Doors 7:45 PM, Music 8:30 PM – 2 set(s) of music
Line-up:
John-Paul Muir – Piano
Brigitte Beraha – Voice
George Crowley – Tenor Saxophone
Jakub Cywiński – Double Bass
Eric Ford – Drums
About
“Beautiful” – Cerys Matthews (BBC6)
“An album that draws on the many influences that have formed John-Paul Muir’s increasingly individual and contemporary take on jazz…that is inherently beautiful.” – Nick Lea (Jazz Views)
“Beautifully honest, ‘Home Now’ unfolds gently with a vulnerability that lets the light in.” – Tara Minton (UK Jazz News)
“Radiant” – Ruth Fisher (Jazz FM)
Award-winning London based New Zealand pianist and composer John-Paul Muir presents his landmark new album ‘Home Now’, recently released on the Ubuntu Music label.
‘Home Now’ showcases Muir’s lyrical compositional style in a set of five pieces with expressive playing of both delicate beauty and overflowing ecstasy. The first three tracks feature a collaboration with lyricist Anjali Bhat, with Muir’s classical heritage coming to the fore in the impressionistic opener ‘Sunlight’, a captivating portrayal of a romantic encounter, whilst the title track explores the process of finding peace in the home within ourselves.
In addition to presenting ‘Home Now’ in its entirety, this show will also feature new trio arrangements of compositions from Muir’s first solo album ‘The Cornerstone Suite’ (2019).
John-Paul Muir has established himself as one of the finest pianists to emerge from New Zealand in recent years, and
certainly one of the most versatile; equally at home in both classical, jazz, and contemporary genres. In 2010, having received top honours in all of New Zealand’s major music competitions, he graduated from the University of Auckland with a Master of Music degree under the guidance of Rae de Lisle, and moved to London to study at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. He has since graduated with distinction from their Artist Masters Programme, and is currently enjoying a freelance career based in London.
In 2011 he was selected to participate in the Oxford Philomusica International Piano Festival & Summer Academy,
and was an official pianist for the New Zealand exhibit at the 54th Venice Biennale. John-Paul was featured in a week-long
series of concerts as part of the Royal Over-Seas League ARTS programme at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2011 where
he performed a solo jazz recital in addition to the usual classical concerts. John-Paul was also honoured to perform for
Her Majesty the Queen, during the the 80th anniversary celebrations of Goodenough College.
John-Paul has increasingly turned his focus to jazz and improvisation since his studies with leading New Zealand jazz pianist Kevin Field at the University of Auckland. He was Musical Director of the Hampstead Jazz Club in 2018, and currently hosts a weekly jazz night in Bloomsbury, featuring an ever-evolving roster of musicians from the London circuit. After a premiere performance at the London Jazz Festival in 2017, he released ‘The Cornerstone Suite’, a live solo piano performance of original compositions that fuse his classical heritage with more recent explorations in jazz and improvisation. His latest record ‘Home Now’ was released in November 2024 on the Ubuntu Music label.