Latin Voices Trio is a celebration of the music of Latin America fused together with jazz, soul and contemporary music. Latin Voices are brought together and led by Black British female jazz influenced vocalist Helen Gayle.
Inspired by artistes such as Tania Maria, Flora Purim, Airto Moria and Chick Corea, Helen uses these influences to create infectious rhythms, driving grooves and space for improvisation and interaction.
Helen Gayle - Vocals
Matt Ratcliffe - Piano
Richard Kensington - Percussion
About this event:
Date - From 7pm on Friday, 7th November.
Timing - Doors open for drinks at 7pm, music starts at 7.30pm.
Price - £12.
Location - Downstairs @ Open House.
Booking - Limited to 60 spots, to book your spot please click below.
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Helen Gayle
Originally from London, Helen Gayle lives in north-east Derbyshire. Whilst in London, there were musical projects such as recording vocals for house music and a band that won record of the week on Capital Radio with an original penned by Helen.
Her influences include Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Sarah Vaughan, Jazzmeia Horn, Tania Maria, Chaka Khan, Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, Angie Stone and Betty Carter. Helen currently performs with the Unspeakable Echo and The Beatles Reimagined projects. Helen sang with Unspeakable Echo at the For The Love of Jazz Festival in 2022 and with Latin Voices at the same festival in 2023, a band she founded. She also regularly features as a guest vocalist with Matt Ratcliffe’s Beatles Reimagined project and collaborates with her partner on other projects.
Matt Ratcliffe
Matt Ratcliffe is a jazz pianist and keyboard player based in the north-east Derbyshire in the East Midlands. He plays piano and keyboards with Tony Kofi’s Inside Straight and Tenor Legacy projects. He is well-known, loved and respected in his field and has performed with and for a multitude of artists, both nationally and internationally.
Matt is interested in new sounds and new relationships in music, predominately a jazz pianist, Matt has reached over into the worlds of electronic music, rock, funk, soul,and his projects have reflected his fascination with how these sounds can forge a space in contemporary jazz music today.
Alongside teaching and performing Matt also leads his own quartet, Unity, a Hammond organ quartet inspired by the music of Larry Young, Jack McDuff and Jimmy McGriff and has various projects on the go, including Unspeakable Echo, a band formed to play original compositions by Matt which played at For The Love of Jazz Festival in 2022.
Richard Kensington
Richard Kensington is a percussionist specialising in Latin percussion with a focus on Afro Cuban music, congas and Batá drums. He has drawn on this specialism playing in a wide variety of Latin Bands, most notably Más Y Más with whom he played internationally for 20 years. He now plays in and writes for the 10-piece original Afro Cuban band Lo Ke Ba, whose new album ‘Delirio’ has received acclaim across the UK, USA, and Latin America.
Richard uses the breadth of his knowledge of Cuban and Brazilian rhythms in jazz contexts, reimagining Latin Jazz classics in Quartet Con Alma, the Latin Jazz House band in the acclaimed venue Peggy’s Skylight in Nottingham.
For 12 years Richard has also worked as a healthcare musician in hospitals across the East Midlands playing music for and with patients, visitors, and staff. He uses his musical skills to play responsively in the moment creating music with a focus on connection and wellbeing.