Jay Rayner

The renowned restaurant critic, writer, MasterChef judge and presenter of BBC Radio 4’s The Kitchen Cabinet has another string to his bow – he’s also a talented jazz pianist.

With an ensemble of top flight musicians he performs tunes from the Great American (food and drink) Songbook including Cantaloupe Island, Black Coffee, One For My Baby, and Save The Bones. There are standards from the likes of Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen, Blossom Dearie and Dave Frishberg seasoned with anecdotes aplenty, bawdy, irreverent and raucously entertaining. He also reveals what it was to grow up with his agony aunt mother Claire Rayner and plays tunes that draw on an unlikely but fertile source of inspiration; the problem page letter.