Question of Taste: Limerick soul singer Jayne

In advance of her debut album, Jayne includes the likes of Biig Piig, Roy Hargrove and the Spice Girls in her selections 

Jayne releases her debut album soon. 

Jayne is a jazz/soul inspired singer-songwriter, living and working in Limerick. In the past, she has worked as a session singer with the likes of Peter Andre, Five Grand Stereo and Laura Welsh. 

Jayne's debut solo album, Pass the Test, will come out  at the end of April.

Best recent film you've seen:

The Departed - Watched this again the other night, it just is a masterpiece. The story line is so well written it just keeps you hanging on. All the lead actors are masters of their craft, the similarity & polarity between the two lead characters carries a really powerful message. The line about Freud and the Irish is classic! “What Freud said about the Irish is: We're the only people who are impervious to psychoanalysis".

Best recent gig you’ve seen:

Went to see Biig Piig in Dolans (Limerick) and it was phenomenal. Her connection to the audience was filled with joy and fun! She raised the roof off the Warehouse. It was a super slick/tight production and really fantastic musicians backing her up also.

Best piece of music you’ve been listening to lately (new or old):

I've been playing Strasbourg St Denis by Roy Hargrove, the live version from the New Morning Club in Paris. I decided to incorporate it into my lessons last week (I work for Music Generation Limerick).  The kids loved it. It's just 12mins of pure happiness - if you are ever feeling low play that tune!

First ever piece of music that really moved you:

I would say I hardly even really have that memory to hand. My father was a musician and singer, he would always be playing music to me but apparently I went particularly mad for Dire Straits or Stockton's Wing! Later on then came Micheal Jackson and Queen - those two tapes were played to death on my Fisher Price cassette player.

The best gig you've ever seen (if you had to pick one!):

Its really really hard to pick one! sometimes you stumble upon a really good jam or a jazz club in a major city and your mind is blown! But thinking hard on this one of the best things I've been at was the Red Hot Chili Peppers in Slane 2003. That was certainly something special.

TV viewing:

I watch stuff on Netflix really. I like true crime, gangster movies, spy movies or any weird corner of humanity in documentary form.

Radio listening and/or podcasts:

The Creep Dive. Sophie White, Jen O'Dwyer & Cassie Delaney are just the best laugh. It's basically a podcast about the same kinda stuff...Creepy weird and wonderful madness that they find on the internet. They then regale an hour or so with three separate stories. They have the same sense of humor as myself.

You're curating your dream festival – which three artists are on the bill, living or dead?

David Bowie, Steely Dan, Prince. 

Your best celebrity encounter:

I sang a couple of years for Geri Halliwel & Chris Horner's Christmas party and that was pretty mental because the Spice Girls where there! My 13-year-old self was having an inner meltdown. They where all lovely too. I also got to hang out with Kamasi Washington and his band over summer after seeing his gig in the Troxy in London... that was a very cool night indeed!

You can portal back to any cultural event or music era – where, when, and why?

I think its fairly cliche but Woodstock 1969 is one I've always wished I was there for. I'd say everyone was sound. No one setting your tent on fire or people robbing your cans (that all came in the '99 version!). Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Joe Cocker,etc... there will never be another event like that. Festivals now are so commercialsed and tainted by drinks companies, social media, etc.

In your own life, have you been doing anything in particular in relation to climate change, biodiversity, etc?

I gave this some thought the other day. I was asking myself like what AM I actually doing other than trying to recycle right and giving my housemates a hard time for not recycling right. I feel like that's definitely not enough. I was thinking maybe I could drive less and cycle more, take the bus more, etc. I try to buy food without packaging and pretty much don't eat meat.