Christine Tobin’s latest CD Sailing to Byzantium brings to life the lyrical magic of W B Yeats’ poems and has been widely acclaimed. Reviewing the album earlier this year, I wrote that "Tobin has created an unqualified masterpiece. Setting poems from across the entire spectrum of Yeats's oeuvre, Tobin perfectly gauges the emotional and spiritual resonances of the texts, aided by performances of incredible subtlety and understatement."
In October and November, the BBC award winning jazz vocalist and her group - Phil Robson (guitar), Kate Shortt (cello), Liam Noble (piano) and Dave Whitford (bass) - will be performing a number of dates in the UK and Ireland in support of the album.The tour dates are as follows:
- 12 October, The Westcoast Bar, Margate.
- 18 October, Bonnington Theatre, Nottingham.
- 19 October, Milennium Hall, Sheffield.
- 20 October, The Edge Arts Centre, Much Wenlock.
- 21 October, Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester Literature Festival.
- 27 October, Triskel Christchurch, Cork Jazz Festival.
- 2 November, The Forge, London.
- 17 November, The Cube/Deda Theatre, Derby.
- 30 November, Fleece Jazz, Stoke-by-Nayland.
Flautist Gareth Lockrane, who also plays on the CD, will join the band for their Derby date on 17 November.
Poetry has always held an especially important place for Tobin and she has previously set poems by Paul Muldoon, Eva Salzman, William Morris and Herman Melville. The new recording also features the renowned actor Gabriel Byrne as a special guest - Byrne was Christine's teacher back in Dublin when she attended Ardscoil Éanna secondary school.
Sailing to Byzantium is out now on Trail Belle Records and is distributed in the UK and Ireland via Proper Note.
Listen to "The Wild Swans at Coole" from Sailing to Byzantium:
The Wild Swans at Coole by Christine Tobin
- Visit Christine Tobin's website.
