Jazz at the Kate with Alison Burns and Martin Taylor

Press release

OLD SAYBROOK, CT - The Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, “the Kate”, welcomes jazz singer Alison Burns with renowned guitarist Martin Taylor on Thursday, September 5, 2024 at 7:30 pm. Special guest guitarist Adrian Legg opens the show.

There are singers and there are jazz singers. There are jazz singers and there are a few artists who bring more to the microphone - their life, love, heartaches and joy. Alison Burns is one of those artists. She released her debut album “Kissing Bug” in 2007, followed by “1:AM, Last Train to Hauteville” (where she sang in French), “Freternity,” and “I’ll Be Home For Christmas.” Alison has performed as guest soloist with the BBC Big Band, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Guy Barker Big Band. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts and was awarded the International Brand Laureate Award whose other recipients have included Aretha Franklin, Taylor Swift and Adele.

Martin Taylor is widely considered to be the world’s foremost exponent of solo jazz and fingerstyle guitar playing. He dazzles audiences with a signature style that artfully combines his virtuosity, emotion and humor with a strong, engaging stage presence. In addition to his solo concerts and recordings, he has also collaborated with musicians from many different musical genres, including Jeff Beck, Bill Wyman, Stephane Grappelli, Bryn Terfel, and George Harrison. Over his stellar career, Taylor has amassed a record 14 British Jazz Awards as a guitarist, received two Honorary Doctorates, and received an MBE for Services to Jazz Music.

Globally acclaimed by critics and fans alike for his unique electric fingerstyle guitar playing, Adrian Legg masterfully blends diverse musical styles, influences and inspirations to create a distinctive sound all his own. With multiple awards and accolades spanning four decades, Legg has been heralded as a “guitarist of astonishing virtuosity, (whose) imagination and melodic invention seem unbounded,” by Q magazine.

Setting the stage for his international success in the decades to follow, Legg was named as Acoustic Guitarist of the Decade by the UK’s Guitarist Magazine (1984-94), and Best Acoustic Fingerstylist in Guitar Player Magazine’s Readers’ Poll for four years in a row. (1993-96).

For information and tickets, visit www.thekate.org or call 860-510-0453.