Julia Biel

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Julia Biel (born February 22, 1976 in London ) is a British jazz musician (vocals, piano, guitar) who combines jazz, pop and soul. Her voice is in the timbre between Billie Holiday and Tracey Thorn .

Live and act

Biel, who grew up in Sutton, Surrey, and received classical piano and violin lessons at an early age, attended Oxford University , where she studied French and German. There she met the jazz musician Idris Rahman , who opened up the world of jazz for her. She was also interested in Neneh Cherry and trip-hop . She formed her first band.

Since 2002 she belonged together with Idris Rahman, Robert Mitchell and the drummer Sebastian Rochford to the F-IRE-Collective founded by the saxophonist Barak Schmool , which wanted to create an infrastructure that would allow the experimental members to make a living from music. Biel was soon to be heard on Polar Bear albums with Rochford and on Oriole albums with Jonny Phillips, Rahman and Rochford . She also belonged to the band Unity Collective .

In 2005, with the guitarist Jonny Phillips, Biel's first solo album, Not Alone , was created, which combined acoustic guitars with jazz and echoes of Joan Armatrading . Biel continued to appear with the reggae band Soothsayers . She also recorded the EP Love in the Dead of Night and other titles with Ben Watt (from Everything but the Girl ) . On their second solo album Love Letters and Other Missiles , the mood of the music is close to Massive Attack, despite the easy-listening instrumentation .

Prizes and awards

Biel was named "Perrier Jazz Vocalist of the Year" in 2000; she was also nominated as a newcomer for the BBC Jazz Awards in 2006. In 2015 she received a nomination for the MOBO ( Music of Black Origin ) as best jazz act.

Discographic notes

  • 2005: Not Alone
  • 2010: Stimming, Ben Watt & Julia Biel Bright Star
  • 2015: Love Letters and Other Missiles
  • 2018: Julia Biel
  • 2020: Black and White

Under a different name

  • 2000: Various Artists, The Perrier Award Winners [three titles]
  • 2004: Polar Bear Dimlit
  • 2004: Oriole Song for the Sleeping
  • 2004: Unity Collective Love in the Dead of Night EP
  • 2007: Polar Bear Polar Bear
  • 2008: Ben Watt ft. Julia Biel Guinea Pig

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c A woman from the world , Neue Zürcher Zeitung , April 24, 2015
  2. ↑ Albums of the Week (Standard)
  3. ↑ Meeting (SoultrainOnline)
personal data
SURNAME Biel, Julia
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British jazz musician (vocals, piano, guitar)
DATE OF BIRTH February 22, 1976
PLACE OF BIRTH London