Jazzland Sessions : Emma Johnson's Gravy Boat + Sam Dolling Trio

Longtime Leeds jazz music promoter Lubi Jovanovic continues his very successful Jazzland Sessions seated shows at Brudenell Social Club with more quality hometown music talent. Tenor saxophonist, composer and band leader Emma Johnson brings her band Gravy Boat to the Brudenell for the first time to launch their debut album "Worry Not" (out 2nd July) with support from Leeds Conservatoire graduate pianist Sam Dolling and his trio.

Since graduating from Leeds College Of Music several years ago, saxophonist Emma Johnson has steadily been building her profile across the jazz scene in the UK and the wider music scene via her own band Gravy Boat, collaborations with other musicians and a busy schedule of session work with her horn section Horns For Hire. In 2020, she released a single featuring Manchester vocalist Nishia Smith and whilst the pandemic shut down the music scene, she and the band produced a series of live music videos entitled "Seafarer's Suite". They had already recorded their album just prior to the first lockdown and with financial assistance from Help Musicians UK and Peter Whittington Jazz, they are finally releasing it in July. "Worry Not" will come out on 2nd July and is inspired by cinematic scores as well as a wide range of jazz from hard bop to modern tenor/guitar led quintets. This combines to create compositions that evoke imagery and emotions for the listener featuring strong melodies with improvised sections that give each member of the group space to shine. Check out the firing video of the single "Sun Stones" here for an example of the band's great musicianship and musical interplay.

Regarding her playing, a recent review in Bebop Spoken noted: ‘Johnson gets a great sound on tenor and has a technique to match. Not one of those in-your-face players but someone whose solos build gradually and logically, with a natural lyricism reminiscent of Coltrane.’ A versatile musician, Emma has worked with musicians such as Easy Life, Gregory Porter, Olly Murs, Clare Teal and Los Campesinos! and performs across the UK and internationally with a number of bands. With her own horn section Horns For Hire, she has arranged and performed on releases for bands such as Happy Daggers, Neon Dolls and most notably BBC Radio 6 Music favourites Fold.

Gravy Boat are : Emma Johnson (tenor saxophone) - Fergus Vickers (electric guitar) - Richard Jones (piano) - Angus Milne (double bass) - Steve Hanley (drums)

Support comes from pianist Sam Dolling and his jazz trio. Sam has just graduated from Leeds Conservatoire where he has been studying jazz and performance for the last 3 years. He has been heavily involved in the jazz and soul scene at the college with his bands The Space Antics and his trio and has performed at venues across the city including The Wardrobe, The Hifi Club, 7Arts and Hyde Park Book Club. Expect a contemporary piano jazz trio set from one of the rising stars of the Leeds jazz scene.