Jess Gillam: ‘Shine’

The truly outstanding and virtuosic sax player Jess Gillam is releasing ‘Shine’ and it demonstrates once more her ability to create music that crosses all genres.

Gillam’s influences and musical references come from everywhere all at once: Shine includes the effervescent single Shine You No More by Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen of the Danish String Quartet and then the Kate Bush Jig of Life from her original, groundbreaking Hounds of Love album.

Talking of influential women in music, the third track on this album is Barbara Strozzi’s Che si puo fare from 1664, before the haunting Tabhair dom do lámh by Ruaidhrí Dall Ó Catháin. Then we move to Bach’s Flute Concerto, with the 1st Movement, Allegro Assai before jumping to the 20th Century for Sidney Bechet’s delicious Petite Fleur and (in a somewhat meta fashion) Barbara Thomson’s A Tribute to Sidney Bechet.

We then proceed via Joni Mitchell and Corelli to Gillam’s simply beautiful Bowie tribute with Life on Mars and her own composition with Sam Becker & Leif Kaner-Lidström: Prelude to Hildegard that leads us to the final track, Hildegard of Bingen’s Spiritus sanctus vivificans.

Gillam is, above all, a fine sax player. The fact that she chooses to perform music from a variety of contexts simply adds to her appeal. In 2016, she became the first saxophonist to reach the Finals of BBC Young Musician of the Year. She received a Classic BRIT Award, a The Times Breakthrough Award nominee and was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list 2021 for Services to Music. But she has never forgotten her roots and she continues to be influential in the music scene of her hometown of Ulverston.

With Shine, Jess Gillam is establishing herself as a fine, influential musician rising above all the awards and recognition.

‘Shine’ by Jess Gillam is out now on Decca Records