Gig Preview: Music Spoken Here presents
Romarna Campbell
The Marr’s Bar, 12 Pierpoint Street, Worcester WR1 1TA
Thursday 26th March, 7:30pm doors for 8pm start
Olivier Award-winning drummer, composer, producer and educator Romarna Campbell is set to bring her trio to The Marr’s Bar in Worcester to perform her original music on the successful fortnightly “Kind of Jazz” program curated by Worcestershire promoter Music Spoken Here.
Originally from Birmingham, Campbell now splits her time between Berlin and London. She started playing drums around the age of 8 and through a chance meeting with the late saxophonist Andy Hamilton, joined his Burmingham community big band The Notebenders. Another chance meeting in Birmingham with bassist and educator Gary Crosby led to her joining Tomorrow’s Warriors – the London based artist development organisation founded by Crosby and his partner Janine Irons. Having performed with their flagship ensemble Frontline, she went on to mentor later iterations of the group, including Ankora who performed to a full house at The Marr’s Bar last month.
She went on to study at Berklee College of Music in Boston, where one of her tutors Ralph Peterson Jr. encouraged her to compose prolifically. Having taken a semester out to tour in Europe, Campbell was planning to leave Berklee and move to New York. However, the tour was brought to an abrupt end in Germany when COVID lockdown meant she had to hurry back home to Birmingham with just her cymbals and tour bag.
Later that year, she composed and recorded ‘Inherently Political’, a commission by B:Music, the charity behind Birmingham Symphony Hall and Town Hall, in response to the death of George Floyd at the hands of the police in Minneapolis. Towards the end of the year, as her 25th birthday approached, she wrote, arranged, performed and produced ‘25 songs for my 25th Birthday’.
Her trio features bassist Mutale Chashi and Andy Bunting, who Campbell originally met through The Notebenders, on keys. They will be playing new music that has been recorded and is due to be released soon.
Doors open at 7:30pm and the trio will be on stage around 8pm. Admission is complimentary for Music Spoken Here Club Members, or £15 on the door for non-members. For more information, go to the Music Spoken Here Club website.
