Vinx and Lee Payne's 'Hands, Mouth & Feet' - a dynamic duo plays London's Re:Voice! Festival

American singer and percussionist Vinx makes a welcome return to a London stage after a long hiatus as part of this week’s Re:Voice! Festival at Pizza Express in Soho tomorrow, Wednesday October 15th. 

His velvet baritone voice won him many fans in the early 1990s with residencies at Ronnie Scotts. Usually accompanied by his trusty Djembe-like drum, Vinx delivers soul music connected directly to the African diaspora but is just as comfortable on subtle jazz standards and songs from the Great American songbook. Never confined, earlier this year Vinx toured the reunion show for his super heavyweight band Jungle Funk featuring drummer Will Calhoun and bassist Doug Wimbish from Living Colour.

For the Re:Voice! show, called ‘Hands, Mouth & Feet’, he teams up with British tap dancer Lee Payne who has appeared in stage shows ‘Riverdance’ and ‘Singing In The Rain’, plus Sky 1’s TV talent show ‘Got To Dance’ where he reached the semi final.

It’s an undeniable collaboration that goes right to the heart of jazz and blues, rooted in the traditions of American Vaudeville where a simple duo would entertain - a hoofer and a musician. This evolved in the 1950s to what we know as jazz dance. Famous tap dancers include Sammy Davis Jr, Fred Astaire, Savion Glover and Gregory Hines.

Talking about how and why he started in tap dancing Payne said, “I started watching old movies with all the great hoofers like Jimmy Slyde, Bunny Briggs, Sammy Davis Jr, Chuck Green, etc when I was 4 years old. I loved it! Listening to all the different styles of music made my love for music grow. The more I listened, the more I wanted to sing, but I wanted to sing with my feet. When two hoofers are together it becomes like a conversation of rhythm.”

Support on the night comes from the festival founder and curator, singer Georgia Mancio with flautist Gareth Lockrane. For more information on this show and to book tickets click here.

Pizza Express Jazz Club, 10 Dean Street, Soho, London, W1D 3RW - Tel: 0845 6027 017