Living Standards

Elegant, affable classic voice / guitar jazz duo

Guitarist Martin Vishnick and I started Living Standards with a mutual wish to play the great American songbook in a stripped down, simple way that honoured the tunes and their stories while still finding fresh pathways to explore.

There are inspiring examples of the voice/guitar duo in Jazz – think Ella Fitzgerald and Joe Pass, Julie London and Bernie Kessel, Alison Burns and Martin Taylor – and this duo was balanced precariously on the shoulders of those giants.

The five-year project survived the pandemic, coming to a close at the end of 2023. Together we brought a shared history of embracing many musical styles in our writing, arranging and improvising which informed our playing with an open-eared and open-ended approach. We may have been a bit off the beaten path, but we’d like to think we were still in the same neck of the woods.

Live Videos

Fringe In The Round, Bristol, 4 July 2023 – filmed by Nigel Bryant

It was standing room only with a super appreciative and supportive crowd as always at FITR. The Ronan Perrett Quartet opened with a unique electro-acoustic sound-world. Martin and I then played ten tunes including two of my originals and one of his among a selection of classic standards that still manage pack a punch after a century in existence. Can’t say enough what a warm and creative atmosphere saxophonist Alex Merritt and trumpeter Nick Malcolm created with Fringe In The Round. Long may it continue.

Kay Grant and Martin Vishnick live at Fringe In The Round, Bristol
S'Wonderful
Kay Grant and Martin Vishnick live at Fringe In The Round, Bristol
Old Devil Moon
Kay Grant and Martin Vishnick live at Fringe In The Round, Bristol
Over The Line
Kay Grant and Martin Vishnick live at Fringe In The Round, Bristol
The Very Thought Of You
Kay Grant and Martin Vishnick live at Fringe In The Round, Bristol
I'm Just A Lucky So And So
A COUPLE recordings
Inspiration

Ella Fitzgerald and Joe Pass

Julie London and Barney Kessel

Alison Burns and Martin Taylor