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"MY FUNNY VALENTINE"
Band leader Kerry Hodgkin comes from a musical family and has been singing professionally since the age of 15.
She trained as an actress at the Birmingham School of Speech & Drama and has also worked professionally as an actress.
In 1994 Kerry joined The Spirellas, a four part all-female a capella group, performing various styles including soul and jazz. Over the next 2½ years with The Spirellas, Kerry played many live gigs, was featured several times on BBC Three Counties Radio, did session recording work - including backing vocals on the CD Denim on Ice for the band Denim (released February 1996) and being featured on The Sounds of Being, a dance album by The Serious Sound Syndicate - and appeared on The James Whale Show on ITV in June 1995. In 1996 the group disbanded and some of its members (definitely not Kerry!) decided to concentrate on procreation for a while. It felt like the end of an era!
Kerry has performed in most musical genres over the years, including rock, with the band Ground Zero (1996-98), soul/pop with The Babe Shades (1996-97), original dance music with Darwin (1996) and as a session vocalist for comedian and Rock & Roll Poet Paul B Edwards (1996).
"FINE & MELLOW"
In 1997 Kerry established a Prince's Trust funded business - Lady Blue - providing musical entertainment in varying styles. This includes a solo cabaret vocal act.
In late 1999 Kerry started working with a highly talented young guitarist called Ben Smith. They formed a duo, Ben & Kerry playing semi-acoustic jazz, blues and soul. Ben is featured on several tracks on Kerry's CD, "...and everything".
From 2004 Kerry was doing more acoustic duo work with her partner in music and life, Russell Watkins (guitar/bass). They wrote together and appeared as the outfit Broken Drum, playing originals and covers. However, Broken Drum disbanded in late 2005.
"STRAIGHTEN UP & FLY RIGHT"
In 1997 Kerry also began studying for a modular BA (Hons) Degree with The Open University. Her study encompassed literature, psychology, history and philosophy. Kerry completed her study in October 2001 gaining a "First-Class" degree classification! In February 2005 Kerry began studying with the Open University again and achieved a Post Graduate Certificate in Humanities and a Post Graduate Diploma in Humanities as part of her studies for a Masters Degree in Literature, which she completed in 2007..
Brought up with classical, pop, blues and soul music, it wasn't until her late teens/early twenties that Kerry really discovered jazz. Since 1998 Kerry has been leading various sizes of jazz group, from duo to quintet, but in about 2000 Kerry's real obsession with all things jazz, both vocal and instrumental, really kicked in. Since then she has begun to appear at some key jazz venues, including Pizza on the Park, various Pizza Express restaurants, Stratford Jazz Society, Swindon Jazz Society, Colchester Arts Centre, The Bull's Head in Barnes, The Spice of Life in Soho, Peterborough Jazz Club and the National Theatre Foyer. Her debut CD "...and everything" was released on 33 Records in February 2002, receiving airplay on Jazz FM, BBC Southern Counties Radio and a very favourable review in JazzReview Magazine.
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Kerry completed her first UK tour in Feb/March 2003, with The Kerry Hodgkin Quintet:
Kerry Hodgkin - vocals
Alan Barnes - sax/clarinet
Robin Aspland - piano
Simon Thorpe/Jeremy Brown - bass
Clark Tracey - drums
Playing an eclectic combination of the standard repertoire mixed with crossover soul and popular classics in a contemporary jazz style, with a blues edge. The tour was supported by Jazz Services and was a huge success.
Kerry continues to lead various jazz combos, a 7-9 piece Motown/Atlantic band called Soul Possession and in 2006 she also became the featured vocalist with the 17-piece jazz big band The Sounds of Swing Orchestra. She is working on a number of new projects including a new jazz album to be recorded in 2008.
"KILLING ME SOFTLY"
Kerry also teaches vocal technique at the prestigious Bedford Modern School - renowned for its excellent music department. Here she established and leads a Senior School a capella group called Mozzarella and co-leads the Junior School Chamber Choir.
"FRIM FRAM SAUCE"