British soul musician Jamie Woon to give first concert in Riga on 15 November

British soul musician Jamie Woon, of Malaysian and Scottish descent, will give his first concert in Latvia on 15 November at 8 p.m. at the Palladium Riga concert hall. Tickets are sold through the Biļešu serviss network for 39.08 euros. The show is part of a tour promoting his album 3, 10, Why, When, released last year.

Infrequent releases

Woon releases records rarely. His debut album Mirrorwriting came out in 2011 and the second, Making Time, in 2015. That album was nominated for the Mercury Prize and reached number 15 on the UK albums chart. A new album appeared only last year. In Riga he will also play songs from his first two albums and a new, not yet recorded piece.

He will perform alone with a guitar and electronic instruments rather than with a band. According to him, this lets him control what happens on stage, change the plan, and play some songs only in fragments, spontaneously mixing them with others.

Working with Burial

Early in his career Woon collaborated with London dubstep producer Burial, whose real name is William Emmanuel Bevan. He released the EP Wayfaring Stranger, which includes one Burial remix, and Burial co-produced three songs on the debut album. Their collaboration also produced Woon's biggest hit to date, Night Air. Woon says he contacted Burial via MySpace and learned a great deal from him about music production.

The road to the latest album

As a child Woon listened to indie music, later became interested in electronic music, and after the age of twenty discovered jazz and soul classics. His favourite singer is Stevie Wonder. His mother is Celtic folk singer May McKenna, and he studied at the BRIT School in London.

The latest album took about three years to make after he broke his contract with Polydor Records. Woon set up his own label and worked independently with producer Martin Terefe. The songs feature live instruments, but Woon says he cannot fully explain what the lyrics are about, calling it magic.