Alison Dewar - ProfilesArchive

About Me

Passionate about music from her formative years, Alison grew up singing and performing in her native Johannesburg, South Africa. From appearing in musicals (and several on-screen appearances) in South Africa, Alison gained a wealth of experience, which in turn focused her interest in carving a career in the music industry. Keen to explore a variety of genres, Alison went on to perform lead vocals with a professional pop band, performing regularly in Pretoria. Alison later joined Johannesburg based "No Surprise" with whom she recorded original material and performed live in South Africa. However in '93 a trip to Europe lay just around the corner and was to introduce Alison to her greatest musical passion, jazz.After a brief spell in the UK Alison moved to Switzerland in 1996, it was there she became hooked on jazz. Inspired by jazz legends (including the late, great, Shirley Horn) and determined to learn as much as possible Alison began a formal education in music at the Academy of Contemporary Music in ZÃ¼rich. She went on to study further with the renowned ZÃ¼rich Jazz School and enrolled with the St Gallen Jazz School.Alison then spent a number of years performing with the acclaimed Swiss jazz trio Inbetween as guest vocalist. She then formed her own successful jazz quartet and built up a loyal following in Switzerland prior to moving to the UK in 2005.In 2006 Alison released her first cd, a five track EP entitled Introducing Alison Dewar. The cd captured a variety of moods and vocal styles from the joyously upbeat Star Eyes to an intensely reflective interpretation of the beautiful Horace Silver ballad Peace. Upon release the cd garnered critical acclaim and entered the Best Sellers list at Ray's Jazz in Foyles, London steadily climbing to No.7 in their chart. In Europe Alisonâ€™s EP was voted cd of the week on Italian radio, and Softly became track of the week and month respectively on Italian and Greek radio, where the cd reached Top 20. Introducing Alison also received airplay in the US, France, Columbia and South Africa.Not one to rest on her laurels, Alison continues to develop and define her craft, always learning from great teachers and mentors including Al Jarreau, BB King, Bobby McFerrin, Jay Clayton, Sandy Patton, Sheila Jordan, Take 6 and The Jackson 5 Gospel Singers.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 4/14/2006
Band Website: alisondewar.com
Band Members: My wonderful band features Andy Panayi (fl), Derek Nash (ts) and Graham Harvey (p), Dave Chamberlain (b), Matt Skelton (d).
Influences: There are so many, where does one start? Shirley Horn, Sheila Jordan, Jay Clayton, Sandy Patton, Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, Anita O'Day, Al Jarreau, Bobby McFerrin, BB King, Astrud Gilberto, Miles Davis, Cassandra Wilson, Dianne Reeves, Diana Krall, Sting, Phil Collins, Tierney Sutton and many many more...
Sounds Like: Available at:www.itunes.com, www.amazon.co.uk, www.cdbaby.com. Available nationwide in stores in UK, Greece and South Africa. Available on itunes and all other major digital stores.
Record Label: Scherdew Music Ltd
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

Give it up Mugabe

This cruel and sick man needs to go.Is it not enough that he has single-handedly destroyed a nation, brought it to it’s knees? Once called the ’Breadbasket of Africa’, it now has the...
Posted by Alison Dewar on Sat, 05 Apr 2008 09:58:00 PST

Gilberto Gil and BB King

On a much happier and more positive note...Seeing Gilberto Gil live in concert for the first time this week was absolutely wonderful.What a warm and kind man and a brilliant musician. Ahhh, Brazilian ...
Posted by Alison Dewar on Wed, 02 Apr 2008 11:52:00 PST

Soweto Gospel Choir, Simphiwe Dana, and Afrika Afrika

A Celebration of Africa and Africans (including of course SA) ...I only recently found out that the Soweto Gospel Choir won their second Grammy award this year! Brilliant news! Unfortunately I missed ...
Posted by Alison Dewar on Mon, 18 Feb 2008 11:02:00 PST

Congratulations to Herbie Hancock, Amy Whinehouse ...Janette Mason...

I love watching the Grammy's and was thrilled to see Herbie Hancock - such a brilliant jazz artist - win a Grammy for 'Album of the Year'. It's only the second time ever that a jazz artist has won thi...
Posted by Alison Dewar on Tue, 12 Feb 2008 02:32:00 PST

Stan Tracey

I am very pleased to say that I finally got to see Stan Tracey live at the Barbican on Wednesday evening, along with Keith Tippett and Stan Tracey's Big Band. Well, brilliant, truly brilliant! Wh...
Posted by Alison Dewar on Fri, 01 Feb 2008 11:24:00 PST

Happy Holidays, Festive Season, Christmas, New Year...

Hello there all Sorry about the laziness of this blog but I have run out of time to send individual messages. Gotta catch my plane to SA and not sure when I'll be able to log on here again... To those...
Posted by Alison Dewar on Sun, 16 Dec 2007 07:11:00 PST

Save Live Music!

Well before I begin on the topic... am I proud of the World Champ Springboks? You bettya : ) very, very proud. I've just returned from a very quick trip to NY. Having dinner in the hotel we were stayi...
Posted by Alison Dewar on Sun, 02 Dec 2007 03:48:00 PST

Rugby World Cup Final...South Africa vs England...

I am still hoarse from watching the semi-final last night, great game, both teams played so well. A couple of things to learn from yes, but a very enjoyable game nonetheless. Well done to Argentina fo...
Posted by Alison Dewar on Mon, 15 Oct 2007 08:49:00 PST

Avishai Cohen trio, World Cup Rugby Semi-Finals ...

Hello Dears Firstly, thank you to all of you who request to be friends, I do apologise for not responding to all of you, I certainly try to whenever I can. It is due to time contraints. Your frie...
Posted by Alison Dewar on Mon, 08 Oct 2007 11:04:00 PST

Britney Spears

Will someone please save this girl from herself?!! I have to say it is absolutely pitiful to see what she's doing to herself and her loved ones. Isn't there anyone near her who can help her ...
Posted by Alison Dewar on Wed, 03 Oct 2007 08:00:00 PST