Zoe Rahman, solo piano and duets with Helena Kay

Piano virtuoso Zoe Rahman is one of the most distinctive musicians on the UK and European jazz scenes.  

A player and composer of vibrancy and depth of personality, Zoe brings her background in classical piano as well as her Bengali heritage and studies with the inspirational jazz pianist JoAnne Brackeen at Berklee College of Music to bear on her highly individual style.  

Over the past twenty years she has won recognition including both a Mercury Music Prize nomination and the Album of the Year title at the Parliamentary Jazz Awards for her ‘Melting Pot’ album in 2006. She also won Best Jazz Act at the MOBO Awards in 2012 and the Impact Award at the Ivor Novello Awards in 2021.  

While her acclaimed trio, octet and solo piano concerts are her main focus, Zoe has also played and recorded with a range of musicians including saxophonists Courtney Pine and Laura Macdonald, Jerry Dammers’ Spatial AKA Orchestra, Penguin Cafe Orchestra, Belgian-Egyptian singer Natacha Atlas, singer-songwriter Martha Wainwright and the iconoclastic Yoko Ono.  

Zoe’s solo piano performances are full of imagination, creativity and exuberance and this concert also offers a chance to appreciate her talents for intimate musical conversations in a duo with saxophonist Helena Kay. 

About Helena Kay and the curated season 

Prize-winning saxophonist Helena Kay is one of the UK’s most creative jazz artists, with two critically acclaimed albums and performances at prestigious venues including legendary jazz club Ronnie Scott’s and The Royal Albert Hall. Leader of the Helena Kay Quartet, they are also established as a star soloist with the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra. Thanks to funding from Creative Scotland, The Queen’s Hall has commissioned Helena to curate a series of four jazz concerts across 2024/25. You can see the other concerts in the series at the bottom of the page. 

About Nathan Somevi 

Ghana-born, Glasgow-based Nathan Somevi creates warm-toned, spacey music that communicates directly with his audience. Playing a hybrid guitar that combines both standard and bass registers and fronting a trio featuring saxophonist Simon Herberholz and drummer Niall Ford, Nathan draws on the church music he grew up with, the rhythmical bounce of his African roots and guitar heroes Joe Pass, George Benson, Martin Taylor and Charlie Hunter in an engagingly personal musical style. His talents have earned shortlist placings in the Rising Star category at the Scottish Jazz Awards and as Best Newcomer at the Scottish Alternative Music Awards. 

Presented by The Queen’s Hall. Supported by Creative Scotland.