The secret’s out about Christine

4:56pm Wednesday 18th June 2008

Irish-born singer-songwriter Christine Tobin is on the brink of stardom outside jazz circles. MIRIAM CRAIG talks to her ahead of her gig at Lauderdale House.

Christine Tobin, 38, has a reputation for making music that is adventurous and offbeat, pushing genre boundaries.

Her commanding voice, originality, and freedom from convention have all been praised to the skies. She has even been described as the Björk of European jazz.

Often this praise comes with an acknowledgment that her music has not gained her the recognition she deserves outside jazz circles.

But there's a chance her appeal may be about to widen, if she beats her two fellow nominees to win best vocalist in this year's BBC Jazz Awards, which will be announced on July 21. She is up against Ian Shaw, who has won the award twice before, and Norma Winstone, who has been part of the UK's jazz scene for over 40 years.

Tobin, who lives in Margate, Kent, agrees things seem to be taking off. She says: "Since I've started to make this album things have taken a leap forward. There seems to be a lot of interest. Maybe it's something to do with the fact that it's been four years since my last album, I don't know. But it feels good."

Secret Life of a Girl is Tobin's seventh album for Babel, a British indie label specialising in contemporary jazz. The album is made up mainly of her own material, including a poem by poet Eva Salzman that Tobin has set to music, as well as a cover of the Leonard Cohen song Everybody Knows and the Rufus Wainwright song Poses.

Tobin was involved in performing from a young age, taking part in professional productions of musicals in her home town of Dublin. She got into jazz in her late teens after hearing a Joni Mitchell record being played.

The first Joni Mitchell album she bought for herself was a collaboration with jazz bassist Charles Mingus, and Tobin's exploration into jazz began.

Now her influences range from folk icon Bob Dylan to jazz luminary Pat Metheney and Brazilian singer Elis Regina.

For Tobin, moving the listener is her highest priority. She says: "I'm aiming to reach the parts that other communications don't reach. I think that's what music does - it speaks on a very deep level. It also has a healing quality and makes us feel united. If I thought the music I was making didn't move anybody, I'd give up."

Christine Tobin will perform at Lauderdale House, in Highgate Hill, Waterlow Park, Highgate, on July 3 at 8.30pm. Tickets cost £9 (concessions £7.50) and are available from the box office on 020 8348 8716.

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