Emma-Jean Thackray

Composer, producer, multi-instrumentalist, singer, bandleader and DJ Emma-Jean Thackray kicks off 2022 with the release of ‘Yellower Vol.1’ - a live EP featuring standout performances from 2021 of tracks taken from her acclaimed debut album ‘Yellow’. 

The EP includes live recordings from Pitchfork festival, Later…with Jools Holland and Thackray’s sessions at The Church Studios. 

‘Yellower Vol.1’ arrives just before the start of Thackray’s February/March UK tour and one-off London date at EartH Theatre in April. Thackray has also just been announced as part of the huge End Of The Road Festival 2022 lineup. 

Emma discussing her live show: “When the band and I play live the music takes on new life. We use so much improvisation and there’s so much trust between us that every show is a brand new one where anything can happen. In the shows my music is a just a world that they can express themselves in - a diving board for their personalities to jump from. During our performances I’m no longer a solitary artist sat alone in a room with a piano and a pencil, but the music comes alive and I’m part of a proper band.”

2021 saw the release of Thackray’s highly anticipated debut album Yellow that came out via her own label Movementt, Yellow debuted #1 on Jazz & Blues Chart, remaining top for 6 weeks and charted Top 75 on the Official Album Charts. Thackray was named the winner of UK Jazz Act of the Year (Jazz FM Awards), nominated for Best Jazz Act at this year’s MOBO Awards and Gilles Peterson crowned ‘Yellow’ his 6Music Album of The Year.

Thackray has proven to be a very in-demand artist these last 12 months, providing brass on the forthcoming Squid debut ‘Bright Green Field’ and for London wordsmith Pinty’s radio hit ‘Comfort Me’. Thackray was also part of the Blue Note RE:imagined album alongside Shabaka Hutchings, Ezra Collective, Nubya Garcia, Jorja Smith and more.

Yellow proved exactly the sort of thing the world needed this year: a transcendent, human, shared experience. Across its 47 minutes, Yellow draws glowing lines between ‘70s jazz fusion and P-funk, the cosmic invocations of Sun Ra and Alice Coltrane and the gorgeous orchestration of the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds. Undoubtedly one of the artists of 2021, keep an ear to the ground for further news and releases coming this year. 

Praise for Yellow 

“A crossover star in the making” - The Guardian
“A Yorkshire jazz prodigy” - 4* Mojo 
“A fascinating blend of spiritual jazz and brass band that can sound full-on psychedelic while staying grounded in its clever arrangements” - Pitchfork
“Some of the best moments here are her twitchy funk miniatures, driven by tuba baselines, distorted Fender Rhodes riffs and chant-based vocals, which leave you wanting more.” - 9* Uncut 
“Marking out her own territory, Emma-Jean seems to embrace the new, and unknown, shining a light in hitherto darkened spaces.” - Clash
“A highly respected figure …you can expect her star to keep rising.” - Crack
“Straddling free jazz, improvisation and electronic explorations aimed at the dancefloor, she’s at the forefront of new alternative music in the UK.” - Music Week
“The psychedelic future-jazz sound of now” - Electronic Sound
“The first single from Emma-Jean Thackray's forthcoming debut LP Yellow is a scorcher, a whip-smart piece of beautiful neo-jazz with a smattering of Brainfeeder chaos.” The Quietus