Aretha Franklin - Soul Diva (Saturday)
Showtime presents a celebration of the music of Aretha Franklin - The Queen of Soul, an evening not to be missed at London's favourite music venue, Hideaway featuring the vocal talents of Nina Ferro and Brendan Reilly and an all-star band.
Nina Ferro
Born in Melbourne, Australia to Italian parents, Nina's musical upbringing started with the family record player. Out of the speakers came a mix of classical music, especially opera (her paternal grandmother was a mezzo-soprano), Soul, Motown, Rock & Roll, Rhythm & Blues, Jazz and Pop could be heard. Her favourite singers as a young girl were Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder and Elvis Presley. Since relocating to the UK in 2005 Nina is fast establishing her mark as one of the hottest young Soul-Jazz vocalists on the UK scene. She is a multi award-winning vocalist, songwriter, session and recording artist whose powerful yet sensuous voice and stunning vocal range have done much to establish her enviable international reputation.
Brendan Reilly
Brendan is a trained singer in jazz, a writer, producer and multi-instrumentalist . Brendan was born and raised in the USA within a family of musicians. At the age of 20 he moved to Europe, where he went on to release solo material, has played countless sessions and live shows as well as working as a backing vocalist for the likes of The Basement Jaxx and many others.
Janette Mason - Musical Director & Piano
If there's an explosion of curly red hair buzzing around at the business end of our beautiful Yamaha grand piano, and a room bursting with musically induced grins, then you can be sure it's Janette Mason at the ivories.
Appointed as Hideaway's first Musical Director in 2012, Janette's talents as a producer, arranger and band leader have left a distinctive and extremely popular mark on Hideaway's in-house productions, a series of sell-out shows that include Showtime Presents Bond and Wall to Wall: Bowie.
Also a talented composer, her Trio's 2010 CD, Alien Left Hand, was nominated for a Parliamentary Jazz Award and her work also features on the soundtrack of award-winning independent film Ruby Blue, starring Bob Hoskins.
Her credits as an elite keyboard player include Oasis, Seal, Pulp and Robert Wyatt, as well as the cream of the UK's jazz talent including Clare Martin and Ian Shaw.
