L’Antidote Trio play Kings Place on November 15
AUTUMN is a busy time for jazz in the capital. Dominating proceedings is the EFG London Jazz Festival which runs November 14-23. It’s full of tasty offerings as always, many of which are selling fast – I had to go on the wait list to get my ticket for Kurt Elling channelling Weather Report at Cadogan Hall on the November 15, so, although we will be covering it in more depth next time, do check out the bigger names on https://efglondonjazzfestival.org.uk/ sooner rather than later.
One takeaway from the festival listing this year is just how global jazz has become and how much cross-cultural fusion between countries is taking place across the spectrum. In fact, we are already in the midst of a series of concerts promoted by Artstage which highlights the music of the Middle East and its relationship with jazz.
On Friday October 17 an underground Iranian group called Bomrani Ensemble takes over Rich Mix in Shoreditch to showcase its blend of rock, folk and jazz. On the October 25 pianist Arshid Azarine brings his trio to the Elgar Room at the Albert Hall, fusing contemporary jazz with his Persian roots. He crops up closer to (our) home on November 15 as part of the L’Antidote Trio at Kings Place, which features Adib Rostami on kamancheh, a bowed instrument that is a distant ancestor of the fiddle/violin family and popular in the music of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, here used in “cinematic” jazz fusion. For full details of these concerts and others, go to https://artstage.com/
There is a Persian presence in the EFG London Jazz Festival too with Iranian-Armenian bassist Arin Keshishi bringing his quintet to Rich Mix on Nov 22, supported by guitar-drums from the Kourosh Kanani duo playing music rooted the drummer’s Iranian-Azeri heritage. See: https://efglondonjazzfestival.org.uk/events/persian-jazz-night-arin-keshishi-quintet
Arin Keshini Quinetet play Rix Mix on November 22
Still dallying in the Middle East, I have been enjoying Afro-Baroque, an album by pianist Yakir Arbib, who brings baroque and Middle Eastern harmonies to the table and Cameroonian drummer and vocalist Conti Bilong, who adds African singing and rhythms to the mix (he has played with Manu Dibango).
It probably shouldn’t work, but it does, mainly because you can sense the excitement of the musicians finding common ground on both the high energy and the more sombre, meditative tunes. It’s an uplifting piece of unity in a divided world. I missed the recent album launch, but I’d look out for a return to London by the pair and buy the album on https://elsdenmusic.bandcamp.com
I have only caught Butcher Brown as part of Kurt Elling’s killer Superblue band, with Charlie Hunter on guitar, but I know from their records (latest: Letters from The Atlantic) that they are a pretty awesome bunch of musicians who offer a different kind of fusion, stretching jazz into hip-hop, funk and Afro-beat with an enviable fluidity.
They play Shoreditch’s Village Underground on October 17. Bring your dancing shoes. Also at the same venue on October 24 is Reuben James, a soulful, multi-talented groove master who always delivers live.
He’ll be featuring tracks from his fine and funky album Big People Music which came out earlier this year. You’ll need those syncopating shoes here, too. Tickets for both gigs: https://villageunderground.co.uk
Guitarist Nigel Price is currently on a tour with his organ trio to promote their new album It’s On, which is highly recommended for anyone who embraces music that nods towards Wes Montgomery, Kenny Burrell, Larry Young, Grant Green, Jack McDuff and George Benson, but which comes with plenty of modern twists and turns. However, when he stops at the Bull & Gate in Kentish Town on October 20, Nigel will be with fellow guitarist Libor Šmoldas for a duo of standards plus. No organ, perhaps, but sparks will still fly – I have never seen Nigel give less than everything at a gig.
You can read about why he should be awarded National Jazz Treasure status here: https://robtryan.com/2025/09/23/organ-donor/
And get tickets for the gig here: https://jazzattheparakeet.com (about time they changed that). Don’t miss fleet-fingered pianist Joe Webb in a quartet featuring saxman Alec Harper in the same upstairs room at the Bull & Gate on the 27th. We are even promised an Oasis cover. Blimey.
There appears to be a surge of interest in the works of Duke Ellington, who took jazz from the Cotton Club to the concert hall and, eventually, cathedrals and churches. He loved everything about London and the UK – his debut was on the bill at the London Palladium in 1932 and he topped it a year later. Extracts from these concerts will be recreated at the Cadogan Hall on October 22 by the 13-piece Midnite Follies Orchestra. Expect tunes such as Ring Dem Bells, Bugle Call Rag, Black and Tan Fantasy, Mood Indigo, Stormy Weather and It Don’t Mean A Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing (the latter pair sung by the splendid Vimala Rowe).
The marvellous veteran trumpeter Enrico Tomasso (and friend of Satchmo) will take the part of Louis Armstrong, who also first played the capital in 1932, at the Holborn Empire. Reflecting the variety-type nature of the original performances, there will be dancers and a turn by “George Formby”. For more details see: https://cadoganhall.com/whats-on/
The Duke’s last recorded performance was also in the UK – in 1973, at the Congress Theatre, Eastbourne. The master was ailing at the time – he had cancer – and many of the original stars of the band had faded away, so the concert was considered somewhat lacklustre.
However, this was classic Ellington material with many overlooked highlights and bassist Arnie Somogyi and pianist Mark Edwards have revisited that night, digging out the nuggets that were there all along, to create a hugely entertaining album called The Ellington Piano Project: Eastbourne 1973 Reimagined.
Amazingly, Edwards even used the same piano that Duke played that night. It doesn’t feature a full orchestra, but a septet of supremely intuitive players, and they capture the majesty and melody in pieces like Black and Tan Fantasy and Creole Love Call. The group recently debuted the album at Chelsea’s 606 Club , but the ensemble will doubtless swing by for other London dates soon. See more on: https://rubiconclassics.com
There is another Ellington project doing the rounds, the Pocket Ellington, created by pianist and composer Alex Webb and featuring sax giants Tony Kofi and Alan Barnes and the velvet-voiced singer Marvin Muoneké. It lands next at Ronnie Scott’s for a lunchtime gig on Sunday October 26 – it’s deservedly sold out, but it is always worth checking for returns.
Also have a look at https://copaseticfoundation.org/upcoming-events/ for future gigs by Alex’s other outfits, including It Takes Two, with Marvin Muoneké and Lulu Pierre which is at The Crypt, St Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square on November 5. Backed by Alex Webb’s trio, and featuring songs by Sarah Vaughan & Billy Eckstine, Ella & Louis, Ray Charles & Betty Carter and more, expect a different kind of fireworks than the usual Guy Fawkes stuff. Tickets: www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org/calendar/it-takes-two-lulu-pierre-and-marvin-muoneke/
There also “The Young Man with the Old Soul” – a showcase for Muoneké with the trio at Hampstead Jazz Club on November 15 as part of the EFG London Jazz festival (https://hampsteadjazzclub.com).
Composer Ambre Ciel is part of Gondwana Records Presents at the Southbank [Lawrence Fafard]
I always try and seek out anything associated with Matthew Halsall, the lyrical, Manchester-based trumpeter who set up Gondwana Records, home to Mammal Hands, Jasmine Myra and Chick Wickham and which launched Go-Go Penguin into the world.
On October 18 the Southbank Centre hosts “Gondwana Records Presents”, which features the more esoteric side of the label, with Vega Trails, composer Ambre Ciel and Portico’s Jack Wyllie presenting an evening of string-laden chamber jazz, contemporary classical minimalism and – in Wyle’s “Paradise Cinema” piece – ambient jazz with Senegalese influences.
Matthew himself isn’t scheduled to play, but the evening is shot through with his questing spirit. Tickets: https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/gondwana-records-presents/
Also on my radar are two top acts I missed at Love Supreme. Firstly, corto.alto (aka Scottish trombonist/bassist/etc Liam Shortall) brings his funky and immersive melange of jazz, broken beat, dub and electronica to Camden’s Koko (https://www.koko.co.uk/events/corto-alto) on October 23. He has Fergus McCreadie on keys, a piano star in his own right (https://www.fergusmccreadie.co.uk).
Then innovative drummer and producer Kassa Overall showcases his jazz-inflected re-imaginings of hip-hop classics from the likes of OutKast, Wu-Tang Clan and A Tribe Called Quest at The Lower Third at Tottenham Court Road on November 3 (https://thelowerthird.co.uk/whats-on/).
It really is a fusion that works, given that much of hip-hop sampled jazz greats in the first place – check out Kassa’s album CREAM for a taster (https://kassaoverall.bandcamp.com/album/cream).
