# Liane Carroll

Liane Carroll (born 9 February 1964) is an English vocalist, pianist and keyboardist.

## Early life

Carroll's parents were semi-professional singers who met and sang at the Country Club in Eastbourne. She grew up in a musical household in Hastings and in south London. She started learning the piano at the age of three, began composing at the age of eight, and has been a professional singer, pianist and composer since she was 15.

## Career

In 1998 Carroll joined Trevor Watts' Moiré Music band and toured overseas with them. She became a respected session musician and also worked in bands under Dave Holdsworth, Gerry Rafferty, Jerry Donohue and Long John Baldry.
Carroll formed her own trio and recorded for Jazz Art, Bridge, and Ronnie Scott's Jazz House.
From 1996 to 2002, Carroll worked with singer-songwriter-guitarist Peter Kirtley, with whom she composed many songs. They appeared together on a charity single for Brazilian street children, on which Carroll's backing singer was Paul McCartney.
From 1996 onwards Carroll started working with Hospital Records. In 2003 she toured internationally with a band formed by Hospital Records' owner Tony Colman, playing at the Brazilian Electro Dance Music Festival in Brasília. In the early 2000s she began recording for the Splash Point label, releasing a series of recordings that embraced jazz, R&B and the singer-songwriter tradition. From 2005 onwards, she decided to focus on her jazz work.
Carroll has worked with many artists ranging from Paul McCartney and Gerry Rafferty to Ladysmith Black Mambazo. She has also performed as lead vocalist and Wurlitzer keyboardist for the drum and bass band London Elektricity. She is a regular performer at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club and the 606 Club in London, and has made several albums. In addition to performing, Carroll also teaches at jazz summer schools in the UK and Europe, and conducts workshops.

## Broadcasting

In 2013 Carroll was a guest on Alex Horne's BBC Radio 4 comedy show Alex Horne Presents the Horne Section.

## Awards and recognition

In 2005 Carroll won two awards in the BBC Jazz Awards: Best Vocalist and Best of Jazz. In 2006 she won the Marston Pedigree Jazz Award for best vocalist. On 13 May 2008, Andy Burnham MP, then Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, presented her with the 2008 award for Jazz Musician of the Year in the Parliamentary Jazz Awards. Her album Up and Down won in the Jazz Album of the Year category at the Parliamentary Jazz Awards in May 2012. In 2016 she won a Gold award from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA).
Jazz critic Dave Gelly of The Observer described Carroll as "one of the most stylistically flexible pianists around, with a marvellous, slightly husky singing voice". According to John Fordham of The Guardian, she is "a powerful, soul-inflected performer with an Ella Fitzgerald-like improv athleticism and an emotional frankness on ballads". Peter Quinn of Jazzwise said, "Liane Carroll has that rare ability to meld effortless, often transcendent vocal and piano technique, with heart stopping emotion and soul bearing power." Nick Hasted of The Independent said she is "still frustratingly little-known" but "one of Britain's most emotionally visceral and accomplished singers".
Carroll's five albums since 2009 have each received four-starred reviews in The Guardian or The Observer.

## Personal life

Carroll lives in Hastings with her husband Roger Carey, bassist in the Liane Carroll Trio; they married in 1990. She has a daughter, Abby.

## Discography
### Dave Holdsworth-Liane Carroll Quartet

| Album | Record label | Release date | Notes |
| Ten Day Simon | Cadillac | 8 May 1990 | With Dave Holdsworth on trumpet, this album features original compositions and jazz standards |

### Liane Carroll

| Album | Record label | Release date | Notes |
| That's Life (Liane Carroll and Roger Carey) | Jazz Art | 1991 | |
| Clearly | Bridge | 1 October 1995 | Features Dave Mattacks (drums) and Roger Carey (bass), with a guest appearance by trumpeter Dick Pearce |
| Dolly Bird | Ronnie Scott's Jazz House | 18 August 1997 | Recorded live at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club. Features Peter Kirtley (guitar, vocals), Steve Lamb (bass guitar) and Greg Leppard (drums) |
| Son of Dolly Bird | Ronnie Scott's Jazz House | 28 January 2002 | Recorded live at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in January 2001. Features Steve Lamb (bass guitar), Greg Leppard (drums) and special guest Julian Siegel (tenor saxophone) |
| Billy No Mates | Splash Point | CD (SPR001CD) on 14 September 2003 | Carroll's first solo album. Includes four original songs by Carroll: "Three Sheets to the Wind", "Fly Little Bird", "Dublin Morning" and "Billy No Mates" |
| Standard Issue | Splash Point | CD (SPR003CD) on 3 October 2005 | Recorded live on 5 June 2005 at Studio 1, Abbey Road Studios. Features the Liane Carroll Trio (Roger Carey on bass guitar and Greg Leppard on drums) and guests Ian Shaw (vocals), John Parricelli (guitar) and Bobby Wellins (tenor saxophone) |
| Slow Down | Splash Point | CD (SPR004CD) on 24 September 2007 | Solo album; Ian Shaw guests on one track |
| Liane Live DVD | Splash Point | DVD (SPR007DVD) on 4 February 2008 | Featuring concert by the Liane Carroll Trio (Roger Carey on bass and Mark Fletcher on drums) at the Brecon Jazz Festival 2006; Ian Shaw guests on one track |
| One Good Reason | Qnote, distributed by Universal Music | CD (QNT 10110) on 21 July 2008 | Recorded in 2002, as part of "The Passion" with Jacqui Dankworth and Sara Colman |
| Break Even (with John Etheridge) | Dekkor | CD (RCD 027) on 24 November 2008 | With Hammond organist Pete Whittaker and drummer Mark Fletcher |
| Best Standard Issue | SSG Entertainment | CD (DC 9648) on 23 December 2008 | This album was released in Germany. It has 17 tracks: duration 74 mins |
| Live at the Lampie (with Brian Kellock) | Splash Point | CD (SPR009CD) on 11 May 2009 | Recorded live at The Blue Lamp pub in Aberdeen |
| Up and Down | Quietmoney, distributed by Proper Records | CD (QMR0001CD) on 27 June 2011 | Recorded in London, Hastings, Brighton, Prague and Memphis, Tennessee, it features Kenny Wheeler, Kirk Whalum, Julian Siegel and James McMillan as guest soloists. |
| Ballads | Quietmoney, distributed by Proper Records | CD (QMR0002CD) on 15 April 2013 | Recorded in Hastings, it features Mark Edwards (piano), Gwilym Simcock (piano), Julian Siegel (bass clarinet) and Kirk Whalum (tenor saxophone) with orchestration and big band arrangements by Chris Walden and includes Sophie Bancroft's song "Calgary Bay", performed with the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. |
| Seaside | Linn | CD (AKD 533) on 18 September 2015 | Recorded in Hastings, this studio album received four-starred reviews in The Guardian, The Observer and Mojo magazine. The title track was written by Joe Stilgoe |
| The Right to Love | Quietmoney, distributed by Proper Records | CD (QMR0004) in July 2017 | Produced by James McMillan, this album received four-starred reviews in The Guardian, The Observer and the London Evening Standard. |

### London Elektricity

| Album | Record label | Release date | Notes |
| Pull the Plug | Hospital | CD (NHS12CD) on 7 June 1999 | Liane Carroll provides vocals on two of the tracks |
| Billion Dollar Gravy | Hospital | CD (NHS56CD) on 26 May 2003 | Liane Carroll provides vocals on some of the tracks |
| Live Gravy (live DVD album) | Hospital | DVD (NHS72DVD) on 24 May 2004 | A live concert at The Jazz Café, London, with two extra songs from London Elektricity's autumn 2003 tour, released on DVD |
| Power Ballads | Hospital | CD (NHS95CD) on 3 October 2005 | Liane Carroll provides vocals on four of the tracks |
| Medical History | Hospital | MP3 album (NHSDL06) on 6 December 2006 | Liane Carroll takes lead vocals on five of the tracks |
| Syncopated City | Hospital | LP (NHS142LPX) on 1 September 2008; CD (NHS142CD) on 26 September 2008; Japanese Special Edition (NHS142JAPAN) with bonus tracks on 30 November 2008 | Liane Carroll takes lead vocals on five of the tracks |
| Are We There Yet? | Hospital | LP (NHS280LP) on 6 November 2015; CD (NHS280) on 6 November 2015 | Liane Carroll takes lead vocals on "Why Are We Here?" |

### PTH Projects featuring Liane Carroll

| Single | Record label | Release date | Notes |
| "Pretend Paradise" | Wah Wah 45s | 12-inch single (WAH1209) on 26 June 2006 | Liane Carroll performs on the track "Pretend Paradise", which is coupled with "Thin Air" featuring Lara Vane |
| "Pretend Paradise" (remix) | Wah Wah 45s | 12-inch single (WAH12012) on 6 June 2007 | Track listing – Track A: "Pretend Paradise" (Parta Herois De Tempo Mix); Track B: "What The Sun Brings" |

### Chris Garrick and John Etheridge with Liane Carroll

| Album | Record label | Release date | Notes |
| When The World Stopped For Snow | Flying Blue Whale Records | Album (FLY 8) in 2013 | Liane Carroll sings on three of the tracks |

### Compilation albums

| Album | Record label | Release date | Notes |
| Hospital Accapellas | Hospital | CD (NHS171) on 12 July 2010 | Features various Hospital Records artists. Includes one track by Liane Carroll ("The Trap" [A cappella]). She is also lead vocalist on five of the six London Elektricity tracks |