Simon Purcell / Julian Siegel Quintet with Michelle Nicolle (AUS/UK)

An Australia/UK collaboration of award-winning jazz musicians at the top of their game, this quintet has come together for a one-off Melbourne show showcasing a wealth of jazz talent, performing original material and jazz standards.

London-based Simon Purcell and Julian Siegel are two of the UK’s most respected and established jazz performers. They have worked together for decades in the modern jazz scene, performing throughout the UK and Europe.

For this special Melbourne appearance, the “Londoners” will be joined by acclaimed Melbourne jazz vocalist Michelle Nicolle, along with the rhythm section of Nick Haywood and Ronny Ferella. The quintet will present a compelling mix of original compositions and jazz standards.

Simon Purcell – piano
Julian Siegel – tenor saxophone
Michelle Nicolle – voice
Nick Haywood – bass
Ronny Ferella – drums

Simon Purcell

Internationally acclaimed pianist and educator Simon Purcell came to prominence during the UK jazz boom of the 1980s through his band Jazz Train (with Martin Speake, Cleveland Watkiss et al), a quartet with Julian Argüelles, and numerous appearances with visiting American artists such as Red Rodney, Kenny Wheeler, Eddie Henderson, Jean Toussaint, Valerie Ponomarev, Dale Barlow, Bobby Shew and Conrad Herwig at London’s Bass Clef club and Ronnie Scott’s.

His quintet Red Circle, featuring Julian Siegel, Chris Batchelor, Steve Watts and Gene Calderazzo, recently appeared at Ronnie Scott’s. The CD Red Circle has received widespread critical acclaim.

Julian Siegel

One of the most in-demand woodwind players in the UK and Europe, Julian Siegel is a multi award-winning instrumentalist, composer and bandleader. In 2007 he received the BBC Jazz Award for Best Instrumentalist.

The Julian Siegel Quartet’s first CD, Urban Theme Park, was awarded the 2011 London Jazz Award. The group has performed internationally at major jazz festivals including Inntöne Jazz Festival (Austria), Made in the UK at the Rochester International Jazz Festival (NY), Jazz Standard NYC, JazzFestival Göttingen (Germany), Limerick Jazz Festival (Ireland), the UK’s Love Supreme Festival, Bristol and Manchester International Jazz Festivals, as well as an extensive 2018–2019 Arts Council England UK tour.

The Quartet was featured on the cover of Jazzwise magazine (UK) in February 2018, and VISTA was included in Jazzwise’s Top 20 Jazz Albums of the Year.

Michelle Nicolle

Michelle Nicolle has forged a reputation nationally and internationally as a formidable and creative jazz vocalist-musician. She has an extraordinary ability to get to the heart of a song, while remaining a masterful improviser with the technique to match any instrumentalist.

She has released 12 albums and performed with Kurt Elling and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. She was also the featured soloist in Wynton Marsalis’ All Rise with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and both the Melbourne and Sydney Symphony Orchestras.

“This is vocal intimacy nonpareil. Nicolle is intense and powerful… she has a gymnast’s flair in her melodic approach and embellishment.”
Bebop Spoken Here (UK), April 2025

“Michelle Nicolle’s approach is original, her interpretation singular, resembling no other.”
Paris Move, February 2025

“Michelle is a singer born to sing, born to charm, enlighten and seduce through music.”
Kurt Elling, 2012

Check our Simon Purcell

Check out Julian Siegel

Check out Michelle Nicolle