Jana Varga [Jazz/American Folk/Gospel]

Jana Varga is a Slovak-born former classical flautist who left the orchestra path for singing and songwriting. A UK resident, her music blends folk, jazz, and poetic lyricism. Her vocals echo singers like Becca Stevens, Karen Carpenter & Olivia Chaney while her songwriting draws on European roots.

Her debut ‘Foreigner Face’ co-produced by Fred Mollin was shortlisted in the ‘Emerging Artist’ category of the British Blues Awards. ‘Fisherman’s Trade’ recorded with Varga Quartet Vienna earned her a praise from Janis Ian (‘Amazingly beautiful‘) and FATEA described her music as ‘The stuff Carnegie Hall shows are made of’.

Her highly anticipated second album ‘Chicory‘ is Varga’s most intimate and personal work yet, featuring highly-charged acoustic folk landscape, rich in cinematic overtones, that Jana has created virtually single-handedly.

Chicory album launch at Pizza Express club in London was a sold-out event. Varga also received multiple standing ovation at Herztakt Festival in the Austrian Alps, performing orchestral arrangements of her songs alongside the festival orchestra, which was aired on Austrian national TV ORF.

Jana is one of the solo performers of ‘What The World Needs Now’ , an international show celebrating the legacy of Burt Bacharach, directed by Bacharach’s long term musical director – Rob Shirakbari.

Jana also regularly tours with Rumer ( ‘Seasons Of My Soul’ tour and a joined tour with Simply Red are among the recent shows) and also is the lead singer of the critically acclaimed Hejira: Celebrating Joni Mitchell.

“A really classy sound, a fascinating mixture of styles and really original, as are the lyrics.” – Paul Sexton (BBC, The Billboard)

Line up:
Jana Varga – vocals, acoustic guitar, and piano
Sam Watts – piano