EFG London Jazz Festival 2016 takes off for 10-day jazz marathon
Friday, November 11, 2016
The 2016 EFG London Jazz Festival kicks off tonight and runs 11 to 20 November with no fewer than 2,070 artists performing 317 gigs in 52 venues across the capital with a gargantuan international line-up.
The festival’s 24th edition is bursting with jazz of every hue that will fill every corner of the capital’s top concert halls, clubs, freestages and pop-up spaces for the next 10 days and nights. With highlights almost too numerous to mention luminaries appearing include Wayne Shorter, Jan Garbarek, Dave Holland with Azia, Joshua Redman/Brad Mehldau Duo, Liberation Music Orchestra with Carla Bley, Norma Winstone, Tim Garland and the MAC Power Trio of David Murray, Terri Lyne Carrington and Geri Allen.
And following last year’s successful launch BBC Music Jazz, the EFG London Jazz Festival’s pop-up radio station, returns and sees BBC Music, BBC Radio and Jazz FM working together to bring five fun-fuelled days of broadcasting between 10-14 November. The 2017 edition will radiate for a marathon 96 hours of continuous content, boasting a star-studded roster of presenters including Stewart Lee, Gregory Porter, Jools Holland, Laura Mvula, Cerys Matthews, Soweto Kinch, Julian Joseph and Claire Martin. BBC Music Jazz will be airing live concert performances from the festival in partnership with BBC Radio 3 and provide unprecedented access to Jazz FM’s flagship programmes and rare archive recordings. The station will also host a countdown of the Top 50 Jazz albums of all time. BBC Music Jazz will be available on DAB digital radio, online at bbc.co.uk/music jazz and the iPlayer Radio app.
Concert Hall highlights are: Friday 11 November: Jazz Voice (Royal Festival Hall, 7.30pm); Art Spiegelman and Phillip Johnston – Wordless! (Barbican, 7.30pm); Mike Walker, Iain Dixon, Guildhall Jazz Band and Choir (Milton Court, Barbican, 8pm).
Saturday 12 November: Tord Gustavsen with Simin Tander and Jarle Vespestad (Milton Court, Barbican, 3pm and 7.30pm); St Germain (Royal Festival Hall, 7.30pm); Lizz Wright plus Jasmine Power (Cadogan Hall, 7.30pm); Joshua Redman/Brad Mehldau duo (Barbican, 8pm).
Sunday 13 November: Jan Garbarek Group featuring Trilok Gurtu (Royal Festival Hall, 7.30pm); Elza Soares (Barbican, 7.30pm); Re-imagining Sondheim (Milton Court, Barbican, 7.30pm); Bad Plus (Scala, 8pm).
Monday 14 November: SFJAZZ Collective play Michael Jackson (Cadogan Hall, 7.30pm); Robert Glasper Experiment (KOKO, 8pm).
Tuesday 15 November: AZIZA featuring Dave Holland, Chris Potter, Lionel Loueke and Eric Harland plus Elliot Galvin (Cadogan Hall, 7.30pm); YolanDa Brown with Shingai Shoniwa (Barbican, 8pm); Robert Glasper Experiment (KOKO, 8pm SOLD OUT).
Wednesday 16 November: Miguel Atwood Ferguson – Suite for Ma Dukes plus Carlos Nino (Barbican, 7.30pm); Norma Winstone: 75th birthday celebration (Cadogan Hall, 7.30pm); Tim Garland celebrates Stan Getz and Chick Corea (Wigmore Hall, 7.30pm).
Thursday 17 November: The Cookers plus Chico Freeman (Cadogan Hall, 7.30pm); Joe Stilgoe – A Celebration of Gene Kelly (LSO St Luke’s, 8pm).
Friday 18 November: Jason Moran’s Band Wagon (Milton Court, Barbican, 7.30pm); Marius Neset & London Sinfonietta (LSO St Luke’s, 8pm); William Bell (Barbican, 7.30pm); 1956: A Jazz Jubilee (Cadogan Hall, 7.30pm); Bugge Wesseltoft Residency – Beady Belle plus Isabel Sörling’s Farvel (Kings Place, Hall 1, 7.30pm).
Saturday 19 November: Bugge Wesseltoft Residency – Bugge Wesseltoft solo (Kings Place, Hall 1, 2pm); BBC Concert Orchestra with Laura Jurd and Daniel Herskedal (Royal Festival Hall, 4.30pm); Dhafer Youssef & Ambrose Akinmusire (Barbican, 7.30pm); David Murray, Terri Lyne Carrington, Geri Allen – MCA Power Trio plus Nérija (Cadogan Hall, 7.30pm); Bugge Wesseltoft Residency – New Conceptions of Jazz plus Håkon Kornstad (Kings Place, Hall 1, 7.30pm).
Sunday 20 November: Madeleine Peyroux (Royal Festival Hall, 7.30pm); Wayne Shorter Quartet (Barbican, 7.30pm).
Highlights of the club programme are: Friday 11 November: Joey Alexander (Pizza Express Jazz Club, 7.30pm); Emile Parisien and Vincent Peirani plus Nikki Yeoh (Kings Place/Hall 1, 8pm); Stephanie Trick & Paolo Alderighi (St James Theatre, 8pm); Remembering Gil Evans with Andy Sheppard (Rich Mix, 8pm); Julian Sartorius (Kings Place/Hall 2, 8pm); Takuya Kuroda & Makaya McCraven (Jazz Cafe, 8pm); Kurt Elling (Ronnie Scott’s, 8.15pm); Clark Tracey Quintet (Vortex, 8.30pm) and Imaani & Kevin Leo (606 Club, 9.30pm).
Saturday 12 November: Jacqui Dankworth: Shakespeare and All That Jazz (artsdepot, 7.30pm); John Pizzarelli (Pizza Express Jazz Club, 7.30pm); Jacob Collier (Brooklyn Bowl, 8pm); Kandace Springs (Rich Mix, 8pm); Michael Wollny Trio plus Andrew McCormack (Kings Place/Hall 1, 8pm); Plaistow plus Vyamanikal (Kings Place/Hall 2, 8pm); Julie Sassoon plus Hannes Riepler/Jasper Blom (Vortex, 8pm); Darius Brubeck Quartet (St James Theatre, 8pm); Martha High (plus 13 Nov, Hideaway, 9pm); Saxophone Summit with Peter King, Jean Toussaint, Josh Arcoleo and Tom Harrison (606 Club, 9.30pm); and Partisans (Pizza Express Jazz Club, 11.45pm).
Sunday 13 November: Patchwork Jazz Orchestra (606 Club, 1.30pm); Partikel (Pizza Express Jazz Club, 1.30pm); Diz Watson and The Doormen (Hideaway, 2pm); London Jazz Orchestra (Vortex, 3.30pm); Eyes of a Blue Dog plus Overground Collective (Vortex, 7.30pm); James Blood Ulmer – Are You Glad To Be In America? plus Black Top (Rich Mix, 8pm); Dean Brown Band (Ronnie Scott’s, 8pm); Ben Somers’ Brass Hysteria (Spice of Life, 8pm); Tribute to Mark Murphy (606 Club, 8.30pm) and Zhenya Strigalev’s Never (Zigfrid Von Underbelly, 8.30pm).
Monday 14 November: The Stuart Hall Project: Live – Peter Edwards and the NCO Ensemble play Miles Davis (Rich Mix, 8pm); QCBA with Dennis Rollins (Hideaway, 8pm); Matt Roberts BigISH Band Plays Duke Ellington (plus 15 Nov, Spice of Life, 8pm); Marcus Roberts Trio (Ronnie Scott’s, 8.15pm); Bureau of Atomic Tourism, Liam Noble/Mark Lewandowski/Paul Clarvis (Vortex, 8.30pm); John Etheridge and Vimala Rowe (606 Club, 8.30pm) and Matt Wilson (Pizza Express Jazz Club, 8.30pm).
Tuesday 15 November: Donny McCaslin plus Skint (Rich Mix, 8pm); Robin Fincker’s Bedmakers, Dice Factory, Peedu Kass’s Momentum (Vortex, 8pm); Filomena Campus with Gavino Murgia (Pizza Express Jazz Club, 8.30pm); Marcus Roberts Trio (Ronnie Scott’s, 8.15pm); The Comet is Coming (XOYO, 8.30pm); Kate Williams and Gareth Lockrane (606 Club, 8.30pm) and Matthew Halsall & The Gondwana Orchestra (Islington Assembly Hall, 9pm).
Wednesday 16 November: Christian Scott (Scala, 8pm); José James plus Lunch Money (Jazz Cafe, 8pm); Miles Davis: From Bop to Blue (St James Theatre, 8pm); Marcus Strickland Twi-Life (plus 17 Nov, Ronnie Scott’s, 8.15pm); Medusa Beats & The Enemy (Vortex, 8.30pm); Harry Allen (606 Club, 8.30pm); Jasper Høiby’s Fellow Creatures (Pizza Express Jazz Club, 8.30pm) and Jeff Williams (Pizza Express Jazz Club, 11.45pm).
Thursday 17 November: Hackney Colliery Band (Village Underground, 7.30pm); Hitchcock’s The Lodger with Gwilym Simcock (St John’s Downshire Hill, 7.30pm); Joe Stilgoe – A Celebration of Gene Kelly (LSO St Luke’s, 8pm); Enrico Rava with Matthew Herbert and Giovanni Guidi plus Gavino Murgia (Kings Place/Hall 1, 8pm); Empirical (Kings Place/Hall 2, 8pm); Ashley Henry (Spice of Life, 8pm); Peter Bernstein (606 Club, 8.30pm); Resolution 88 (Hideaway, 8.30pm); Julian Lage (Pizza Express Jazz Club, 8.30pm); and Trance Map featuring Evan Parker (Vortex, 8.45pm).
Friday 18 November: Denys Baptiste & Tomorrow’s Warriors – Late Trane (Foyles/The Jazz Salon, 6pm); Mads Mathias (Pizza Express Jazz Club, 7.30pm and 10.30pm); Slowly Rolling Camera plus Oddarrang (Rich Mix, 8pm); Silje Nergaard (St James Theatre, 8pm); Charlie Hunter (plus 19 Nov, Ronnie Scott’s, 8.15pm); Rae Forrest & Monocled Man (Vortex, 8.30pm); Azymuth (plus 19 Nov, Hideaway, 9pm); and Samara with Tim Whitehead (606 Club, 9.30pm).
Saturday 19 November: Mike Westbrook Solo (Kings Place/Hall 2, 2.30pm); Tomorrow’s Warriors (Cockpit Theatre, 7.30pm); Yaron Herman and Ziv Ravitz (St John’s Downshire Hill, 7.30pm); Petra Haden and Jesse Harris (Rich Mix, 8pm); Omar Puente, Gary Crosby, Denys Baptiste & Friends (Forge, 8pm); Byron Wallen (606 Club, 9.30pm); Chiara Pancaldi with Cyrus Chestnut (Pizza Express Jazz Club, 10.30pm) In Bed With… (Vortex, 11.45pm) and JD Allen (Pizza Express Jazz Club, 11.45pm).
Sunday 20 November: Gareth Lockrane Big Band (Spice of Life, 1.30pm); Zoe Francis with Jim Mullen (606 Club, 1.30pm); Mopomoso (Vortex, 2pm); Thelonious with Hans Koller and Martin Speake (Vortex, 5.45pm); Camilla George plus Olie Brice/Achim Kaufmann (Vortex, 7.45pm); Bill Laurance Project (Shoreditch Town Hall, 8pm); Theo Croker (Rich Mix, 8pm); Oz Noy (Ronnie Scott’s, 8pm); Lew Tabackin (Pizza Express Jazz Club, 8pm); Julie Dexter (Hideaway, 8.30pm); and Liane Carroll (606 Club, 8.30pm).
For the complete listings and ticket details visit www.efglondonjazzfestival.org.uk