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Trinity Laban alumni perform at world-class London Jazz Festival

Tue 13 November 2018

The talent, diversity and creativity of Trinity Laban’s Jazz Department is showcased at this year’s EFG London Jazz Festival, as alumni from the past three decades perform across the city’s venues from 16 – 25 November.

Now in its 26th year celebrating both emerging and established jazz talent, London Jazz Festival is London’s largest city-wide music festival and a major event in the international jazz calendar.

Trumpeter Jay Phelps hosts a ‘late night hang for friends from all over the globe’ at PizzaExpress Jazz Club on Friday 16 and Saturday 17 November. With a 20-year career behind him, Phelps has played and recorded with top names in music, from Wynton Marsalis to Amy Winehouse.

One of London’s ‘most essential’ jazz bands, Empirical, perform at the Purcell Room, Southbank Centre, on Friday 16 November.

Singer Emilia Martensson launches a new project at Vortex on Sunday 18 November which focuses on collaborations between Swedish and British artists.

Alumni composer and pianist Elliot Galvin and drummer Corrie Dick perform with bassist Tom McCredie as the Elliot Galvin Trio on Monday 19 November at the Elgar Room, Royal Albert Hall, having released their latest album Punch on Edition Records this year to international acclaim.

Alumnus and Trinity Laban saxophone teacher Martin Speake performs with four-piece Martin Speake’s Charukesi at Cadogan Hall on Monday 19 November, in a new project reflecting his interest in rhythmic music from around the world including Arabic, Indian and Turkish influences.

Cassie Kinoshi’s SEED Ensemble – a ten-piece line-up packed with London’s fresh new talent – appear at Vortex on Tuesday 20 November, combining jazz with inner-city London, West African and Caribbean influenced groove.

Following her appearance at Trinity Laban’s Black History Month finale event in October is vocalist Cherise Adams-Burnett, fusing her passion for soul and neo-soul with her appreciation of great jazz singers at the Elgar Room, Royal Albert Hall on Wednesday 21 November.

Drummer and Percussionist Lorraine Baker launches her debut album, Eden, at PizzaExpress Jazz Club on Wednesday 21 November, part of a UK tour for the recording on independent label Spark!.

The Leo Richardson Quartet with their honest, straight-ahead, contemporary hard-bop style are at Spice of Life on Wednesday 21 November, having built a reputation as a ‘Late Late Show’ favourite at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in recent months.

Led by alumnus Jake Long, six-piece spiritual jazz group Maisha celebrate the launch of their debut album There Is A Place with a show at Ghost Notes, Peckham, on Thursday 22 November.

Saxophonist Camilla George, who also appeared recently at Trinity Laban’s Black History Month finale, presents material from her second album The People Could Fly at the Purcell Room on Friday 23 November.

Co headlining at EartH, Hackney Arts Centre on Saturday 24 November is saxophonist Nubya Garcia, who has been acclaimed as a ‘seminal artist’, ‘leading force’ and one of ‘the most important musicians of their generation’ emerging from the thriving London jazz scene in recent years.

Expect a genre-smashing collaboration between London jazz artists and LSO musicians at LSO St Luke’s on Saturday 24 November, with improvised pieces, beats, orchestral textures and DJs, curated by Emma-Jean Thackery.

Also performing on Saturday 24 November is saxophonist Duncan Eagles, who has been described by Jazzwise as ‘fast becoming one of the most exciting players emerging on the UK jazz scene’. He presents his new group at Pizza Express Jazz Club, playing a set of exciting, melodic and spontaneous new music.

Visit efglondonjazzfestival.org.uk for the full EFG London Jazz Festival programme.

Find out more about the Jazz Department at Trinity Laban.

(Image: Cherise Adams-Burnett performs at Trinity Laban’s Black History Month finale, October 2018. Photo by JK Photography)