Jan 19 – Freight Train (Jordan/Noble/Clarvis)

In 2023 Irish traditional folk singer Cathy Jordan teamed up with leading UK jazz musicians, pianist Liam Noble and percussionist Paul Clarvis, for a UK and Ireland tour to promote their highly-acclaimed folk-meets-jazz album ‘Freight Train‘.

They start a new tour at the beginning of 2025 to showcase new material building on the success of ‘Freight Train’. Influences range from Irish airs to Duke Ellington ballads to Mose Allison blues/jazz fusion.

Cathy Jordan, born in County Roscommon, is a singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, playing guitar, bodhran, bones and bouzouki. She has been the lead vocalist for the traditional Irish music band Dervish since 1991, and is a solo performer as well. Jordan is also a member of the group The Unwanted. Her first solo album, entitled ‘All The Way Home’, was released in 2012. At the end of 2019 Dervish received a prestigious lifetime achievement award from the BBC, a fitting tribute to the band after over 30 years of recording and performing all over the world, described by the BBC as “an icon of Irish music”.

Paul Clarvis first heard Cathy sing five years ago in pub in Sligo and was immediately drawn to the directness of her voice, with a dynamic range from a whisper to boom louder than Concorde. The following year, they played a gig together at the wonderful Sligo Jazz Festival. Paul was looking for an opportunity to involve her in other projects, and the request from West Midlands Jazz in lockdown seemed like the perfect opportunity. This resulted in the ‘Freight Train’ album.

Paul has collaborated with some of the world’s best composers and performers from Harrison Birtwistle and John Adams to Stevie Wonder and Mick Jagger. Paul helped with the drum arrangement for the London Olympic 2012 opening, and is now the regular percussion player in the BBC Strictly Come Dancing show. As a jazz musician his list of credits is just as long, including Chris Batchelor, Henry Lowther, Mark Lewandowski, Josephine Davies, Alan Barnes, Gordon Beck, Tim Garland, Jon Lloyd, Sam Rivers, Andy Sheppard, Stan Sulzmann.

After studying music at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Liam Noble became the regular pianist with Stan Sulzmann. He went on to work in the bands of Anita Wardell, Harry Beckett, Tim Whitehead and John Stevens as well as recording and touring with cult minimalist composer Moondog.

Three years after leaving the Guildhall, Liam recorded the solo piano album of compositions and interpretations of tunes by Ornette Coleman, Annette Peacock and Richard Rodgers. In 1997, he joined the Bobby Wellins Quartet. He  later was a member of the Christine Tobin band and the Randy Brecker Sextet. He is also a regular member of the Julian Siegel group.

Liam and Paul first met playing and touring in Moondog’s band. They have collaborated in many joint projects since then, including with Mose Allison.