Songs for a Summer Evening: Emily Williams and her Band present Songs composed by Chris & Jonathan Elven  

Based in the Jazz Studies Department of Morley College, London, this young group of musicians presents some of their most recent work.

Featuring:

Emily Williams – vocals
Adam Dyer – piano
Klara Devlin – trumpet
Ruben Vriend -- double bass
Chris Elven – tenor sax

The Songs

We know how it goes, we know how deep it stirs …

Chris and Jonathan Elven are brothers who have been collaborating for many years on songs which seek to catch something of our most powerful, many-layered, and most human feelings. 

Chris Elven is a keen student of harmony and loves the songs of Rodgers and Hart, Jimmy Van Heusen and Tom Waits. Jonathan Elven is an amateur drummer and lyricist.

The Performers

Emily Williams is an emerging jazz singer based in south London. She sings music from different genres with the Morley Big Band, the Brazilian choir Nossa Voz and her own small ensembles. Emily is currently working on her debut album which will be released in July.
Klara Devlin is an 18-year-old trumpeter from London. She was a finalist in the BBC Young Jazz Musician of the Year Awards. Both her Croatian mum and British/Italian dad are creative in the visual arts. Klara started playing trumpet at age five and was introduced to jazz aged eight. She joined NYJO Academy aged nine and stayed for four years, also taking part in various National Youth Jazz Collective summer schools. Klara then joined Tomorrow’s Warriors and the Junior Jazz programme at the Royal Academy of Music, where she still studies. Klara has experience of gigging with her own band, as well as with Tomorrow’s Warriors Frontline and Big Band, and the Miranda Radford Quartet.

Adam Dyer is a graduate of Christ’s College, Cambridge and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Having grown up playing classical music since the age of seven, he took to playing jazz piano in his mid-teens. Following his time at the Guildhall he travelled to Scandinavia to study jazz for two years on a scholarship. His trio with Eric Ford (drums) and Jakub Cywinski (bass), have recently recorded his debut album, River Spirit, with guest performer Duncan Eagles (saxophone) which has received critical acclaim and radio play on BBC Radio 3. Adam is a tutor in the Jazz Studies Department of Morley College and has been instrumental in assisting Chris & Jonathan with their compositions and in bringing this group together.

Ruben Vriend was born and raised in Portugal to Dutch parents. He developed a love of jazz and the bass as a teenager. After graduating in Law, Ruben decided to return to music and to focus on what made him happy. Moving to London, he took a job as a waiter in a jazz club, where he began lessons with resident bassist Sam Burgess before the start of shifts. Ruben also studied with other musicians he met at the club. From there he progressed onto the Masters program in Jazz at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Ruben now plays in several bands as well as teaching bass.

Chris Elven is a pianist and saxophonist who lives in Reading. He has played in the Morley Big Band for many years, sings in the Reading-based choir Parenthesis and is the leader of the jazz quintet Swing Vote.

Entry by Donation to St Andrew’s Building Fund – Tickets on the Door,

Or reserve a place by visiting: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/songs-for-a-summer-evening-emily-williams-sings-chris-jonathan-elven-tickets-1366956827669