Ink on a Pin - A Celebration of Joni Mitchell Sara Colman

• 1 Court and Spark 03:22
• 2 Chelsea Morning 03:52
• 3 Amelia 07:18
• 4 This Flight Tonight 03:47
• 5 Down to You 04:12
• 6 Woodstock 06:30
• 7 My Old Man 05:41
• Total Runtime 34:42

Info for Ink on a Pin - A Celebration of Joni Mitchell

Sara Colman, the acclaimed UK singer, songwriter and composer, announces a November release for her new album celebrating the music of Joni Mitchell, with striking new arrangements and poignant re-workings of seven songs from one of her most significant influences.

"Sara Colman has a rare ability. Not only does she do full justice to the music and lyrics of a song, she also shares the music with her audience with a deep generosity of spirit. And she does it all with wit, with grace and wisdom”

Following her much-admired 2018 release, What We’re Made Of, noted by American critic Ted Gioia as ‘worthy of your attention’, Colman’s latest project amplifies her inventiveness and versatility, as she weaves elements of folk, Americana and jazz into expressive new arrangements of iconic songs drawn from Mitchell’s celebrated catalogue.

Growing out of her time as Recording-Artist-in-Residence at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire in 2019, Ink On A Pin (taking its title from a lyric from Mitchell’s iconic song Blue) features Colman’s ten-piece band, with strings and vocals set alongside the ever-innovative Percy Pursglove (flugelhorn), Steve Banks (guitars), Rebecca Nash (piano), Ben Markland (bass) and Jonathan Silk (drums).

Inspired by her love of classic songwriting and instinctive improvisational energy, Mitchell’s work has long had a profound impact on Colman. “My awareness of Joni’s unfailing ability to write songs that are uniquely personal and yet universal has deepened as I discover more about what inspired her to write them, as they have inspired countless jazz musicians before me. Often with Joni, in writing about something in her life, she seems to encapsulate the very thing that you yourself are experiencing. Genius.”

In recent years, Bristol-born Colman has worked with some of the leading lights in British music, including Laura Mvula, Liane Carroll and Mahalia, performing at the BBC Proms, and was commissioned in 2019 by The Canales Project (US) to write a song celebrating the life of Sakena Yacoobi, an Afghan activist who has spent her life fighting for the rights of children and women to education in Afghanistan. The piece was premiered in Washington, in May 2019.

Full of her natural warmth, character and integrity, Ink On A Pin features seven pieces all with strong resonance and significance to Colman, traced back to when she first encountered Mitchell’s Court and Spark album as a 19 year-old student in Birmingham. “I was a piano student at the Conservatoire, new to the city, a little bit lonely and hungry for inspiration other than the classical music that surrounded me, and the pop that somehow wasn’t quite enough. Other new listening included Pat Metheny, Supertramp, Keith Jarrett, Dudley Moore, Fleetwood Mac - all superb and influential in their own way, however, the Court and Spark tape I borrowed from the library was consistently renewed with a new date stamp and practically worn out. I’m not sure it ever made it back.”

“At the heart of it all is Colman’s unfailingly beautiful, richly expressive voice…" (Jazzwise Magazine)

“Colman intelligently negotiates the often perilous path of finding a balance between respecting the original song and making her own mark on it. It is testimony to her skill and vision that she manages not only to find that balance but to take the music beyond any such thoughts, successfully making an album that amplifies the wonder of Mitchell’s songwriting in a refreshing, thoughtful and joyful way.” (UK VIBE)

Sara Colman, vocals
Rebecca Nash, piano, keyboards
Steve Banks, guitars
Ben Markland, bass
Jonathan Silk, drums
Beth Bellis, violin, vocals
Ning ning Li, violin, vocals
Natalie Mason, viola, vocals
Katy Nagle, cello, vocals
Percy Pursglove, flugelhorn

Sara Colman
When American jazz critic Ted Gioia says an album is worthy of your attention it’s probably a pretty good indication that the music is going to be a little bit special. When Sara Colman stepped into the spotlight in 2018 with her third solo studio album What We’re Made Of (released on Stoney Lane Records) it was met with unanimously sparkling reviews and unmitigated enjoyment! The title track won the ‘Jazz and Blues’

The first project Sara brought to her position as the inaugural Recording-Artist-in-Residence at The Royal Birmingham Conservatoire for 2019, was a collection of arrangements celebrating the 75th Birthday of one of her most significant influences, Joni Mitchell. With strings arranged by Jonathan Silk, the ten piece ensemble was recorded at Real World Studios and will be released on special edition vinyl in spring 2020.

Sara is also much in demand on other current projects, she is featured vocalist on Peaceful King, the critically acclaimed album by Rebecca Nash’s Atlas recently released on Whirlwind Recordings.

Also this year, Sara was commissioned by The Canales Project (US) to write a song celebrating the life of Sakena Yacoobi, an Afghan activist who has spent her life fighting for the rights of children, women and education in Afghanistan. The song was premiered in Washington, US in May 2019.

Sara has enjoyed a successful and prolific career over the last twenty years, working with some of the leading lights in British music including Laura Mvula, Liane Carroll and Mahalia.

As a vocalist, she has made numerous festival appearances (Cheltenham, Manchester, Mostly Jazz, ReVoice, Sligo) and in 2016 was ‘featured vocalist’ with The National Youth Jazz Orchestra at the BBC Prom Night at The Royal Albert Hall. She is also one third of the CCB Trio with long time friends and musical partners Liane Carroll and Sophie Bancroft.

This album contains no booklet.