last August for the show that she’s bringing to Dingwall and Wick, A Thousand Kisses Deep, her salute to singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen.

“A Thousand Kisses Deep”ir?t=wwwinvernessg 21&l=as2&o=2&a=B00HWN20HE - Award winner to the Greenhouse is also the title of Tobin’s latest album, which she launched at a sold-out concert at the famous Ronnie Scott’s jazz club in London in March and it comes just in time to mark Leonard Cohen’s eightieth birthday year. “I’ve been a fan of his since I was ten,” says Tobin, who appears at the Greenhouse in Dingwall on Saturday May 24 and Lyth Arts Centre the following night.

“Forty years later I still love it and I’m really looking forward to singing it in Dingwall”

“My elder sister had an album called Fill Your Head with Rock that was a compilation of diverse music from the early 1970s. Leonard Cohen’s You Know Who I Am was on it and I loved it. Forty years later I still love it and I’m really looking forward to singing it in Dingwall and Wick because I’ve never been as far north in Scotland before.”

So there we have it. Not just a jazz vocalist, and an award winning one at that, but she also here to celebrate Leonard Cohen’s 80th birthday. This is a real coup for both venues in the north. You can see Christine on the following dates in our neck of the woods:

Sat May 24: The Greenhouse, 14 High Street, Dingwall 2pm 01349 867135

Sun May 25: Wick, Lyth Arts Centre 8pm 01955 641 434 

 

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Frank Finlayson
Frank Finlayson
Chartered surveyor by day, music reviewer by night, and occasionally I get to use my camera. A strange mix, but one that I enjoy. A chance meeting in the queue for Bella in 2010 led to the opportunity to write for InvernessGigs; a far cry from the days of writing for a football fanzine back in the late 80s, early 90s. My interests lie between the mainstream, the emerging and the local. Increasingly I find that we have more than enough locally to entertain us to necessitate a trip south. I’m always happy to give a listen, whatever the genre. Inverness has a plethora of talent, all of which I am more than keen to write about. If it encourages just one person to make the effort to listen to some new music I’ll be happy. You can contact Frank direct via frankieboyfin@gmail.com

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