Writtle Jazz

“Dior’s voice has the depth, control and clarity of Gregory Porter” Kind Of Jazz

“Since Australian vocalist Lily Dior arrived on the London scene she’s been going from strength to strength and amassing a reputation as an exciting live performer and versatile singer who works across genres including jazz, groove and soul” 606 Club

Recognised as one of Australia’s finest singers, Lily Dior has shared the stage with a remarkable list of outstanding musicians from Australia and around the world and has performed at many of Australia’s best venues including The Opera House Concert Hall, The State Theatre and the Sydney Town Hall. A finalist at The National Jazz Awards she is also an experienced radio personality and three time host of The Freedman Fellowship Jazz Awards held yearly at The Studio, Sydney Opera House.

The daughter of professional musicians who met and married in London, Lily spent her first five years touring the world with her parents who later settled in Australia. Returning to her roots Lily has very quickly established herself as an in demand performer appearing regularly at iconic jazz venues such as Ronnie Scott’s, The 606 Club, The Bull’s Head and Pizza Express. She is a regular guest at The Hideaway, having recently performed an Aretha Franklin show for three nights with Janette Mason and Mary Pearce, and was invited to perform at The Budapest Jazz Club last year.

Her current album ‘Let’s Talk About It’, originally released in Sydney, was successfully launched at Pizza Express last year with an all star band and has received rave reviews:

“Backed by an undeniably impressive resume, her album soothes the very essence of soul right into 21st-century Sydney. Rich in musicality and pure talent, ‘Let’s Talk About It’ offers hints of Carole King, Aretha Franklin and Billie Holiday, all siphoned into the huge funky voice of Lily Dior. “ (Alternative Media Group)

“There’s an attention to detail in the arrangements and a beauty in the vocals that make this an album I’ll certainly be coming back to again” (Kind Of Jazz)

“This is an impressive production – a tight core band, augmented variously with horns, strings and backing singers. Throughout, the spotlight is on Dior’s singing, sassy, soulful, passionate and strong.” (Rhythms)

Discovered by the late great Hungarian bassist Jackie Orszaczky as a teenager, performing a show she wrote and produced on the life of Billie Holiday, Lily became a seminal member of Sydney’s hottest Soul/Funk outfit, ‘The Godmothers’, wowing audiences with her electric stage presence and powerful voice.

Her debut album ‘Invitation’ released by the ABC, received universal praise and put Lily firmly on the Australian music map.“Invitation is a deep, moving piece of work that is almost ridiculously listenable and is destined to be required listening for any music lover possessing a cultured taste.” (Drum Media).

Lily has performed at major festivals across Australia and New Zealand including the Sydney Festival,  International Jazz Festival, Adelaide Cabaret Festival and the
Wangaratta Festival of Jazz where she placed second at The National Jazz Awards led by a panel of international
judges including Kurt Elling, Laurence Hobgood, and Sheila Jordan.

Awarded a grant in 2000, Lily traveled to New York to study with jazz legend Mark Murphy, and was invited to
perform at one of his rare appearances. That same year, she was singled out by legendary arranger/pianist Dave
Matthews to perform with The Manhattan Jazz Quintet, which included Bill Evans, Charnett Moffatt, Victor
Lewis, and Lew Soloff, at Sydney Casino’s Lyric Theatre.

A featured artist in ‘Testimony’, an audio-visual spectacular based on the life of Charlie Parker. with music by Sandy Evans and performed by the Australian Art Orchestra, the show received glowing reviews, “One of the most memorable festival shows in Sydney for a very long time” (Real Time Arts) “Lily Dior presided like a pagan priestess over the last rites” (Sydney Morning Herald)

Invited to sing with Brazilian guitarist Oscar Castro Neves and his all star band at ‘Noite Brasil’ for the Sydney
Festival, Lily performed to an audience of 100,000 people with some of the world’s greatest jazz and latin artists
including Airto Moriera, Alex Acuna, Abraham Laboriel, Don Grusin and Gary Meeks.

“Lily Dior has never sounded better than she did joining the magic for How Insensitive and, later in the night, Dindi, a charming duet with Castro Neves’s nylon string guitar.” (Sydney Morning Herald) Lily has built a solid reputation overseas with performances in New York, London, New Zealand, Japan, Singapore, Shanghai and Hong Kong and has shared the stage with a who’s who of world-class musicians including Paul Grabowsky; Mark Isaacs; Dale Barlow; Mike Nock; Guy Strazzulo; Alister Spence; Kate
Cebrano; D.I.G; The Mighty Reapers; The Bays (UK); and James Morrison. She’s been featured on TV and Radio programs including ABC’s ‘The Pulse’, the James O’Lochlan Show; ABC’s Arts program; as well as live performance broadcasts for the ABC and Eastside Radio.

An experienced radio personality, Lily became involved in radio as a teenager, and hosted a show on Sydney’s
premiere jazz station ‘Eastside Radio’ for over 10 years. Her program ‘Voices’ featured interviews with leading
Australian and International artists including Ron Carter, Kurt Elling, Marcos Valle, Cassandra Wilson, Theo
Bleckman, Ricky Peterson, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Norma Winstone, Katie Noonan, Lulo Reinhart, The Idea Of
North, Vika Bull, Fred Wesley, Gian Slater, Ingrid James, Kristen Cornwell, James Valentine and Vince Jones.