The Roaring 2020s: La Soirée Folle

Join us for Jazz at the Speakeasy in Project Arts Centre. Password La Soirée Folle! 

The 1920s, The Jazz Age, Les Annee Folles, The Roaring Twenties, the Charleston, Swing Orchestras, Surrealism, DADAism, Jazz.  A time of casting off the stays and corsets of old ways of life for all that was new and modern. A time of self-expression, great freedom, and release following the restriction and destruction of WWI and the Spanish Flu pandemic. The arts sparked with iconoclastic and rebellious artists like Joyce, Dali, Josephine Baker, and Mondrian fearless and relentless in their experimentation and drive for innovation. 

A centenary on, as we emerge into an uncertain future from our own pandemic, Emilie Conway takes inspiration from the artists and musicians of the 20s as she presents a concert that explores some of the music of that time like Sweet Georgia Brown, Ain’t Misbehavin, Blue Skies, T’Aint Nobody’s Business, and Stardust.

It was, after all, in the infamous Green Mill, Chicago, a prohibition Speakeasy frequented by Al Capone, where Emilie got her start in jazz, singing My Secret Love with Kurt Elling’s band in an after-hours jam session. 

In addition to harkening back to this incendiary age, join us as Emilie debuts some of her own compositions from the 2020s, which are concerned with the role of art for social change and equality.  She will also debut excerpts from her commission with the National Gallery to respond to modern artist, Piet Mondrian. 

Emilie will be joined by her long-time musicians, Johnny Taylor on piano and Dominic Mullan on drums.  They will also be joined by Dan Bodwell on double bass.  

The audience is invited to dress up in 20s-style clothes – experimentation and freedom of self-expression through dress are welcomed! 

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“Star of the show is Conway’s voice,” – Hot Press

“Splendid.” – The Sunday Independent

“Her own vocalese to Coltrane’s solo demonstrating her abilities to their fullest, flitting through the lyrics at a tempo most rappers would be envious of, while maintaining a bouncing melody and clarity of diction throughout.” – GoldenPlec