Biography
Born on 6 September 1972 in Ballymena, Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland, Dickson moved to Leeds, Yorkshire, at the age of 10 and commenced music lessons there. Voice studies began at 12, and she soon established herself as a studio session singer while still a teenager. Her signing with Polydor Records alongside the band Bass Reality coincided with the emergence of a jazz interest, which she later described by noting, “I felt that singing jazz would be the best way for me to grow musically and started singing with third year students from the jazz degree course at Leeds College of Music.” Over the subsequent three years she immersed herself in the local jazz circuit while launching formal training at LCM in her mid-twenties. From there she advanced to Middlesex University, completing an honours degree in jazz. Student activities included assembling her own jazz quintet and the seven-piece funk outfit Mamafeelgood. Among the players who performed with the quintet were tenor saxophonist Pete Wareham, bassist Andy Hamill, drummer Matt Home, and pianists Gwilym Simcock and Leon Greening.
By the early 2000s she had secured a firm footing on the London jazz circuit while sustaining ties to the north through Mamafeelgood’s residency at the Wardrobe in Leeds. From early 2004 onward she has contributed as both performer and composer to the Players, a collective featuring Steve White, Mick Talbot and Damon Minchella; she serves as lead vocalist on their album From The Six Corners. Her selections range across funk, timeless standards rendered as ballads, and buoyant jazz numbers. The 2003 release Vocal Point marked her first recording under her own name, captured in New York with pianist Tim Harrison, bassist Gene Perla, drummer John Riley and guest tenor saxophonist George Garzone; supplementary London sessions paired her with pianist Nikki Iles. Esteemed by colleagues including Garzone, Perla, Harry Allen, Jamie Cullum and Peter Erskine, she has carved a distinctive place with her soulful jazz readings.
By the early 2000s she had secured a firm footing on the London jazz circuit while sustaining ties to the north through Mamafeelgood’s residency at the Wardrobe in Leeds. From early 2004 onward she has contributed as both performer and composer to the Players, a collective featuring Steve White, Mick Talbot and Damon Minchella; she serves as lead vocalist on their album From The Six Corners. Her selections range across funk, timeless standards rendered as ballads, and buoyant jazz numbers. The 2003 release Vocal Point marked her first recording under her own name, captured in New York with pianist Tim Harrison, bassist Gene Perla, drummer John Riley and guest tenor saxophonist George Garzone; supplementary London sessions paired her with pianist Nikki Iles. Esteemed by colleagues including Garzone, Perla, Harry Allen, Jamie Cullum and Peter Erskine, she has carved a distinctive place with her soulful jazz readings.
Albums
