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Welsh Musicians Nominated for Jazz Awards

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Two Welsh musicians have been nominated for the coveted BBC Jazz Awards. Karen Price catches up with Ian Shaw and Gwilym Simcock.

A COUPLE of weeks ago, Ian Shaw was singing with Charlotte Church at the christening party for her daughter Ruby. The pair met when he mentored her as she made the move from classical to pop music and have clearly remained good friends and he was invited to join in the celebrations at the Vale of Glamorgan home which Charlotte shares with boyfriend Gavin Henson and 10-month-old Ruby.

“We sang some soul covers - it was lots of fun," says Shaw. “It was a lovely day, just friends and family, and Charlotte organised the whole day herself. She's amazing - she's turned into a proper mum."

Shaw worked with the Cardiff-born singer as she prepared to release her debut pop single Crazy Chick in 2005. He says that mentoring Charlotte, who shot to fame when she released her debut classical album, Voice Of An Angel, at the age of 12, was an easy task.

“She's such an instinctive, brilliant musician. There were no problems at all. It was just a matter of finding the right songs for her. When we got to Crazy Chick we were all sorted."

The nomination is certainly helping further raise the profile of his latest album, Lifejacket, which is his first recording of original compositions.

“I'm known as a jazz singer so this is a slight departure," says Shaw, who has also worked with Claire Martin and Marcella Detroit. “I'm singing my own lyrics, which are all about being a middle-aged child."

Another man who knows all about writing is jazz pianist Gwilym Simcock, who is shortlisted in the Best Instrumentalist category. Next month, his first piano concerto will be premiered as part of the BBC Proms at London's Royal Albert Hall.

Simcock, 27, who is from Bangor, spent months working on the piece, which is about 23 minutes in length and is a fusion of jazz and classical music. The following day, Simcock will be entertaining audiences at the Brecon Jazz Festival.

“It's great that a whole town is devoted to a jazz festival," says Simcock, who started playing the piano at the age of three. “It's always a great pleasure and honour to play there."

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