repertoire

“In George Gershwin’s gentler tunes I hear an ingenuous openness, a sweetness
that doesn't cloy. And the thing I admire most about his career is that, given every
temptation of superstar celebrity and his strong streak of vanity, he never turned
fatuous, pretentious or lazy,”
wrote Walter Clemons in 1973.

Indeed, Gershwin’s café society magnificence and leap from insider songwriter to
outsider composer - “the grandeur and the poignance” - infinitely reflect from
the man’s life into his prophetic music.

At the close of the centenary of Rhapsody in Blue, composed just five years after
Gershwin wrote his first Broadway score when has 20, Sam Jewison this evening
sings and plays on the piano Gershwin’s songs followed by the virtuosic
transcription of the rhapsody.

about sam jewison

Sam Jewison studied classical music and jazz from childhood and then graduated
from Trinity Laban Conservatoire with the singing department’s highest honour.

Notable performances this year for Mr. Jewison straddle a return to the Royal
Opera House’s recital series and a debut at the Rame Lahaj International Opera
Festival in Pristina, Kosovo.

On the great British jazz stages of our times, the singer and pianist has played at
EFG London Jazz Festival, Camden’s Jazz Café, and the summer festival Nevill
Holt.

In Italy, leading a trio he has played at the Music in Valsolda festival on Lake
Lugano and Orticola Di Lombardia in Milan. And leading a jazz dectet, he
performed throughout the NewGeneration (later ReGeneration) Festival in
Florence.

Café Lapérouse

Please write to guests@efraim.uk or text/call 07939 664576 if you
would like to join the pre-concert dinner.