MAY day will shortly be here for jazz enthusiasts.

North Wales Jazz will be giving a warm welcome to the Tina May Quartet later this month.

The quartet will be delivering its celebrating Ella and Oscar show at Theatr Clwyd, in Mold, on Tuesday, March 19 (8pm).

Tina May, whose astonishing vocal ability and hypnotic stage presence have won her worldwide acclaim, and pianist Nikki Iles will be performing their renditions of hand-picked songs from Ella Fitzgerald's varied repertoire, focussing on the classic meeting between Ella and piano giant Oscar Peterson.

With jazz roots in Paris where she lived as a student, Gloucester-born Tina May soon found herself performing frequently across the city with local musicians, including the legendary jazz drummer Kenny Clarke, as well as singing and acting alongside UK satirist Rory Bremner in the comedy review show “You Are Eiffel But I Like You (!)”.

Throughout the 1990s, now living in London, she recorded 33 albums, many with her regular quartet which, at the time, included David Newton, Dave Green and Clark Tracey, and in 1993 she made her debut performance at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club.

A winner of numerous awards, including the vocal category at the 1998 BT Jazz Awards, Tina has also received an award in the United States for outstanding services to jazz education.

During the summer of 2002 she presented a series of 12 programmes from the Brecon Jazz Festival for BBC Wales TV and in 2003 she recorded her album I'll Take Romance, with Nikki Iles on piano which, with their version of Come Fly With Me, went on to provide the theme tune to ITV's long-running show Airline.

Some notable collaborations include performing in the UK with both Cleo Laine and John Dankworth, and recording with US piano great Ray Bryant at the renowned Rudy Van Gelder Studio in New Jersey.

On double bass, Dave Green is one the most respected accompanists both in this country and internationally, touring extensively with Scott Hamilton, the Charlie Watts Quintet and with his own bands, while the equally illustrious Steve Brown (drums) has won a British Jazz Award no less than six times!

This North Wales Jazz presentation commences at 8pm and admission is £12, and £5 for under 18s.

Tickets can be purchased at Theatr Clwyd on 01352 701521 or at theatrclwyd.com