Florence Joëlle

At some hazy point where blues, jazz and torch singing bleed into each other, Florence Joelle mixes covers with her own songs. Her minimalist acoustic project was mostly recorded on home devices. A former member of the R’n’B combo Manuela & The MusicMakers as a harmonica player, she has performed in venues as diverse as Soho cult nite spot The New Evaristo, the Barbican’s Foyer, the Water Rats and even most recently Otto’s Shrunken Head in New York’s Lower East Side for a solo set. She has been a tireless record collector for most of her life, and has created over 200 jazz compilations and reissues for record companies. Her fascination with rock’n’roll, blues, lounge, exotica, soul and jazz has, over the last decade, led to DJ spots in various London clubs and bars, and most recently the London Jazz Festival. She likes liquid eyeliner, Little Jimmy Scott, Nina Simone, Charles Mingus, Robert Mitchum, the smell of acetate, boogaloo, and mashed potatoes, in that order. Her favourite colour is leopard skin.