Norfolk Bands

Robin Phillips at Cafe Bar Marzano

The Last Bar

The Last Bar, marks a career point for the Norwich-based jazz musician Robin Phillips.

At 26-years-old he wanted to draw a line in the sand and say 'look at what I've done' - but feedback on the album has encouraged him to push the CD further in the hope of becoming recognised in the wider arena as a performer of jazz music.

Launched in summer 2005, the solo recording features a collection of Robin's favourite jazz standards - many of which can be heard performed in his regular gigs at the Cafe Bar Marzano at The Forum in Norwich.

The album features 14 tracks, took more than two years to complete and showcases Robin's piano and vocal talents, he's been speaking to the BBC's Martin Barber.

Why has this album taken you two years to pull together?

I'd worked in a band, in duos. I'd been a piano player, a singer and had worked on a number of projects that got so far - but then somebody left the band for whatever reason and it became frustrating never completing a project. I thought the way to do it then, is to do it on my own.

How did you decide on the tracks which made the album?

The idea originally was to pick the songs I wanted to do – jazz tunes that I love and that I could approach in an interesting way. The idea was to record 20 of them, but only put eight on the album. I actually recorded 14 and used a group of people all over the country as my panel of judges.

Jazz is one of the big umbrella brands of music, but your work is very much towards the standards - Gershwin, Rodgers and Hart etc... What is it about this material that you like so much?

I didn't decide on a genre when I went about this album. I just picked out the tunes I liked to sing and play.

What I wanted to do – in the tunes that have been done to perfection before, like Summertime and My Funny Valentine – was to approach them in a different way. Summertime has a more groovy rift to it, My Funny Valentine isn't so much of a ballad in my version of it.

Some of them were really tricky.

You have a good following in Norfolk, but how do you take it to the next level when competing with say Jamie Cullum, Claire Teal or Curtis Stigers?

That's the challenge I'm facing now. I always knew I wanted to grow in Norfolk and build a following here, then it’s about trying to leap on the national stage.

Somebody once said to me, 'you can't just send a CD into Sony jazz and get picked up' – but it's about growing a fan base in an area and word just spreads. I play all over East Anglia and I've got some gigs coming up in Lincolnshire.

We're getting there slowly, but it's going to take some time.

Hand on heart – are you a pianist or a vocalist?

I almost want to say 'what do you think'? Originally I was a singer and playing was for fun, but over the last five years I've been working hard on my jazz piano. At the moment the piano may have the edge - but I'm working hard on training my voice.

There's an argument that goes 20 somethings shouldn't be doing jazz, it's about having a pop career. As a genre, is jazz becoming cool for young people?

People would say you haven't lived enough to play jazz. You haven't had enough suffering - but it's really being helped by the pop industry embracing jazz.

When I was growing you had The Cure and Blur, it was cool to be in a rock or brit-pop band, but it wasn't cool to be a jazz musician. So for me, I'd just play jazz as home because I loved it. When I started playing with a jazz orchestra I suddenly discovered lots of other young people who liked jazz as well.

Harry Connick Jnr did great things for jazz. He suddenly segued into the pop stream. Jamie [Cullum] is doing it now for jazz, he's a great musician.

He might have had a hard time from the jazz community saying it's not straight enough jazz and there might be better pianist, but that's not the point.

If people want to listen to something, that makes it popular and that makes it pop music.

… but that depends on if your recording for the public at large or the jazz purists. Who are you recording for?

Robin busy signing copies of his album

I'm probably not good enough to recording for the jazz purists [laughs]. There are phenomenal jazz musicians out there who dedicate their life into taking  jazz in new directions. Bands like Esbjorn Svensson Trio (EST)  from Sweden who are taking it to a new level.

For me, I respect jazz as and art form and I want to get better at it. But I enjoy putting the singing and the playing together. There's this bizarre thing with jazz in that it almost has to be un-listenable if you're going to be at the forefront of jazz – but that's not me.

No, your album is quite safe...

It's not safe in trying to do it all solo, but as a jazz style goes – yes, it could be a bit more edgy, but who knows where it might go in the future.

It wasn't a conscious decision to say 'I'm not going to do that because it's a bit risky', it was about what do I want to do – what do I like, what are the songs I love?

Will The Last Bar be a Christmas stocking filler?

I'm really lucky in that a number of shops in Norwich are selling it, which is very supportive. We're getting beyond the people who know me through other people, people are discovering it for themselves. I think it'd be a great Christmas album. [laughs]

This album is about you marking a point in your musical career – but what's next?

This CD is a bit like me waving a flag in the air, to say 'this is me, are you interested in what I'm doing?'

I'm trying to get myself booked into jazz festivals for 2006 and taking it from there.

The hope is within six months to have an interest from a distributor or record label, but the jazz industry is a cottage industry in the UK – it’s not like the pop world and that makes it harder work.

For details of Robin's latest gigs, visit his website.