Live Music: Billy Marrows + Grand Família
(LITTLE VENICE)
November 1st 7.30pm
Puppet Theatre Barge • Little Venice
*THIS IS A LIVE MUSIC CONCERT, NOT A PUPPET SHOW*
For this special one-off gig, jazz guitarist and composer Billy Marrows is joined by three musicians from his Grande Família ensemble, playing music from their critically acclaimed debut album ‘Penelope’ alongside new compositions. The album launch with the full 12-piece Grand Família at Pizza Express Live Soho sold out over two months in advance.
“An exhilaratingly original sound, at once intimate and expansive” ★★★★ Editor’s Choice in JAZZWISE
The ‘Penelope’ album was recorded as a surprise for Billy’s mother Penny during her struggle with pancreatic cancer in summer 2023. Released in her memory at the end of January 2024, all proceeds go to World Child Cancer to help children in developing countries beat cancer. Billy formed the chamber-jazz ensemble Grande Família to create the album, and their inventive chamber-jazz spans a wide emotional spectrum, with narrative and melody at its heart.
“A triumph…with his Grande Família project, Marrows has created a spectacular new ensemble” Jazz Views
“Melodic and distinctive…an album of inventive and contemporary chamber-jazz” ★★★★ All About Jazz
Line up:
Billy Marrows - electric guitar, baritone guitar and compositions
Teresa Macedo Ferreira - viola
Tom Ridout - tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone and recorder
Gustavo Clayton Marucci - clarinet and bass clarinet
Billy Marrows is a jazz guitarist, bandleader and award-winning composer originally from North Yorkshire. He has won both the small and large ensemble categories of the Dankworth Prize for Jazz Composition and the 2019 Eddie Harvey Jazz Arranger award. A graduate of the Royal Academy of Music, he also studied with the legendary Vince Mendoza on the 2018 Metropole Orkest Arrangers Workshop.
Teresa Macedo Ferreira is a young Portuguese violist based in London via Glasgow. She has performed with the London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra and Erland Cooper and is a senior ambassador for the Benedetti Foundation.
Tom Ridout is an award-winning jazz saxophonist, recorder player and bandleader. He was a finalist in the first BBC Young Jazz Musician of the Year in 2016 and the recipient of the 2021 Peter Whittingham Award.
Gustavo Clayton Marucci is an in-demand jazz clarinetist and bass clarinetist, performing across the UK and Europe. He’s know for his beautiful sound, melodic improvising and groovy baselines!
“I could not recommend Billy Marrows’ incredible album ‘Penelope’ any higher. It’s among the most beautiful, rich, textured and emotive music I’ve heard in years” Jamie Doe, aka The Magic Lantern
