Wendy Kirkland

Wendy Kirkland is a pianist and singer in the UK. Her musical career began at 10, when she started piano lessons. She won a scholarship for lessons from Derbyshire Music and took her ABRSM piano grades. She switched to jazz in her teens and was a dance class pianist, accompanist to singers, and a keyboardist in club bands. She was persuaded to sing by guitarist Bill McCreath. Wendy reached people turned off by instrumental jazz by communicating with the audience through songs. Her album, Piano Divas (2017), a tribute to the female pianist singers of jazz, began her ascent to recognition as a singing pianist. The ability to sing, comp, and craft solos on the piano and vocal scat lines is her forte. Her influences were Diana Krall, Eliane Elias, and Dena DeRose. Her second release, The Music’s On Me (2019) was “a huge leap forward,” according to Jazz Views. Both albums prompted ACE funded tours around the UK and constant radio airplay. In 2020, Wendy and guitarist/bassist husband Pat Sprakes entertained with a daily dose of Latin American music on Facebook, entitled Latin Lockdowns. After 86 performances, they moved on to other musical endeavors. They received messages from people who missed the videos that were “a ray of sunshine” in the lockdown. She performs on Hammond organ with Organik Fource, featuring her husband Pat Sprakes on guitar and sax, Organik Trio Goes To The Movies, and The Organik Cookbook, celebrating the early soul-jazz albums of George Benson.

• https://wendykirkland.com
• http://www.wijsf.org