A PIANIST and composer who has been described by The Observer as ‘remarkable by any standard’ is to perform in Warrington as part of the Jazz Director Series.

Zoe Rahman, who has recently worked with the likes of George Mraz, Courtney Pine and Jerry Dammers’ Spatial AKA Orchestra, will share a stage with the Inner City Ensemble on Saturday, October 21, at the Pyramid centre.

The Jazz Director Series, run by Manchester venue Band on the Wall and now in its third year, sees a celebrated musician join forces with some of the of the UK’s most promising emerging professional musicians for a workshop and short tour.

Culture Warrington’s Pyramid venue has been involved with the event since it launched in 2015.

And in previous years the town has welcomed Grammy-winning jazz artist Terence Blanchard, who has who has composed the music for every Spike Lee film since the 90s, and US jazz saxophonist, composer and multi-instrumentalist Chris Potter as part of the initiative.

Born in Chichester to a Bengali father and English mother, Zoe Rahman’s style is deeply rooted in jazz yet reflects her classical background, dual heritage and her broad musical taste.

She studied classical piano at the Royal Academy of Music, took a music degree at Oxford University and then won a scholarship to study jazz performance at Berklee College of Music in Boston.

Zoe’s second album, Melting Pot, was nominated in 2006 for the Mercury Music Prize, alongside the likes of Thom Yorke, Arctic Monkeys and Muse, and it also won Jazz Album of the Year at the UK’s first Parliamentary Jazz Awards.

Zoe also won a MOBO Award for her fifth album Kindred Spirits in 2012

For the third Jazz Directors Series, Zoe will join a 10-piece ensemble – which includes piano, double bass, drums, flute, clarinet, trumpet, alto and tenor saxophone, trombone, and tuba – and play material for a Guildhall School of Music and Drama project, plus new material never previously performed live.

An open call for musicians is expected to open later this month to make up the Inner City Ensemble. Tickets are £14 in advance or £16 on the door. Visit pyramidparhall.com