Helena Debono & Charlie Bates - A Thousand Nights (2024)

Two of the UK's most exciting young performers and rising stars in the world of jazz have joined forces to create A Thousand Nights: a unique big band / orchestral album with many modern twists and a plethora of surprises at every turn. This formidable new project sees multi-award-winning pianist, composer and arranger Charlie Bates, team up with rising star vocalist Helena Debono, in a tour de force of jazz brilliance. Both important alumni of The National Youth Jazz Orchestra (with Charlie as Composer In Residence), the duo have gone on to achieve a wide range of individual accolades: Charlie winning both The Dankworth Award for Jazz Composition for his debut album 'Silhouettes' and later a prestigious Ivor Novello award, with Helena interviewed for BBC Radio 3 to name just some of these. Now with their new collaborative album they present their very best work to date, which is a culmination of the vast experience and burgeoning talent that they have gained and developed throughout their respective careers so far.

A Thousand Night presents an intriguing combination of much-loved repertoire from The Great American Songbook, with a highly charged set of captivating originals, expertly and innovatively orchestrated by Charlie Bates himself. On first listen, the difference between the astute arrangements of timeless classics and the daring composition of Charlie and Helena's new work is quite distinctive, but nonetheless coherent. The dynamic presentation of 'I Could Have Danced All Night', complete with powerful brass stabs and intricate sax solo, juxtaposed with the almost wild guitar of their original 'When', provides much variety to the album, a far cry from any generic renditions of this often covered discipline.

Charlie Bates and Helena Debono's album features no less than fifty five musicians in a full big band and orchestra with other surprising instruments, in an impressive and rare, high impact sound that excellently compliments Charlie's orchestrations and intricate skills on piano and Helena's spectacular vocals. Each of their collaborating players are highly impressive, who along with their band leaders represent some of the most talented jazz artists in the UK, as established professionals in their own right.

Having seen a gradual resurgence of the straight ahead / big band sound in recent years from young artists who hold a passionate flame for the genre, Helena Debono and Charlie Bates are set to propel this scene to stratospheric new heights.