Born: 1978 Primary Instrument: Vocal
Raised in Hove, East Sussex and now based in London, Kaz made her stage debut singing solo at the age of four at the Brighton Dome. She studied Music at Goldsmiths University and Trinity College of Music and shortly after graduating, recorded her first album, the jazz based, Take Me Home (33 Records).
In 2005 she was a finalist in the international www.jazzconnect.com competition, which featured 147 contestants from all around the world.
Her second jazz album, Different Smile was released on her own label Fast Awake Records in 2007.
She has performed with the likes of Lyn Dobson (Manfred Mann, Dusty Springfield, Nick Drake) and Jamie Cullum, Ife Tolentino and jazz wunderkind Gwilym Simcock is featured on Take Me Home.
Her third album “Dandelions” (released 2011) is a new departure for Kaz. It features all her own songs, ranging from one of the first she ever wrote, to a song inspired by a trip to Peru. An intimate, autobiographical insight into her world where she fuses the Spanish classical guitar music of her youth as well as Brazilian, pop and jazz to create quirky twists and turns.
“I credit Rufus Wainwright as the reason why I started writing songs. I started messing around on my guitar and ended up working out an arrangement of his tune Pretty Things and tried it out on a gig. I had a great response and loved it and it carried on from there. I think there are traits of Rufus, The Divine Comedy, Radiohead and probably all the musicals I grew up with in my youth. I hope so anyway!”
“A very fine new album” - Jamie Cullum, BBC Radio 2
“Somehow adept at handcuffing the listener so that one song is not enough…Simmons punctuates the album with grace and simplicity, while being craftily intricate”- R2 Rock’n’ Reel Magazine
“Combining a voice of crystalline purity, a neat lyrical touch, some superb backing musicians and a few lushly romantic arrangements, Kaz Simmons’ Dandelions has a gorgeous heart and a few twists and turns that surprise, delight and occasionally mystify by turn” ��” All About Jazz
“Sympathetic souls will appreciate her gentle candour and sincere ingenuousness, and the album as a whole certainly provides a welcome antidote to the macho posturing of much contemporary pop, male and female” ��” LondonJazz
DIFFERENT SMILE:
”A shining future for her is assured”, Musician Magazine
”It's a beautiful record, beautifully performed and recorded” Mark Lockheart
”Simmons brings a graceful charm and insinuating ease that makes the album simply melt in the ear”, Chris Parker, www.vortexjazz.co.uk
TAKE ME HOME:
“On the front cover it says: “Take Me Home” and you ought to” Richard Niles, BBC Radio 2
“Absolute clarity of diction, a nice line in scat, an exuberant vocal quality and an inventive arranger…Take Me Home perfectly encapsulates the enormous potential of singer Kaz Simmons” Jazzwise
“A commendable achievement…her bright chirpy optimistic approach is very enjoyable” In Tune International
“A young vocal bomb waiting to explode onto the Jazz Idiom” ejazznews.com
“She takes the music in new and wonderful directions” JazzReview.com
Dandelions
Fast Awake Records
23rd May 2011
Kaz Simmons - vocals and guitar
Also featuring: Ivo Neame, Sam Crockatt, James Allsopp, Fulvio Sigurta, Simon Thorpe, Riaan Vosloo, Dave Smith, Tim Giles, Oli Langford, Max Baillie, Nozomi Cohen, Lucy Railton
Different Smile
Kaz Simmons
Fast Awake Records
2007
Kaz Simmons - vocals and guitar Also featuring: Ivo Neame, Sam Crockatt, Simon Thorpe, Dave Smith, Ife Tolentino
Take Me Home
Kaz Simmons
33 Jazz Records
2004
Kaz Simmons - vocals Also featuring: Matt Dungey, Sam Crockatt, Simon Thorpe, Dave Smith, Anton Browne
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