Page 430 - Guildhall Coverage Book 2020-21

conditions – and in total 900 people were assembled online for a distanced account of Let It
Be.

Although Zoom has to an extent saved live music during the Coronavirus pandemic, there
are still keen limitations, as Gillam freely admits. “Technology is amazing, and it’s incredible
that we can still be a part of something bigger and still connect via the internet in the way
we can, but nothing will be able to replicate the feeling of playing with other people in a
room, or playing to other people. I’ve been taking part in the Royal Albert At Home concert,
and practising playing to a screen is the most bizarre feeling. There is no clapping, no
communication with the audience, no way of judging how it’s going! It’s the most inhuman
experience in a way but at the same time you know people will watch it and you hope they
will enjoy it. It’s a very strange feeling.”

Her set for the Royal Albert Hall was typically varied, including music
from Marcello to David Bowie – which puts me in mind of how important the saxophone
was through his music. Gillam emphatically agrees. “He played the saxophone himself, and
often in his music it acts as a catalyst for the next section, or the next drop, or the next rise
in emotion and intensity. The way he would use it, he deployed it as an instrument to take
things to the next level.”

She has also used Zoom for lessons with her teacher, renowned British saxophonist John
Harle. “I’m just finishing my Masters year at Guildhall School of Music & Drama, and I
submitted my recital only yesterday. We’ve been having video lessons leading up to that. It’s
great to be able to keep studying, but again it isn’t quite the same, it’s quite a strange
method over the internet!”

Now the recital is submitted, TIME is of the essence. We’re getting everything together for
the September release – the cover and booklet notes, the track order. The whole album was
mixed in lockdown, which was quite a technological feat! The producer Jonathan Allen was
incredible, he was giving a live feed over to me and we could comment in real time, using
WhatsApp. It’s amazing to see what’s actually possible when you need it to be!”

Jess Gillam‘s album TIME will be released by Decca on 25 September. It will include the
singles Dappled Light, Suspirium, Orbit, Truman Sleeps and Joby Talbot‘s Transit of Venus.
You can read more about the album on her website, and keep up with new audio releases
via her Spotify and YouTube pages