Jo Harrop: Live at Pizza Express

Extraordinary vocalist Jo Harrop launches the vinyl version of her fourth studio album, ‘The Path of a Tear’. To celebrate the release, Harrop brought her band to Pizza Express Jazz Club in Soho, introduced by JazzFM’s legendary presenter Nigel Williams.

The sold-out gig was a pleasure for the audience, with Harrop’s brilliant combination of jazz and soul, with a band that is both uber-cool and super-funky.

And this is a great band of UK jazz experts - Paul Edis (piano), Jihad darwish (bass), 

Darren Beckett (drums) and Harry Greene (guitar and sax). Each one made a significant contribution to the sound and worked together to make every song superb, particularly their collective improvised opening to Jo’s cover of Leonard Cohen’s Travelling Light.

Famously recorded at The Village Studios in Los Angeles and produced by Larry Klein (yes, he who has worked with Joni Mitchell, Madeleine Peyroux and Herbie Hancock), The Path of a Tear was one of my favourite albums of 2024. The vinyl version adds a distinctive quality missing by clicking on downloads.

Through the show, Harrop introduced the songs that have been brought to life on stage in recent months. She’s working on new music and there were hints of a new album which is set for release towards the end of the year.

Harrop describes The Path of a Tear as the story of a journey through life’s ups and downs, with a versatility of dynamics and styles and perfect arrangements throughout the album and the live show.

Harrop said: “Working with Larry Klein was a wonderful experience and it was great to record with those incredible musicians, and it’s been good to work on the songs even further with these UK musicians.”

The gig ended with the utterly brilliant Whiskey or the Truth, co-written with Hannah V and an absolute belter of a tune. It’s hard to follow a song like that, but the encore of Goodbye was the perfect end to the show, as it is also the final track on The Path of a Tear.