NEW VIDEO FOR 'SHHH...'

STILL 2

When I met Idris all those years ago, I would never have dared dream we’d still be journeying through life together all these years later.  But when I think about it, for all we’ve been through, actually all we really share at any one time is the present.  None of us ever knows what is going to happen in the future and none of us can do anything about the past.  No matter what’s gone before and what the future holds, the present remains life’s only true gift. The gift of breath and the gift of being.  A time for noticing the simple things and for feeling gratitude for the lives of the ones we love.  If we are lucky we are loved in return.  ‘Shhh’ is a song written for those moments when we feel loved in return and are present in those moments to feel love’s warmth.  

Included on my debut album released 15 years ago, I recorded a version of ‘Shhh…’ for my most recent album ‘Black and White, Vol.1’ and stripped it back to just voice and piano.  Shot on a gorgeous sunny day in a magical place, today I’m releasing a video featuring the pair of us and I love that we got to share that day and all the days that we share.  In these complicated and uncertain times, I hope you can come back to the breath, come back to the moment, and find your way to celebrate life’s simple pleasures in the here and now.

REVIEW - SCHALL MUSIK MAGAZIN

Chuffed to see this fab review come through from Germany today. Thanks guys!

ON THE RADIO Pt 2 - 'Made in China' TSF JAZZ!

Also, this! China Moses’ guest on her TSFJazz show back in March, I made a last minute dash to Paris right before the lockdown and recorded a little mini-concert which you can still catch via the TSFJazz facebook page. Thanks so much for having me :).

ON THE RADIO Pt 1 - 'LOOSE ENDS' BBC RADIO 4

Only three weeks ago, although it feels like another world entirely even now, I was in the BBC Studios with Clive Anderson and a motley crew of assorted culturally-minded folks for what was a lovely morning that included a live peformance of ‘Three Little Words’ from ‘Black and White, Vol.1’. You can listen back to the show here and in case you’re in a rush, I make my appearance at 9.55 in. <3

ƒƒƒƒ TÉLÉRAMA REVIEW!

In this time of lockdown, good news glitters like gold making me especially happy to read this lovely review of ‘Black and White, Vol.1’ today :). A big thank you to Louis-Julien Nicolaou and Télérama!

And another shout-out from Télérama here, in this piece about bringing the jazz club into your living room whilst you can’t go to the club - including a reminder you can watch a few things of mine (amongst much other fine jazziness) on Youtube whilst we’re all stuck at home.

Hoping you’re keeping safe and well out there!

4* JAZZWISE REVIEW FOR 'BLACK AND WHITE, VOL.1'!

Thanks so much to the folks at Jazzwise for this wonderful review of ‘Black and White, Vol.1’! Get a hold of the February issue for a double page feature too :).

Why 'Black and White'?

Life is not black and white and yet I am.  Not black enough, not white enough but still both.  The identity of multi-racial people such as myself is complicated to arrive at and I feel lucky that music has been there to guide me and allow me to create a sonic reflection of myself in order that I might feel whole.  As much as alluding to the keys of the piano, the instrument that set me on the path to being the artist I am today, this is what the title ‘Black and White, Vol.1’ is about. 

Nothing about life is simple and neither is talking about matters of race, yet as a species we have evolved this binary concept of ‘black’ and ‘white’ and so from that have come these vague ideas about what it means to be ‘black’ and what it means to be ‘white’. And so we have racial stereotyping. Like as if these supposedly two colours of human are somehow intrinsically different from each other. 

The beauty of music is that it is above all of this mundanity.  Music connects those of us that want to be connected regardless - it exists in a higher place.  If we let it, music can pass through any and all filters and speak to the soul.  It’s a magical place and I wish I could be there always.  But I do not kid myself, I put this album out into this world knowing that its title and for many just the mere sound of my voice on these gentle songs will present a challenge to primitive, un-inclusive world views that are held hidden in the confines of musical genres.  In reality they are often little more than subtle ways of racial stereotyping.  My blackness co-exists with my whiteness in my skin, in my voice, in my influences, how could it not?  I am both ‘black’ and ‘white’ in a world that seems to want me to pick a side.  I was once told that racially-speaking, I shouldn’t exist, yet here I am. 

In a racially binary world, I am the rainbow.

The new album from Julia Biel, ‘Black and White, Vol.1’ is released via Ankhtone Records/PIAS on 28th February 2020.  

Photo by John Seymour

JAZZWISE FEATURE, FEB 2020 EDITION

One wintery afternoon I met up with Peter Quinn to talk all about the new album ‘Black and White, Vol. 1’. You can read all about it in the February edition of Jazzwise! And their 4* review of the album is in the same edition too. Thanks so much Jazzwise!