Joan of jazz

Joan Armatrading, the three times Grammy nominated British singer songwriter, is to play at the Millennium Forum on September 21 as part of her gruelling UK tour.

The first female UK artist to debut at No1 in Billboards Blues charts, she promised her Londonderry fans “a good mixture of songs” when she steps out under the spotlight.

In addition to all her popular favourites from the 70s and 80s, Joan will also be playing songs form her blues/pop/rock and Jaxx trilogy of CDs which began with Into The Blues in 2007, followed up by This Charmed Life in 2012 and now her latest CD, the jazz-fuelled Sttarlight.

Her audience will know her for her strong, rhythmic acoustic guitar playing and melodic electric solos, but the tracks from Starlight cast a totally different light on her body of work, with an exceptional collection of some of the most relaxing mood music around.

Despite having embarked on a punishing tour, Joan was still able to enjoy some downtime recently at the Olympics in London, watching Team GB footballers at Olympic Park, where she saw the female team play against South Korea

“It was absolutely brilliant. I didn’t know they split it into two sections and you got to watch two lots of matches. I thought I was just going to see one .

“The first one was Belgium against China. It was a good game. China were a little bit like the England football team, they’d get the ball and then just pass it...that’s what England does. So it was a nil-nil draw.