Age: 56
female
Born and raised in Primrose Hill, London Gracy moved to Holland aged 9 after her father's release from a 10-year prison sentence in Tanzania, where he was accused of speaking out against Idi Amin and Julius Nyerere for their crimes against humanity. Part-educated in Holland, she moved back to England to train professionally at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. She is an actress best known for her roles in Wednesday (2022), Breeders (2020), and Doctor Who (2005). In theatre, she is credited for her time with the Royal Shakespeare Company, and in the Caryl Churchill plays 'Three More Sleepless Nights' opposite Paul McGann. Gracy speaks fluent Dutch and used this for her roles in Klokkenluider (2022) directed by Neil Maskell and Sense8 (2015) directed by Lana Wachowski.
She was London's most talked-about jazz vocalist for three years without releasing a single. When her debut album finally dropped, nobody was prepared for what it actually was. London's contemporary jazz and neo-soul scene is the world of After Midnight — the specific universe of late-night venues, recording studios in Peckham, and the specific British cultural moment where jazz, grime, and electronic music are in extraordinary conversation. Zara Osei, 29, has been performing in London's jazz clubs since she was nineteen and has refused every record deal offered to her for a decade because none of them understood what she was making. When she finally signs with an independent label run by someone who does understand — producer and label founder Leo Park — the creative partnership that produces the album also produces something more personal. Two seasons track the album's creation, its release and reception, and the specific complexity of a creative and romantic partnership between two people who are simultaneously each other's best work. S1E1 — The Session Zara and Leo's first recording session. The first track. The moment they both understand what this album is going to be. S1E8 — The Release The album released at midnight. Zara in the black velvet mini listening to the first reviews come in. S2E10 — The After Series finale: The second album beginning. Zara and Leo's relationship finding its form. The black velvet mini, hung on a door in a new recording studio.
