Anna Phoebe | |
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![]() Phoebe with Oi Va Voi in Utrecht in 2019 | |
Born | Anna Phoebe McElligott 18 February 1981 Hamburg, West Germany |
Spouse | |
Children | 2 |
Musical career | |
Genres | |
Instrument(s) | |
Years active | 2001–present |
Website | www |
Anna Phoebe McElligott (born 18 February 1981 [1] ) is a London-based violinist, composer, and broadcaster who performs in musical genres including contemporary classical, rock, folk, jazz, Celtic, and Middle Eastern music. [2]
Anna Phoebe was born in Hamburg, West Germany, to a Greek-Irish historian father and a German children's social worker mother. [3] A native German speaker, she learnt English upon moving to Manchester, England at the age of four. [3] After a period living in Michigan in the United States, Phoebe and her family settled in St Andrews, Scotland. [3]
Phoebe began playing the violin at the age of seven, encouraged by her mother, who is also a violinist. [3] She read social policy and government at the London School of Economics. [3] Around the time of her studies, she also worked with some Labour Party politicians. [3]
Having continued to play the violin throughout university, after graduating Phoebe devoted herself to music, working as a session musician for producers, bands, and singers in a variety of genres. [3]
A breakthrough in Phoebe's career came in 2003 when she successfully auditioned to become a member of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO). [3] She joined the TSO West Coast Band in 2004 and was invited back for the 2005–07 seasons, making her the first string director and soloist to return for a fourth year running. She toured in 2008 as part of the band, including three-month tours each Christmas through 26 states of western and central USA. She performed nearly 70 dates in arenas to audiences of up to 15,000 people; venues included the American Airlines Center in Dallas, the Save Mart Center in Fresno, HSBC Arena in Buffalo, New York, and the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. Phoebe decided to move on from TSO in August 2010, stating: "I feel that I have taken my role as TSO violinist as far as it can go and it is time for me to hand the bow to someone else." [4]
As a session artist, Phoebe has been hired by musicians including Sean "P Diddy" Combs, Robin Gibb, Ronan Keating, Liberty X, George Michael, and LeAnn Rimes. [5] She has appeared on various television shows, including Top of the Pops , The Michael Parkinson Show , MTV and GMTV; [6] as well as at music festivals, including Glastonbury and The Big Chill.
Phoebe was a guest star in 2007's "Jethro Tull World Tour", after an approach by Ian Anderson, and appeared on several occasions in later years with Anderson and his band. [2] In 2012 she participated in their "Thick As A Brick" 1&2 tour, jamming on-screen nightly with Anderson remotely via Skype. [7]
She toured with Jon Lord as his violinist, with performances in Russia and Sicily, and after his death took part in the tribute Sunflower Jam which was held at London's Royal Albert Hall in July 2011. [8]
Phoebe appeared on the Sky Arts show Tony Visconti's Unsigned Heroes in 2017. [9]
Phoebe's debut solo rock violin Gypsy Albumette was co-written with TSO rock guitarist, Angus Clark.[ citation needed ] She released her second solo album on iTunes, titled Rise of the Warrior.
In 2019, Phoebe formed the duo AVAWAVES with Berlin-based composer, producer and pianist Aisling Brouwer. [10] Their debut album Waves was released in 2019 [11] and followed by Chrysalis in 2021. [12]
Phoebe is married to former BBC news presenter Gavin Esler, his second wife. [13] They have two children. [14]
Jethro Tull are a British progressive rock band formed in Blackpool, Lancashire, in 1967. Initially playing blues rock and jazz fusion, the band soon incorporated elements of English folk music, hard rock and classical music, forging a signature progressive rock sound. The group's lead vocalist, bandleader, founder, principal composer and only constant member is Ian Anderson, who also plays flute and acoustic guitar. The group has featured a succession of musicians throughout the decades, including significant contributors such as guitarists Mick Abrahams and Martin Barre ; bassists Glenn Cornick, Jeffrey Hammond, John Glascock, Dave Pegg and Jonathan Noyce; drummers Clive Bunker, Barrie "Barriemore" Barlow and Doane Perry; and keyboardists John Evan, Dee Palmer, Peter-John Vettese and Andrew Giddings.
Thick as a Brick is the fifth studio album by the British rock band Jethro Tull, released on 3 March 1972. The album contains one continuous piece of music, split over two sides of an LP record, and is intended as a parody of the concept album genre. The original packaging, designed as a 12-page newspaper, claims the album to be a musical adaptation of an epic poem by fictional eight-year-old genius Gerald Bostock, though the lyrics were actually written by the band's frontman, Ian Anderson.
Heavy Horses is the eleventh studio album by British progressive rock band Jethro Tull, released on 10 April 1978.
A is the 13th studio album by British rock band Jethro Tull. It was released on 29 August 1980 in the UK and 1 September of the same year in the United States.
Ian Scott Anderson is a British musician best known for his work as the singer, flautist, acoustic guitarist, primary songwriter, and sole continuous member of the rock band Jethro Tull. He is a multi-instrumentalist who also plays harmonica, keyboards, bass guitar, bouzouki, balalaika, saxophone and a variety of whistles. His solo work began with Walk into Light in 1983; since then he has released another five albums, including the sequel to the 1972 Jethro Tull album Thick as a Brick, titled TaaB 2: Whatever Happened to Gerald Bostock? (2012).
J-Tull Dot Com is the 20th studio album by the British band Jethro Tull, released in 1999 on Papillon, the Chrysalis Group's late 1990s heritage record label. It was released four years after their 1995 album Roots to Branches and continues in the same vein, marrying hard rock with Eastern music influences. It is the first album to feature Jonathan Noyce on bass, who would remain with the band until 2007 in Jethro Tull's longest ever unchanged line-up. This was the last Jethro Tull album to feature all original, new material for 23 years, although the band did release a Christmas album in 2003, which contained a mixture of new material, re-recordings of Tull's own suitably themed material and arrangements of traditional Christmas music.
Stand Up is the second studio album by British rock band Jethro Tull, released in 1969. It was the first Jethro Tull album to feature guitarist Martin Barre, who would go on to become the band's longtime guitarist until its initial dissolution in 2012. Before recording sessions for the album began, the band's original guitarist Mick Abrahams departed the band as a result of musical differences with frontman and primary songwriter Ian Anderson; Abrahams wanted to stay with the blues rock sound of their 1968 debut, This Was, while Anderson wished to add other musical influences such as folk rock.
Edwin Jobson is an English musician noted for his use of synthesizers. He has been a member of several progressive rock bands, including Curved Air, Roxy Music, U.K. and Jethro Tull. He was also part of Frank Zappa's band in 1976–77. Aside from his keyboard work Jobson has also gained acclaim for his violin playing. He won the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2017 Progressive Music Awards. In March 2019 Jobson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Roxy Music.
Minstrel in the Gallery is the eighth studio album by British rock band Jethro Tull, released in September 1975. The album sees the band going in a different direction from their previous work War Child (1974), returning to a blend of electric and acoustic songs, in a manner closer to their early 1970s albums such as Benefit (1970), Aqualung (1971) and Thick as a Brick (1972). Making use of a newly constructed mobile recording studio commissioned and constructed specifically for the band, the album was the first Jethro Tull album to be recorded outside of the UK, being recorded in tax exile in Monte Carlo, Monaco.
The Jethro Tull Christmas Album is the 21st studio album released by Jethro Tull, on 30 September 2003. This was the band's last studio album for 19 years, as well as the last album to feature the lineup of Ian Anderson, guitarist Martin Barre, bassist Jonathan Noyce, keyboardist Andrew Giddings, and drummer Doane Perry.
The Broadsword and the Beast is the 14th studio album by rock band Jethro Tull, released in April 1982 by Chrysalis Records. The album's musical style features a cross between the dominant synthesizer sound of the 1980s and the folk-influenced style that Jethro Tull used in the previous decade. As such, the band's characteristic acoustic instrumentation is augmented by electronic soundscapes. The electronic aspects of this album would be explored further by the band on their next album, Under Wraps (1984), as well as on Ian Anderson's solo album Walk into Light (1983).
Crest of a Knave is the sixteenth studio album by British rock band Jethro Tull, released in 1987. The album was recorded after a three-year hiatus caused by a throat infection of vocalist Ian Anderson, resulting in his changed singing style. Following the unsuccessful electronic rock album Under Wraps, Crest of a Knave had the band returning to a more hard rock sound. The album was their most successful since the 1970s and the band enjoyed a resurgence on radio broadcasts, appearances in MTV specials and the airing of music videos. It was also a critical success, winning the 1989 Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance Vocal or Instrumental in what was widely viewed as an upset over the favorite, Metallica's ...And Justice for All. The album was supported by "The Not Quite the World, More the Here and There Tour".
Lucia Micarelli is an American violinist, singer and actress best known for her collaborations with Josh Groban, Chris Botti, Jethro Tull, and her role as Annie Talarico in Treme.
20 Years of Jethro Tull (1988) is a video by Jethro Tull, also known as Jethro Tull: This Is the First 20 Years. It consists of interviews with fans, frontman Ian Anderson, Terry Ellis and Chris Wright of Chrysalis Records, and John Gee of the Marquee Club, giving a rough chronology of the band, interspersed with clips from music videos and live performances. Many of the live performances are culled from the Madison Square Garden performance during the 1978 Heavy Horses tour.
Angus Clark is a guitarist, singer, songwriter, and producer. He has toured with the internationally renowned and Grammy-winning New Age artist Kitaro and the hard rock acts Drill and Naked Sun. He is currently touring with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra and DareDevil Squadron. Clark is also an on-stage guitarist with the fictional 1980s rock band Arsenal in the Broadway musical Rock of Ages.
Ann Marie Calhoun is an American classically trained violinist who has performed as a bluegrass and rock musician in a number of prominent acts, including Jethro Tull, Steve Vai, Widespread Panic, Dave Matthews Band, Ringo Starr, A.R. Rahman and Mick Jagger's SuperHeavy. She has closely collaborated with Hans Zimmer on numerous film scores, including Sherlock Holmes, Interstellar, 12 Years a Slave, The Lone Ranger, The Little Prince, Man of Steel, and Captain Phillips. She is the sister of violinist Mary Simpson.
"Living in the Past" is a song by British progressive rock group Jethro Tull. It is one of the band's best-known songs, and it is notable for being written in the unusual 5
4 time signature. The use of quintuple meter is quickly noted from the beginning rhythmic bass pattern, though it can also be explained as a distinct 6
8 + 2
4 syncopated rhythm.
Thick as a Brick – Live in Iceland is a live album and Blu-ray/DVD by Jethro Tull frontman Ian Anderson. The live concert was recorded in Harpa concert hall, Reykjavík, Iceland on 22 June 2012.