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Xhosa Cole wins Jazz FM Award 2020

Thu 29 October 2020

The current TL student has been named Breakthrough Act of the Year.

Launched in 2013, the Jazz FM Awards are an annual celebration of both emerging artists and established stars from across the genre’s increasingly vibrant and diverse community.

This year’s awards saw fourth-year Trinity Laban student Xhosa Cole named Breakthrough Act of the Year.

Since being crowned BBC Young Jazz Musician 2018, and Jazz Newcomer of the Year in the 2019 Parliamentary Jazz Awards, the Birmingham saxophonist has performed with groups such as the Jazzlines Ensemble and his own quartet: the CharCole Collective.

Several alumni at the forefront of the UK jazz scene were also shortlisted for this year’s Jazz FM Awards, with a total of six nominations:

  • Trombonist and composer Rosie Turton (Breakthrough Act of the Year)
  • Mercury-nominated drummer Moses Boyd (Innovation Award)
  • Trumpeter Mark Kavuma (Instrumentalist of the Year)
  • Keyboardist, composer and arranger Joe Armon Jones (PRS For Music UK Jazz Act of The Year)
  • Composer and saxophonist Cassie Kinoshi’s SEED Ensemble (PRS For Music UK Jazz Act of The Year and Album of the Year, for Driftglass)

Congratulations to all the winners and nominees. For the full list, visit the Jazz FM Awards website.

This year’s awards took place at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in a closed event on 27 October. The evening was livestreamed on both the Jazz FM and Ronnie Scott’s Facebook page alongside special dedicated programming on Jazz FM.

To find out more about studying Jazz at Trinity Laban, visit our Department pages.

Image credit: Ian Davies