Surrounded by the surfeit of little girl voices prevalent in jazz today, it's almost a relief to encounter a mature but flexible voice like Alison Burns. Beyond the vocal quality is imaginative delivery and interpretation that comes from experience in life as well as performance. The way she weighs and colours the lyrics in her singing place her in rare company. At home in any setting, from festival and theatre stages to small, intimate venues, Alison Burns never fails to touch the audience with her soul-stirring performances.
Born in Dundee, Scotland, Alison grew up drawing inspiration from the recordings of the jazz greats like Sarah Vaughn, Nat King Cole and Ella Fitzgerald. Her interpretation of songs draws on her varied life which has seen her work as an engineer, draftswoman, actress and more recently a highly regarded lawyer specialising in entertainment law.
In demand as much abroad as in the UK she has performed concerts in Tokyo, Nashville, New York, Cannes, Capri and Shanghai as well as exclusive events for the likes of Virgin Airlines and Sir Terence Conran. As well as appearing at many of the main UK jazz festivals she has also performed on both national TV and radio and has recently guested with Martin Taylor on a number of his concerts.
Her new album is due out in March 2007 on the P3 Music label accompanied by European touring dates.
Here is what the press are saying:
"Burns's voice strikes the right balance between sensitivity and power" - HMV Choice
"Impressive....superb throughout" - Crescendo Magazine
"Outstanding" - The Courier
"Very good indeed" - Michael Parkinson
"Excellent" - Scotland on Sunday
"a triumphant debut...a voice full of confidence and authority" - China Sunday Morning Post
"Fantastic..superb...outstanding." - ABC Australia
"a collection of classic jazz torch songs set to race up the charts" - Daily Express
