Visitors to the inaugural Mostly festival will remember Lizzy Parks well. The Devonshire-born Birmingham Conservatoire graduate’s confident vocal performance over retro jazz and ambient soul was one of the highlights of the festival. Now, she is back as part of a seven musician collective, comprising an array of talent: on sax, there is Mary Wakelam, winner of a 2008 BBC Urban Music scheme award; on piano, Rob Barron who was the pianist for Damon Albarn’s Monkey: Journey to the West; on drums, Jim Bashford for the Jim Bashford Trio; on trumpet, Joe Egan of Aida Severo; on bass, Colin Somervell of Trio Tekke; and on decks, Chris Read of BBE. As one, they draw on each other’s diverse backgrounds and experiences – with the resulting mix featuring references to soul and electronica, with an underlying jazz influence.
