Jazz musicians Cherryn Lomas and Eddie Bray make up the duo Lady & The Sax.
“We only met back in 2016, so it's pretty recent [the collaboration]. We're part of a big band here on the Gold Coast where we both live and I was presenting a Natalie Cole tribute called 'Unforgettable With Love'.
“We sort of locked into each other's style of music and we thought: 'How about we take this further?'. [Eddie] can hear vocally what I'm doing and that's what people enjoy seeing, that interplay between us,” Cherryn says.
Cherryn's musical career began in the '90s when she was part of the duo Sexing The Cherry, who supported the likes of Robbie Williams and Take That. Eddie is also an experienced musician with over 2,000 gigs to his credit.
Cherryn explains how Lady & The Sax is different to their previous projects. “Music is diverse, as a platform, and this is more the heart and soul of music. It's jazz, it's jazz blues, it's soul music. It's something that's close to the heart.
“I want to do a lot of scat singing, which was developed by Ella Fitzgerald. She's a wonderful lady singer of the '40s and she developed a style of singing called be-bop, so it's scatting and using your voice as an instrument to imitate the mood and sound of the sax.”
Jazz has been a long-standing passion for both Eddie and Cherryn. “For [Eddie] it was from family, and for me it was from family as well as well as the Andrews Sisters' music, they have fantastic tunes with the best melodies.
"For me it's always been a passion, and for both of us we learnt at jazz colleges. I've had master classes with great singers like Kerrie Biddell and Grace Knight,” Cherryn says.
Cherryn talks about the musical inspirations behind Lady & The Sax. “Billie Holiday wanted to imitate the same sound as the horn, and Lester Young was a great horn player back then.
"So that swing style of music. I've done pop and been part of the pop music scene, and this is something different. It's sultry and it's redefining your vocal tone. I just want to challenge myself and have a diverse repertoire.”
Lady & The Sax will be performing in The Lounge at the Royal Hotel in Nundah alongside their friends The Art Deco Swing Band, led by Joe Howman.
Cherryn has played at The Royal Hotel before. “I've been a guest there. They were brilliant nights and the crowds went off. But this is different, it's going to be sophisticated and soulful jazz.”
Lady & The Sax will be busy performing for the rest of the year. “Definitely more shows, we have other bookings; Eddie and I as a two-piece. We have stuff coming up on the Gold Coast especially with the [Commonwealth] Games.
"We're really looking forward to the show with Joe though, because he's such a fine trumpet player and he knows how to lock into that sound with Eddie.”
