Fini Bearman

Biography

Fini Bearman is a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist & composer who has built an impressive profile on the UK Jazz scene as both an imaginative and expressive soloist and as a side-woman. She tours regularly across Europe and notable performances include Ronnie Scotts, The Sage Gateshead, The Barbican, The A-Trane (Berlin), Cafe Mercedes Jazz (Valencia), Manzioli (Izola, Slovenia) and Dizzys (Jazz at the Lincoln Center, New York). Festival highlights include the London Jazz Festival, Manchester Jazz Festival, Berlin Jazz Festival,  'Jazz Voices' in Lithuania and ’Voicingers' in Poland.

Fini has been supported by the Arts Council & Musicians Benevolent Fund and has been nominated for awards including London Jazz Singer of the Year (Global Music Foundation). 

Fini has released 3 albums under her own name, and her last record, Burn the Boat, received praise from peers and critics alike including ****'s from Jazzwise, allaboutjazz and The Arts Desk,  '…A stunning album..A thing of unsurpassed beauty. One of the most memorable collections of self-penned songs you’ll hear this year’ **** (Jazzwise). Her highly anticipated fourth album, La Loba (October 2020), is a solo record exploring the world of songwriting, and calls on influences from the Punch Brothers to Jacob Collier and Becca Stevens.

Fini has performed with world-class musicians, notably Bobby McFerrin (VOCABularies album launch, London Jazz Festival), Kenny Wheeler (recording the album Mirrors Suite, Edition Records), Guillermo Klein, Jon Hendricks, Kenny Werner,  Liane Carroll, Norma Winstone and Liam Noble. As a collaborator, music ranges from the re-imagining of much-loved material such as Gershwin’s Porgy & Bess (with Matt Calvert, Ross Stanley, John Blease and Jon Cox), and the songs of David Bowie (This is Not America, together with Tom Cawley and Calum Gourlay), to original music projects; Tom Cawley’s Catenaccio and voice-synth duo The Bear and the Fish, Raph Clarkson’s avant garde, highly improvised large ensemble the Dissolute Society, and Midnight Radio together with the pianist Tom Hewson - songs and musical impressions inspired by Salman Rushdie’s novel, Midnights Children.

Fini’s music has regular radio play including BBC 2,3,4, JazzFM, Hoxton Radio, and live performances include In Spirit with Jumoke Fashola (BBC London), In Tune on BBC 3, BBC 2 with Aled Jones, BBC Kent, Resonance FM, Jazz Radio Berlin and BR-Klassik (München).

Since working in Higher Education, Fini has delivered masterclasses, workshops and 1:2:1 tuition at Goldsmiths University, Leeds Conservatoire, Jazzlines (Birmingham), City of London University, The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, the Institute of Contemporary Music and Performance, Trinity Laban and Berklee College of Music (Valencia).   

Fini recently joined the faculty at Guildhall in 2017, and teaches jazz voice and songwriting. Fini studied jazz and classical voice at Guildhall School of Music & Drama (BMus (Hons) in 2007), before going on to complete a Masters in performance and composition from the Jazz Institute Berlin (2009).  

‘...Skilful and accurate... wistful soulfulness’ John Fordham, Jazzwise