Jazz Club
Lucy Mellenfield – vocals and piano; Neil Yates - trumpet and bodhran; Tom Henery – guitar; James Owston - double bass.
Lucy Mellenfield Songs of the Understory’
Lucy Mellenfield is a Birmingham-based vocalist and songwriter. Her music, which crosses the
borders between jazz and folk, is influenced by renowned songwriters Joni Mitchell and Joan Baez, as
well as more contemporary artists including Olivia Chaney, Karen Casey and Lauren Kinsella.
She graduated from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire in 2022, after completing a post-graduate
master’s degree in jazz vocals, which included arranging and recording her compositions for
orchestra, as well as touring with the Conservatoire Folk Ensemble across the UK and France.
Her project, ‘Songs of the Understory’, has been mentored by leading trumpeter and composer
Neil Yates
through the Jazz Central Mentoring Programme for Jazz Midlands. Yates is himself deeply
rooted in both the jazz and folk traditions. It weaves together a patchwork of influences, exploring the
fine balance between respecting the harmonic simplicity of a folk tune and the improvisational nature
of jazz music.
Expect to hear a mixture of original songs as well as new arrangements that explore low-lying
emotions and stories - the ‘understory’ often obscured by our busy lives.
Lineup: Lucy Mellenfield – vocals and piano; Neil Yates - trumpet and bodhran; Tom Henery – guitar;
James Owston - double bass.