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JOY ELLIS - Finding Her Peaceful Place
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Having worked hard to establish herself as one of the UK's most distinguished singer-songwriters and with two highly acclaimed albums under her belt, Joy Ellis delights and confounds expectations with her new recording Peaceful Place.

Jettisoning her vocals in favour of the piano, Joy has elected to work with just a trio in a radical departure from her previous work. Or is it? Retaining the services of drummer, Adam Osmianski and Henrik Jensen on double bass, Joy's touch and sense of melody is immediately recognisable. However, the paired down format allows the pianist to explore further the lyricism in her improvisations and her interplay with her musical partners.

Once again, Joy has written all the compositions, all of which were written and recorded during the pandemic, that reflects the troubled times and sense of loss that were felt by many, yet there is always an underlying feeling of optimism and of better times ahead.

It was therefore a real pleasure to talk to Joy about her new album and her new trio.

Your new album, Peaceful Place, is quite a departure from your earlier releases. Can you tell us about the recording?
It's quite minimalist and I wanted to leave a lot of space - hopefully people will find it relaxing. Also, contrary to my last two releases, I don’t sing on the album. I wasn't hearing any lyrics that I felt would fit with the music I was trying to express.

Your previous albums, Life On Land (2017) and Dwell (2019) both feature your vocals as well as your piano playing. How did you find recording without having to sing as well as play, and how did this effect the way that you composed the music for the trio?
I really enjoyed just being able to focus on the piano and the dynamic created by working as a trio. In terms of the compositions, I think I wrote this music in a very similar way to how I've always done. In the past, people used to ask which came first; music or lyrics. If the lyrics came first that would generally mean I’d have to consider how to write the musically slightly differently but I think these songs were more successful in a poetic sense.

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Talking of the trio, this particular line up with just bass and drums to accompany you seems to suit you very well. Is a trio record something that you have been planning for a while, or was it a more spontaneous decision based on the thoughts that you wished to express in light of the pandemic?
On both my previous releases I had included a piano trio track to challenge myself as I do find this line up is unfamiliar territory to me. In fact, I had intended for Rob Luft, our regular guitar player, to be on the session for at least a few of the tunes but Covid restrictions meant that wasn't possible in the end.

The trio format allows much more room for improvisation and spontaneous interaction. Did you find that your playing changed and adapted to this new line up?
Absolutely - it was great to be able to stretch myself in this line up. To me, it’s a different way of playing which I haven’t had the opportunity to experience that much. However, I found it to be thoroughly enjoyable and I would definitely try writing another album for trio although probably not just yet as I have an idea for a larger ensemble which I’ve been wanting to record for ages.

Bassist, Henrik Jensen and drummer, Adam Osmianski have played on all three of your albums and the relationship between you is felt most strongly in the paired down line up of the trio. How did you first meet Henrik and Adam, and how do you feel that this musical relationship has evolved?
That’s quite a nice story actually - I first met Adam in Malaysia. I was singing in a 5-star hotel and he was touring the country with a jazz piano trio - I went to his gig and then he came to mine and then quite a bit of travelling/gigs later we tied the knot and he became my permanent drummer!

I can’t quite remember but I think I met Henrik when I hired him to do a duo gig. I really enjoyed the way he played and so we started playing more regularly.

The music heard on Peaceful Place draws on many influences from within the jazz tradition, and beyond. How would you say have influenced you as a pianist and composer?
I'm a massive fan of Debussy and used to play a lot of his pieces when I was first learning piano. I would say perhaps he might have been the strongest influence in this music along with perhaps Brad Mehldau, Marcin Wasilewski and Tord Gustavsen.

How did you become interested in playing the piano, and how did you get interested in jazz?
I began playing the piano when I was nine and fell in love with it. I played mainly classical music and then later, in my teens, some pop and alternative rock. It wasn't until I was 23 that I discovered jazz and that was kind of by accident as somebody got me a gig in a pub as a jazz piano player and singer.

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You graduated from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. How did you find the education system helped you as a musician, and as means to study jazz in particular?
Honestly, it was kind of brutal. At that time, I felt like a complete novice at jazz and improvisation because I hadn’t been playing it that long. I felt I was constantly playing catchup and the prestige of the institution felt very heavy. By the same token however, it forced me to raise my game and demand excellence from myself - I learnt so much!

Over the last few years as downloads and streaming platforms have increased there has been a big shift in the way many people listen to music. The pandemic has magnified this still further with all gigs being cancelled during the first lockdown and being heavily restricted thereafter, which has in turn resulted in an increase in the number of live streamed concerts with tickets purchased online in advance. A big question to answer, but how do you see the future for creative artists who have relied on sales of albums and performing live?
I don't think anything can replicate the experience of going to a gig and seeing musicians performing and interacting together live. For me, I find live-streaming very stressful! In terms of streaming platforms, I think people are accessing music more than ever before - it’s just a pity these platforms don't pay their artists very well.

It is good to see that things are starting to return to some sort of normality, and that gigs are slowly returning. With your album launch on Thursday 24th March for Peaceful Place, are there plans to tour the music with the trio?
Yeah, I'm so happy to be gigging again! I’m hoping to organise a tour for the autumn although thing’s are still tricky coming out of the pandemic.

And what about your plans for the future? Do you hope to develop the trio further?
I just love writing music and I hope to be able to write in as many different guises as possible!

For more information about Joy, visit her website at joyellismusic.com
Purchase Joy's albums from  the All That Jazz online shop
Click on the album covers below to read our reviews
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