POP-Parks Session: Open Mic for PlayForProgress

Welcome to the return of Poplar Union’s Open Mic night! This special features Alice Mary Jelaska and HoverFly raising funds and awareness for Play For Progress’ support of young refugees.

About Play For Progress

Play for Progress (charity no. 1166328) delivers therapeutic and educational music and arts programmes, advocacy, and well-being support for traumatised and socially-isolated unaccompanied minor refugees
Play for Progress is all about using the power of music and arts to celebrate diversity and fuel community. We are a small charity that runs therapeutic music and art classes and practical crisis services to support asylum-seeking young people from all over the globe aged 15-21 who now live in Croydon. We also curate and host collaborative exhibitions and performances to encourage positive community bonding and are united in our conviction that the arts and playful engagement are the undeniable keys to community cohesion, resilience, compassion and growth.

All donations will be gratefully received via their JustGiving profile which you can access here and the direct donation link here.

About Alice Mary Jelaska

Alice is a British-Croatian musician living in London. An otherworldly singer, clarinettist & composer with an ethereal voice, her songwriting draws on nostalgic influences from vintage jazz & folk – including Molly Drake, George Harrison & the Ink Spots.

Her vocals have been described as ‘water-like’, cascading serenely over eerie melodies, off-the-wall harmonies and hypnotic rhythms.

Flitting between playful tales and wistful lyrics, Alice spins songs and stories of love, land and loss – with hints of the Adriatic Sea and mystical English woodlands…

Outside of her originals project Alice has led gypsy swing band Kings Cross Hot Club for several years and has collaborated with artists across the jazz, folk and world music circuits – including Djanan Turan, Alice Phelps, Faith i Branko, Biram Seck, Mulele Matondo, Mosi Konde & for tango, klezmer, Scottish folk, Serbian dance music – playing at venues & festivals including Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, V&A, Alexandra Palace, Koko, Secret Garden Party, Wilderness.

Bandcamp | Website | Facebook | Instagram: @alicemaryjelaska

About HoverFly

Hover Fly is a highly talented composer, singer and multi-instrumentalist. Her captivating presence, intricately woven jazz-folk neo-soul compositions and fluency on the bass, cello, ukulele and vocals leaves audiences hungry for more.

“From a quirky intro into a sublime collection of vocal harmonies and chord progressions – lovely stuff” – Tony Minvielle, Jazz FM

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Spotify