“[Mancio’s] singing has now reached an almost sublime level, clarity and poise personified, phrasing with the ensemble or soaring over, intimate yet dynamic, her liaison with Williams’ musical line just or jubilant as the song requires…the entire event was a delight”
“What is truly astonishing about this ensemble is the music that is made collectively. This is not jazz or classical music, it is simply music. The pleasure that these remarkable musicians take in performing, and just making music together was clear to see and hear”
“It is something very special to hear their teamwork come to fruition”
Finding Home with Kate Williams
Georgia Mancio (voice), Kate Williams (piano), Oli Hayhurst (bass), David Ingamells (drums), John Garner (violin), Marie Schreer (violin), Francis Gallagher (viola), Sergio Serra (cello), John Williams (guest guitar)
Finding Home is the award-winning team of two of the UK’s leading artists: pianist/composer Kate Williams (Bobby Wellins, Stan Sulzmann, Pete Hurt Jazz Orchestra) and vocalist/lyricist Georgia Mancio (Alan Broadbent, Ian Shaw, ReVoice! Festival), in a collection of songs, old and newly co-written, arranged for voice, piano trio and string quartet, linked by the many concepts of Finding Home.
Finding Home is the maturation of Kate and Georgia’s 10 year collaboration with past performances at Ronnie Scotts, Cleethorpes Jazz Festival and a televised broadcast for BBC Radio Scotland’s prestigious Jazz Nights at The Quay.
Kate’s multi-layered compositions and arrangements reveal their deeper narrative within Georgia’s searing lyric writing and emotive live performances. From the tragedy of the refugee crisis to romantic spoken word groove, reworked classics from Chile, Brazil and the Great American Songbook and a focus on the natural world, loss and hope: Finding Home prompts many questions and delivers multiple answers.
Their live debut at the Pizza Express Jazz Club in 2017 was described as “a triumph of integrity and classy musicality” in a 4 star review from The Guardian 4**** with subsequent performances including Watermill Jazz, Birmingham Jazz Festival, Wakefield Jazz Club, the 606 Club, Calstock Arts, Colchester Arts Centre, Bolton Abbey, Frome Festival, Underground Theatre (Royal and Derngate) and the Isle of Wight Jazz Weekend.
Their 2019 Arts Council England assisted tour indicates the breadth of this project and their desire to reach beyond traditional venues and audiences: playing in schools, museums, places of worship, community spaces; partnering with child refugee charity Safe Passage, other local groups, NGOs and arts events and organising pay-what-you-can afternoon family concerts.
Their eponymous album was released to huge acclaim in 2019, winning Best Album in the 2020 Parliamentary Jazz Awards. Featuring special guest guitarist John Williams (Kate’s father), it has been described as “meticulous and poignant … with a depth transcending mere ‘song” (London Jazz News).
Best Album, 2020 Parliamentary Jazz Awards
featuring guitarist John Williams
