Great Women of Jazz starring Helen Gayle and the Sharp Four

Join us at the Village Jazz Club for a night celebrating the Great Women of Jazz! Get ready to relax into the smooth sounds of legendary female jazz artists at the Burton Joyce & Bulcote Village Hall. It's going to be a night filled with soulful melodies and unforgettable performances. Don't miss out on this unique opportunity to experience the magic of jazz music brought to you by the talented women who have shaped the genre. See you there!

The music of great women jazz artist including Nina Simone, Betty Carter, Amy Winehouse and Beyonce, performed by Helen Gayle and the Sharp Four

Food will be brought to tables between 7:00 PM and 8:30 PM

Tasty meat and cheese platters will be provided by Jane Jephson of Paddington's.

Vegatarian, gluten free options can be ordered in advance.

Please bring your own drinks and glasses.

Thank you for buying tickets for the Great Women of Jazz evening.

This event is presented by Jazz Steps Nottingham, a not for profit limited company, which promotes live music at the Bonington Theatre, Arnold as well as at Beeston, West Bridgford and Worksop libraries. The event on 22nd November is part of a new programme to bring more live music to the villages. The Village Jazz Club, as it has now been named, welcomes donations and sponsorship. If you would to sponsor the event in November 2024 or any future events please contact David Carter at [email protected]

Thank you for your support.

Helen Gayle

Originally from London, Helen Gayle lives in north-east Derbyshire. Whilst in London, there were occasional musical projects such as recording vocals for house music and a band that won record of the week on Capital Radio with an original penned by Helen. When Helen came to Derbyshire, she started to attend local open mics and became well known not only for her vocal talents, but for ad-libbing lyrics at open mics to instrumental jams! She also performed gigs locally in both Derby and Nottingham with various artists. Helen also penned and performed an original which earned her a spot as a finalist in a song writing competition.
Her influences include Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Sarah Vaughan, Jazzmeia Horn, Tania Maria, Chaka Khan, Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, Angie Stone and Betty Carter, to mention a few. Helen’s reputation on the East Midlands jazz scene is growing and she is quickly establishing herself as a real voice on the scene. Helen is able to blend in like an instrumentalist then soar above a band to remind us all how powerful the human voice can be and not to be pigeon-holed, she mixes up her influences to sing jazz, soul, gospel, folk and free-improvised music.
Helen currently performs with the Unspeakable Echo and The Beatles Reimagined projects. Helen sang with Unspeakable Echo at the For The Love of Jazz Festival in 2022 and has performed a number of times with The Beatles Reimagined project. Helen also performs with her real-life partner in a jazz, soul and blues duo with whom she also has an originals project.

Matt Ratcliffe

Jazz pianist, composer and teacher

Matt Ratcliffe is a musician and teacher living in Wirksworth in the Derbyshire Dales.

Matt’s early years were influenced by the 60’s pop, folk and blues of his parents records. Given jazz piano lessons as a young adult by composer and pianist Mark Lockett, Matt eventually graduated from Birmingham Conservatoire in jazz piano in 2010.

Matt plays Fender Rhodes and Moog Synthesiser in Tony Kofi’s ‘Inside Straight’, a retrospective exploration of Cannonball Adderley’s late 1960’s and early1970’s funky, gospel, Latin and world groove music.

Matt is a composer and arranger, writing original music for commercial use, commissions and for his own projects; ‘Beatles Songbook’ jazz reflections using the vast resource of Beatles music as basis for composition and improvisation.

He is also part of ‘Unity’ a Hammond organ quartet channeling the grit, groove and smoking intensity of the pioneers of organ jazz, Jimmy Smith, Jack McDuff, Jimmy McGriff et al.

Matt Ratcliffe is an educator working in higher education and in schools across the East Midlands, he is influential in Derby’s grass roots music scene, where he runs workshops for amateur jazz players as part of his role in East Midlands organisation Derby Jazz.

Matt is a regular contributor at Peggy’s Skylight’ jazz club Nottingham and a prominent part of the Midlands jazz scene.

Matt has performed many times in Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, Birmingham and London at

many of the country’s jazz clubs and festivals.

Ben Martin

A soloist of immaculate taste and lyricism - John Fordham (The Guardian)

A seriously good saxophonist - Richard Williams (The Guardian)

Ben has been a professional saxophonist since the early 90s and has played with Sir Paul McCartney, The Drifters, The Commitments, Jimmy James & The Vagabonds, The Foundations, Jim Mullen, Groove Armada and many more. He leads his own quartet who play regularly around the UK jazz scene. He won a scholarship to Berklee College Of Music in Boston USA and studied with ex Miles Davis saxophonist David Liebman as well as Sheryl Bailey, Jan Kopinski and George Carmichael.

Martyn Spencer
Martyn has been a professional Jazz Double Bassist for 18 years having studied at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. Performing regularly up and down
the country as a freelancer, he has also worked for the Royal Shakespeare Company, BBC and ITV

Tash Buxton

I found the love for Jazz 30 years ago when I joined The Midland Youth Jazz orchestra.
I fell in love with it and always enjoyed playing with small jazz trio’s to a full big band.
I’ve been lucky to work with some great jazz bands and various jazz musicians such as Madeline Bell, Jamie Cullum, Bob Florence, Jacqui Dankworth, Ronnie Scott’s band, Syd Lawrence orchestra and many other great musicians.
Currently a busy session drummer gigging and touring around the world with many different musicians covering styles from Jazz, Blues, soul and rock.

Host or Publisher Jazz Steps Nottingham - David Carter