Noëlle et les Papillons\' French Exchange (NB Saturday 28 May)

Presented by: Ashburton Live

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0	ASHBURTON: St Lawrence Chapel
P	Saturday 28th May, 2016
N	8:00pm

Event information

Noëlle Rollings, vocals, acoustic guitar & ukulele
Gaëlle Hammond, backing vocals, percussion & melodica
Alex Worsley, guitars
Tom Unwin, keyboards
Marcus Vergette, acoustic & electric bass
Steve Crossen, drum kit & percussion
Bob Martin, trombone
Graham Hutton, trumpet
Andy Williamson, tenor sax

Noëlle has been making music since childhood; singing harmonies with her younger sister, creating songs and conducting her siblings in the "kitchen utensil orchestra". The road has been long, musically rich and incredibly varied and all the travels, collaborations and life experiences can be heard in this beautiful debut album.

Born in London to an actor father and a ballerina mother, Noëlle, the middle child of six, was placed under the Christmas tree when she first arrived home. Early bohemian life developed into an unusual childhood, encouraging Noëlle's creativity, independence and acute observations of the world surrounding her; a great foundation for the song writing, composition and improvisations that were to follow. At the tender age of 18 Noëlle's adventurous spirit took her to volunteer on a kibbutz in Israel, where she lived for 11 years, raising a young family and developing her performance skills as a Jazz vocalist and improviser.

She studied Music at the prestigious Rimon School of Jazz and Contemporary Music, singing as 1st soprano in the showcase 18-piece a cappella ensemble and the lead vocalist in the Rimon Big Band. Having won a bursary at the end of her first year, Noëlle was selected to represent Rimon at the 6th annual meeting of the IASJ, directed by Dave Leibman; a thrilling experience, where she learnt and performed alongside students and teachers from the leading Jazz colleges around the world.

On returning to live in England, Noëlle continued to perform in numerous Jazz ensembles and funk and soul bands and continued her studies, gaining 1st class honours in Music at Dartington College of Arts. After raising her two children and working as a gigging musician, teacher of music, lecturer and teacher trainer, Noëlle finally felt the time was right to concentrate solely on her own music. So, as her children flew the nest, Noëlle began song writing once more, initially in London and then in France. It was this move to France that shaped her debut album, French Exchange.

Living a very simple life for two years in the middle of rural Normandy enabled Noëlle to reflect on her past experiences with great clarity and her first body of original songs slowly emerged. Recording at home in a simple studio set-up, the album began to take shape. In total it was written, recorded and mixed by Noëlle in four different homes and two countries over a six-year period. "French Exchange" tells the stories of those people and places she has encountered and the adventures that led her to move to France. It is a work of beauty. The sacrifices continue to enable this album to be released and self marketed on Noëlle’s own label, Eric le Chat Records. She wouldn’t have it any other way.