The award winning Irish singer Christine Tobin delivers this month what is already being touted as her finest work so far, Sailing To Byzantium, a jazz interpretation of the poetry of WB Yeats. Peter Quinn visits her home on the Kent coast to discover how the album came about and finds out just how tough it is on the UK jazz scene today

The yawning chasm between critical acclaim and everyday reality can be painfully pronounced for many jazz musicians. Take the case of Christine Tobin. On the one hand, she’s held in the highest regard by her peers. Ian Shaw has called her “the most unique artist we’ve got in this country” (Jazzwise 150). Writing in The Guardian, critic John L Walters has commented that Tobin is “a jewel of the London jazz scene, streets ahead of the pack.” And then there was her best vocalist award at the 2008 BBC Jazz Awards. The kind of kudos, in other words, that most singers dream about.

On the other hand, consider this: when was the last time you saw Tobin’s name on the bill at Ronnie Scott’s or Pizza Express Jazz Club? I’d wager that Mr Memory from The 39 Steps would have trouble with that one. And while you would have seen the overhyped US chanteuse Melody Gardot and the one-trick-pony pasticheurs Puppini Sisters on the bill at the recent Cheltenham Jazz Festival, you’d have looked in vain to see Tobin’s name. If she was some kind of confrontational avant-gardist who had audiences running for the door the minute she opened her mouth, this might be understandable. Except she isn’t, and they don’t. So what is it then? Is it a classic case of gradually being taken for granted over time? Or perhaps this musical free spirit is somehow considered too different from the jazz mainstream? Whatever the reason, the plain truth is that one of the finest artists of her generation just isn’t on the radar of the UK’s premier jazz venues and festivals.

The questions are timely, not least because Tobin’s latest release, Sailing to Byzantium, is nothing less than a masterpiece which deserves the very widest audience possible. With its strong central theme, the most empathetic band imaginable – Liam Noble (piano), Phil Robson (guitar), Gareth Lockrane (flutes), Kate Shortt (cello) and Dave Whitford (double bass) – and Christine at the height of her compositional powers, it’s amazing to think that the album came about quite by chance.

This is an extract from Jazzwise Issue #165 – to read the full article click here to subscribe and receive a FREE CD...