What an amazing venue, a big night! Lots of fun and a few photos to share…

A big thankyou to all who came and supported me in Bristol last month. Thanks to RISE record shop for letting us do a little acoustic gig during the day and The Big Chill Bar for the evening gig and of course the wonderful Tom Robins - Guitar and Thomas Dusseune - DJ for your support!

Here are a few little piccis….

What a great night we had at the Tru Thoughts annual Midem party @ SUN7 bar in Cannes back in Jan. The night kicked off with Natural Self and Elodie Rama doing a brilliant double vocal whammy on one mic, closely followed by soul diva Kinny who got the joint a jumpin’.

Next up was my vocal PA during which I gave a brand new track im currently working on with French producer Azaxx its debut sing out accompanied by much ‘whooping’ from the crowd. Rob Louis did his usual cool and groovy DJ thang (blew the bass speaker!!…) and left Chris Zero DB to pick up the pieces which he did so with utter exuberance and style!

Midem often attracts the high class celebs and last night we were blessed with a personal appearance by none other than the world reknowned….(hold your breath..wait for it)…. The one and only, Gangsters Paradise…Coolio!  And well, so, ho hum…that was exciting!?!?!

Moving quickly on…here are a few shots from the night…roll on next Midem. There`s just too much fun to be had!

Accompanied by the lovely Thomas Dussuene I made my way through the mind bogglingly expensive French road tolls to Marseille this tuesday. for the Radio Grenouille ‘Hangtime Awards 2009′ with Mars Blackman.

In my usual slight state of petrification (sitting infront of a live microphone trying to follow a foriegn language and trying to fire out not already asked questions is quite a bizarre experience, take it from me!) But fun all the same.

I got to chat to BK-ONE all the way over in America who seemed like a very cool and open minded hip-hoppy kind of dude!

The very chirpy duo that make up Beatspoke. Barcelona based spoken word mixed with soultry female vocals and Gilles Petersons World Wide Talent Search winners of 2009 (a very nice award to add to the collection by all means!).

Then of course there was my favourite of all (and I could understand everything!) the interview with little Miss Alice Russell down there in sunny Brighton. We had a lovely chat but think poor Mars’ head as about to blow trying to hold it all in for the translation!

The infamous K’NAAN couldn`t be with us due to the fact of being a big beef signed to Universal so we had a very brief chat with Soulist (one half of the very talented French duo Souleance).

And last but not least and also waving the French banner was Bruno from UPTOWN FUNK EMPIRE. A man of many guises and projects celebrating the true meaning of FUNKY SOUL!

It was alot of fun…click here to listen to the show and see below for the award categories, winners and runners up!

BEST HIPHOP ALBUM
1. BK-ONE Radio Do Canibal
2. TANYA MORGAN Brooklinati
3. FASHAWN Boy Meets World
4. MARCO POLO & TORAE Double Barrel
5. MIGHTY UNDERDOGS Droppin’ Science Fiction

BEST FIRST ALBUM
1. BEATSPOKE No Rush
2. GIZELLE SMITH & THE MIGHTY MOCAMBOS This Is Gizelle Smith
3. KINNY Idle Forest Of Chit Chat
4. SPEECH DEBELLE Speech Therapy
5. EMANATIVE Space

BEST COMPILATION
1. ALICE RUSSELL : Pot Of Gold Remixes (Differ-Ant)
2. MULATU ASTATKE New York - Addis - London (Strut Records)
3. CAN YOU DIG IT ? (Souljazz Records)
4. PANAMA 3 ! (Soundway)
5. SPIRITUAL JAZZ (Jazzman Records)

BEST SINGLE
1. K’NAAN America
2. SOULEANCE Manana
3. MAYER HAWTHORNE Maybe So Maybe No
4. THE ROOTS How I Got Over
5. GILLES PETERSON HAVANA CULTURA BAND Think Twice
6. CéU Cangote
7. 6TH BOROUGH PROJECT Do It To The Max

BEST ALBUM
1. UPTOWN FUNK EMPIRE The Empire Strikes Back
2. FAT FREDDYS DROP Dr Boondigga And The Big BW
3. LEE FIELDS & THE EXPRESSIONS My World
4. MENAHAN STREET BAND Make THe Road By Walking
5. 24 CARAT BLACK Gone The Promises Of Yesterday

Big love to the Hangtime team and of course the lovely Mars Blackman!

Lizzy Parks escaped rainy London for the far sunnier climes of Cannes but the singer, who specialises in jazzy, soul-tinged tunes, is heading back to England to promote her latest album, This and That, with a gig at Chiswick’s George IV. She spoke to Will Gore.

To read on…click here

Or go to the Biography Page

Its actually quite rare that I am able to come away from a gig and say that nothing at all went wrong! There are so many possible things that can turn a potentially good gig…bad…for example bad sound, duff promoter,

no audience to name just a few….but I was so very happy to find that the acoustic bands gig @ George IV in Chiswick last thursday was not one of those nights.

There was a great and supportive audience, really helpful sound men and great promoters and staff…and that my friends is the perfect recipe for a great gig!!

So here are a few snaps courtesy of photographer Viktor Almadi…

Thanks again to everyone involved in the Bolygomusic Productions..Lets hope they`ll have us back soon!

What a great year…but there is so much more to do and my feet havent touched the ground so far yet in 2010.

For those of you who missed this recording on the Tru Thoughts Covers Album 2009…

Click here to check out my version of ‘It was a very good year’… (and it really was!)

If you`re anywhere near the Cote D’Azur this monday there’s no excuse not to be at one of the years highlight events at Sun7 bar in Cannes. Featuring me doing a live PA, as well as soul diva Kinny, DJ sets from Tru Thoughts head honcho Rob Louis, Natural Self featuring vocals from Elodie Rama and Chris Zero DB.

Cheap drinks, free entry, great music and atmosphere, you cant say fairer than that…See you there!

Click here for the online fr2day article with all the nights details…

Click here to listen to Lizzy`s Live Acoustic set with guitarist Tom Robins @ The Bestival Festival on the Red Bull Academy Stage 2009…

Hey everyone…a big and warm ‘Bon Année’ to you all. I hope santa bought you lots of happiness!

So the new years upon us and its full steam ahead….i`ve decided this is the ‘Year of the challenge’ so i`ve set myself some things to accomplish and here`s what i`ve got planned!

1) Learn better French
2) Learn to snowboard (I don`t think im too old quite yet)
3) Write some huge ass collaboration tracks!
4) Do lots of gigs!
5) …and finish my 4th album ready for release next yr.

Im already working on the first 2 and im heading back to the UK in Feb to get some work done with Mr Ben Lamdin for the next album and to record the vocals for the collaboration tracks that will hit your ears sometime later this yr. These include 2 tracks with the wonderful French producer Azaxx and another one with Natural Self so get your dancing shoes at the ready!

There are already some nice gigs in the diary for 2010 so keep your eye on the gig listings for a show near you. In the meantime i`ll be back with more news soon. Hope you`re not too snowed in there in good ole England!

x