Christine Tobin

Music

2020-2021

About the Artist(s)

Christine Tobin is an Irish vocalist and composer. She grew up in Dublin before moving to London to attend the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, for which she was awarded a full scholarship. She was an integral part of the London contemporary scene for many years before relocating to New York City for 5 years in 2015. She is now based in the beautiful countryside of Northwest Roscommon.

Her authentic sound was described by The Guardian as “Tobin’s 24 carat voice” while praising her both for the poetry of her compositions and the warmth of her golden voice. Her style, although rooted in jazz, is eclectic and draws on a broad range of influences. MOJO Music Magazine said of her “Christine Tobin really transcends glib genre-fication. Her expressive range acknowledges finely acquired folk, jazz and 20th-century classical influences, which already sets her apart. And everything is shot through with an unmistakable refinement, free-spirited earthiness and giddy romanticism, this singer-songwriter is in a field of one.”

She has led various projects and in 2012 “Sailing to Byzantium”, her settings of WB Yeats poems featuring actor Gabriel Byrne, won a British Composer Award. The following year she won a “Herald Angel Award” at the Edinburgh Festival for her show “A Thousand Kisses Deep”, her imaginative versions of Leonard Cohen classics. In 2014 she won “Jazz Vocalist of the Year” at the Parliamentary Jazz Awards. Earlier in her career Christine won “Best Vocalist” at the 2008 BBC Jazz Awards. Her last album PELT was Tobin’s musical interpretations of Pulitzer Prize winning Paul Muldoon’s lyrics and poems. Tobin was also a regular guest in his hit series ‘Muldoon’s Picnic’ in NYC.

Her vivid interpretations of Bessie Smith were featured in film director Mike Figgis' “Red White and Blues” docu/film in the ‘Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues’ PBS series. Christine has also presented special features for BBC Radio 3’s cutting edge program Jazz On 3 and appeared regularly on Jazz Library also for BBC Radio 3. She has contributed to programs about Billie Holiday, Bessie Smith, Abbey Lincoln, Betty Carter, Joni Mitchell and Carmen McRae. The special documentary program she presented for RTE Lyric FM “Out with Paganism”, was a Silver Radio Winner at the New York Festivals - 2013 World’s Best Radio Programs.

In New York City she created, co-curated and performed in the highly successful series “Tobin’s Run On 51” at the Irish Arts Center with guitarist partner Phil Robson. These were themed, mixed media shows which featured slideshows, film clips, storytelling and invited guests who comprise of some of the greatest musicians on the NY scene today including Ingrid Jensen, Steve Wilson, James Genus, Billy Drummond, Craig Handy, Janis Siegel to name just a few as well as renowned authors such as Ashley Kahn.

Tobin was a regular in the most important venues in NYC such as Birdland, The Jazz Standard, Mezzrow, National Sawdust etc as well as in concert halls, clubs and international festivals around the world. www.christine-tobin.com

"Pelt strikes that most elusive of balances between familiarity and strangeness, by turns recalling Tom Waits, Kate Bush and Joni Mitchell, without being beholden to any particular genre or influence... music that veers from grungy, post-industrial grooves to wispy romanticism to abstracted contemporary classical, all played with punkish attitude..”
The Irish Times
****

"She's got one of those voices that can move from pure, pastoral-edged folk whimsy to big angry blues mama in a single phrase; from world-weary interpreter of show tunes to howling rock diva within a single note...one of the finest vocal jazz collections in years."
Time Out

“…feisty original music written by Tobin for a programme that covers the Americana waterfront. The album is a masterclass in songcraft.”
BBC Music Magazine *****

"Tobin’s vocals, veering from acrobatic to sultry, are tailored perfectly for the material, her evocations of time and place precise. Classy and lovely.”
The Observer ****

“PELT is marked by its timbral richness and breathtaking imaginative scope... a remarkable equipoise of the hard-hitting and the understated... one of the year’s must-hear albums.”
Jazzwise**** Recommended

“...there’s a patience and clarity to her handling
of fine poetry, but there’s a tough, bluesy assertiveness to this album too. Tobin sounds almost as scornfully sardonic as 60s Dylan... Muldoon and Tobin make a powerful team.”
The Guardian****

Returning Weather

Returning Weather is a deeply personal project inspired by Christine Tobin’s return to Ireland, having lived abroad for many years. After leaving Dublin, her hometown, she spent most of her adult life in large cities, notably, London and New York, but this is her first time living in a rural environment of farmland, water meadows and peat bogs. The enigmatic and historically rich landscape of Northwest Roscommon and beyond has awakened in Tobin a profound sense of belonging and a desire to explore, through music and poetry, the powerful connection between home, dwelling, and the land.

Although she made her mark internationally as a jazz artist, her style has always been eclectic. However, this project marks a move into new musical territory, as it is her first time working with Irish traditional musicians. Her band for this project is made up of uilleann piper David Power, and violinist Cora Venus Lunny, with guitar/ electronics by Phil Robson and piano by Steve Hamilton.

The commission is made possible through a New Music Commission Award from the Arts Council and we were thrilled to be working with jazz musician Christine Tobin.

This commission will also provide an opportunity for Tobin to focus on writing her own poetry and lyrics, as opposed to composing musical settings for the work of others such as Paul Muldoon, W.B. Yeats and Leonard Cohen, whose texts she set for her last three highly acclaimed albums.

Tobin is drawn to diverse artists such as Joseph Beuys, Seamus Heaney and Aaron Copeland, for whom the landscape was central to their work. She feels there is a wealth of treasure to be mined in the boglands, woods and lakes which weave through the rich terrain of Northwest Roscommon. Sometimes the ‘returning eye’ sees the beauty that is often unnoticed.