Dana Dericks

“Although viola player Dana Zemtsov is only twenty two years old and she’s just starting her career, she sounds on ‘Enigma-Works for solo Viola‘ as a full musician. She has a powerful and personal way a playing. Her musical interpretation and clear expression are convinced with a snoring and shining viola. Zemtsov got lessons from the Belgium based Russian viola player Michael Kugel who wrote two exciting compositions on this album (‘Prelude-Ysaye’ see youtube). Above all, he arranged the ‘Recitatievo Scherzo‘ of Fritz Kreisler. A work originally written for solo violin but arranged for viola (5 tones lower), which makes the piece sound more immersive.

Dana Gillespie's affair with the blues shows not the slightest sign of flagging. Who could have predicted it would be in her sixth decade of music-making that she'd be creating her finest work? So far, 2021 has been a banner year for the 72-year-old personality. It began with the publication of her memoir, Weren't Born A Man. This was followed by a successful YouTube reboot of her popular radio show, Globetrotting With Gillespie. The memoir, co-written with David Shasha, is a full account of Dana's remarkable life, from her folk singles on Pye Records and her late 60s albums for Decca to her pivotal role in the original London cast of Jesus Christ Superstar and her memorable explosion onto the glam scene as part of the Bowie/DeFries/MainMan/RCA empire, her side-sojourns in film, and her long-lasting union with Ace Records as one of the UK's leading blues artists. "Deep Pockets", the follow-up to 2019's "Under My Bed", is a collection of 12 Gillespie originals, mostly written with long-standing lead guitarist Jake Zaitz.