Soul Sanctuary Gospel Choir at Jazz Cafe

Biography

Northumbrian-born, London-based musician Alison Beck is a jazz / gospel / session vocalist, songwriter, arranger, improviser and workshop leader.

Alison's first love is gospel choir singing. As a member of the London Community Gospel Choir, she recorded choir vocals for Madonna and Ellie Goulding, and sang live at the Brit Awards with Justin Timberlake. With Soul Sanctuary Gospel Choir, she has performed with Mica Paris and appeared on ITV's Royal Carols at Westminster Abbey.

With her jazz 'hat' on Alison has performed at countless leading venues including Ronnie Scott's, The Vortex, Union Chapel and The 606 Club and is known as an expressive, talented improviser. She has a Masters in Jazz Performance from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where she was awarded a rare Distinction for her final recital.

Her string of credits as an in-demand vocalist include gigs with genre-defying innovators The Heritage Orchestra, Kamasi Washington (at the BBC Proms), World Champion beatboxer Bellatrix and composer John Featherstone.

In 2025 Alison releases the single Perfect Love, marking her debut as a singer-songwriter.

Soul Sanctuary Gospel Choir

Alison has been a member of the choir since it was founded in 2005. The choir's mission is to share the joy, power and soulful groove of contemporary gospel music with people who wouldn’t usually get a chance to experience it. Find out more about Soul Sanctuary's upcoming gigs and church services here.

Gospel music has the power to soothe, heal and console, and it has been an honour to work with survivors of the Grenfell tragedy, inmates of Wandsworth Prison and a group of refugees with whom we worked on the BBC Radio 4 show Get Up and Flee.

The choir is also available to hire - for weddings, parties, studio sessions, and more. Visit the Soul Sanctuary Gospel Choir website to find out more.