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| | Arts Calendar / February 16 / Concerts |
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 A diverse handful of guest appearances and solo singles across 2010 and 2011 situated Jessie Ware in a line of remarkable soul-inspired U.K. vocalists including Tracey Thorn, Sade, Lisa Stansfield, and Caron Wheeler. Ware, a native of South London, England, arrived with background vocals for Man Like Me and Jack Penate and took the lead on RackNRuin's "Soundclash", where she revealed a voice powerful enough to be heard and felt over a frantic breakbeat-driven production. By the end of 2010, she issued "Nervous," a collaboration with SBTRKT. The following year was even more productive. Her first 2011 release was "Valentine," a sighing/swooning duet with vocalist/producer Sampha. It was followed by two appearances on SBTRKT's self-titled album, one of which - the garage/broken beat hybrid "Sanctuary" - also featured Sampha. "The Vision", the title track on dubstep producer Joker's 4AD debut, was the most impressive showcase for Ware yet, and she closed out the year with another solo single "Strangest Feeling", a somewhat emotionally wrenching track produced by the Invisible's Dave Okumu. Okumu and Julio Bashmore collaborated with Ware for the singer's first release of 2012, the plush sophisti-pop single "Running". An album, Devotion, followed on Island that August. It debuted at number five in the U.K. and was shortlisted for the 2012 Mercury Prize. Recorded with little fanfare in low-key sessions with Dave Okumu of the invisible, it became one of the most critically acclaimed albums of the year, lauded by everyone from Pitchfork to Heat magazine and nominated for the Mercury Prize. Plaudits were followed by an ever-expanding fanbase, meaning Ware was constantly on tour as she gained millions of new devotees from across the world. Those new fans included the biggest stars in the world, with everyone from Katy Perry to Taylor Swift piling on the praise. In fact it was the mania of Jessie's schedule that led to Tough Love's creation. In 2014, after extensive touring and recording, Ware released the singles "Tough Love" and "Say You Love Me," the latter of which was a collaboration with Ed Sheeran. The album Tough Love followed in October 2014. It was written last may, "after a really gruelling period of shows, to the point where i had just completely run out of energy." Ware took a breather for a few weeks in New York and began working on this understated, sore love song, where attraction and heartbreak are ambiguous. "It's been an interesting year," she says. "I got engaged, I've had all these new experiences. And there's some of that on the record, but Ii still wanted to return to that theme from the first record of unrequited love. I was drawing on a lot of past experiences, cleansing myself of those demons. Even songs I thought I'd imagined on the day, I now totally realise that they're about a certain boy or a certain time. I'm trying to get this all out before I'm going to be a happily married woman." The record's executive producers are Benzell (a new production duo made up of PMR labelmate Two Inch Punch and Katy Perry and Ke$ha super-producer Benny Blanco). As is always the way with Jessie, those that were let inside the process quickly became family: "Benny's just become an annoying older brother. I spent passover with them in Long Island, it was comforting to see how similar his family were to mine." You can hear the leaps in production and songwriting that come with experience and an expanded team. While the record still draws on the suave, svelte palette of synths and bass heard on Devotion, they're combined with more confident choruses and lush arrangements. Jessie's stunning vocal is brought to the fore - it often feels she's whispering right in your ear. Jessie's got a lot to be proud of on this record - but more than a musical evolution, this also marks the beginning of Jessie Ware - not the backing singer or the club-track vocalist or the girl done good - but the star. "I can't keep going round going "oh my god, this is happening." I feel more confident and I think that shows on the record, even the way I deliver the vocals is more upfront. Being a singer is a fucking wicked job, but it's definitely my job now." Jessie Ware's forcoming concert in Moscow will be her first solo performance in our country after her debut appearance at the Russia's brand spanking new Subbotnik Festival in Moscow's Gorky Par together with Arctic Monkeys, Hurts, Foals and Savages. More info
YotaSpace  |
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19:00 | The Duo of Cello and Piano |
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The duo of Igor Zimin (cello) and Yuliya Burileova (piano) perform Sonata for cello and piano by Grieg, Three pieces for cello and piano by and Tchaikovsky, Sonata # 1 for cello and piano by Saint-Saëns.
Philharmonic Chamber Hall |
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