Consummate jazz vocalist Laura Zakian returns to The Electric Theatre with her formidably accomplished quartet and an entirely original set of mesmerising contemporary jazz.

In 2022 Laura released her new album Dreaming Life, the latest fruits of her established collaboration with critically acclaimed composer and percussionist Martin Pyne. Immerse yourself in an evocative musical soundscape which weaves classic jazz, Americana and contemporary influences with Laura’s wry, insightful and deeply personal lyrics.

In two decades of eminence on the UK jazz vocal scene Laura Zakian has stamped her mark with inimitable and sophisticated readings of classic songs. More recently, she has found her original voice as a thoughtful and original lyricist in collaboration with prolific and eclectic composer Martin Pyne. Together they create genre-defying music which is at once meditative and expansive, and a springboard for masterful embellishment of this accomplished quintet. Laura’s mature and intelligent lyrics range far beyond hackneyed themes into sometimes surprising territory, crystallising the frustrations and joys of ordinary moments in our lives.

Dreaming Life adds five new songs to five reprised and sometimes rearranged compositions from Zakian’s first released collaboration with Pyne, the critically acclaimed Minor Moments (2019). Zakian also covers Coming Home by American folk artist Patty Griffin, displaying her ease in imprinting her style on a wide range of musical idioms.

Laura Zakian has lived and worked in London for more than two decades, teaching as well as practicing her art. She studied in New York with Nancy Marano from the Manhattan School of Music, then began her jazz career in Italy.

Laura will be joined by Martin Pyne on drums and percussion, Paul Bartholomew on baritone sax, Steve Lodder on piano and Andy Hammill on bass.

“Powerful… enthralling… Much of the pleasure in this beautifully understated and reflective music is the complex emotions imparted in Laura’s voice that can at once be strong, and then show a vulnerable fragility.” - Jazz views, Nick Lea