EFG London Jazz Festival kicks-off: 10-days of Jazz across the Capital

Highlights include tonight’s opening concert Jazz Voice at the Barbican has now become the well-established gala event opener and this year will feature a stellar line-up of singers, including Dee Dee Bridgewater, Kurt Elling, Emma Smith, Georgie Fame, Jacob Banks and Vula Malinga, accompanied by a 40-piece orchestra conducted and arranged by Guy Barker. Another unmissable night will be the all-star ‘Celebrating 75 Years of Blue Note’ concert at the Royal Festival Hall on Saturday 22 November that features highly-rated US trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire (pictured below), pianists Robert Glasper and Jason Moran, while Different Every Time – an evening with Robert Wyatt on Sunday 23 November at Queen Elizabeth Hall will be a fascinating mix of chat and music.

The myriad club and free stage programme takes the festival across the length and breadth of the metropolis, totalling a whopping 350 events at 68 venues, ranging from Stanley Clarke, Roy Hargrove and the Steve Swallow/Carla Bley Quintet at Ronnie Scott’s and The Bad Plus at Village Underground to Led Bib at the Vortex, Peter Brötzmann at Café Oto, a Stan Tracey Tribute at the 606, the Headhunters’ bass meister Paul Jackson at The Hideaway, and Balkan influenced newcomers Paprika, who play the Horniman Museum in south east London’s Forest Hill.

This year the festival, now in its 22nd year and is sponsored by Jazzwise, also welcomes new venues to the festival for the first time, including Ace Hotel, Shoreditch; Handel House, W1; Italian Cultural Institute, SW1; JW3, NW3; Long White Cloud, E2; Temple Church, EC4; and Wanamaker Playhouse at Shakespeare’s Globe, SE1.

Concert hall, club and freestage highlights are:

Friday 14 November: Jazz Voice (Barbican 7.30pm); Branford Marsalis (Queen Elizabeth Hall, 7.30pm and 10pm); Angélique Kidjo (Royal Festival Hall, 7.30pm); John Surman and Trans4mation Strings (Kings Place: Hall 1, 7.30pm); The Jazz Repertory Company presents Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller at Carnegie Hall 1939 (Cadogan Hall, 7.30pm); John Butcher and Mark Sanders: Tarab Cuts (Purcell Room, 7.45pm); Alexander Hawkins and Marcin Masecki (Purcell Room, 10pm). Euan Burton (Royal Albert Hall/Verdi Café, 12pm, Free); Peter Edwards (Queen Elizabeth Hall Front Room, 5.30 & 9pm, Free); Stanley Clarke (Ronnie Scott’s, 6.30pm); Wildbirds & Peacedrums (Village Underground, 8pm); Renato D’Aiello and Andy Davies (Spice of Life, 8pm); Tom Millar (Green Note, 8.30pm); Peter Brötzmann, Jason Adasiewicz and Steve Noble (Café OTO, 8.45pm); Anita Wardell (Charlie Wright’s, 9pm); Paul Jackson Trio (Hideaway, 9pm); Way Out West (Polish Jazz Café POSK, 9pm); Imaani and Wayne Hernandez (606, 9.30pm); Jazz on 3 Launch (Ronnie Scott’s, 10.30pm, Free by invite).

Saturday 15 November: Dedication Orchestra (QEH, 2pm); Supersonics (Purcell Room, 2pm); Dr John – a tribute to Louis Armstrong featuring Carleen Anderson plus Brendan Reilly (Barbican, 7.30pm); Abdullah Ibrahim – Ekaya plus New Trio (RFH, 7.30pm); Dee Dee Bridgewater plus Laura MacDonald and David Berkman (QEH, 7.30pm); John Surman and the Bergen Big band (Kings Place: Hall 1, 7.30pm); The Hot Sardines (Purcell Room, 7.45pm and 10pm); Jef Neve plus Rusconi (Kings Place: Hall 2, 8pm). South Africa 20 years on and the legacy of the Blue Notes (QEH Front Room, 12.45 & 3.30pm, Free); Mezzotono (Pizza Express, 1pm); Trans-Europa One (Barbican Free Stage, 2pm, Free); Jazz Line-Up (RFH, Clore Ballroom, 2pm, Free); Way in to the Way Out: Arun Ghosh and Zoe Rahman (QEH Front Room, 4.30pm, Free, Part 2 Sun 16); F-IRE Collective (JW3, 8pm); Somi (Rich Mix, 8pm); Strobes + Shiver (Servant Jazz Quarters, 8pm); Matt Roberts Biggish Band (Spice of Life, 8pm); Sarah Jane Morris (Hippodrome, 8pm); Hyperactive Kid + Tricko Tareco + Starlight (Vortex, 8.30pm); Peter Brötzmann, Jason Adasiewicz, Steve Noble (Café OTO, 8.45pm); Da Lata + DJ Patrick Forge (Hideaway, 9pm); Saxophone Summit (606, 9.30pm).

Sunday 16 November: Marilyn Mazur (Purcell Room, 2pm); Bill Frisell – Guitar in the Space Age plus Sam Amidon (Barbican, 7.30pm); Vinicio Capossela plus Piers Faccini and Vincent Segal (RFH, 7.30pm); Henri Texier plus Tori Freestone Trio (Purcell Room, 7.45pm); Chassol (QEH, 8pm). Next Generation Takes Over (RFH Clore Ballroom, 11.30am, Free); London Vocal Project (606, 1.30pm); Jazz Record Requests (Barbican Free Stage, 2pm, Free); Haze Indigo with Jessica Hynes (Handel House, 2pm); London Jazz Orchestra (Vortex, 4pm); Omar Puente (artsdepot, 4pm); Kevin MacKenzie and Steve Hamilton (Barbican Free Stage, 4pm, Free); Nathaniel Facey (Barbican Free Stage, 5.30pm, Free); Barb Jungr (St James Theatre, 7pm); Gareth Lockrane’s Grooveyard Unplugged (Forge, 7pm); Sam Leak Big Band (Spice of Life, 8pm); Simon Purcell (Pizza Express, 8pm); Mopomoso (Vortex, 8.30pm); China Moses (606, 8.30pm); Budapest Café Orchestra (Hideaway, 8.30pm); Jeff Williams (Green Note, 8.30pm); Chloe Charles (RAH /Elgar Room, 9.45pm).

Monday 17 November: Randy Weston and Billy Harper plus JD Allen (QEH, 7.30pm); Marilyn Mazur – Spirit Cave (Purcell Room, 7.45pm). EFG LJF Sessions (Ray’s Jazz at Foyles, Soho, 6pm, Free, Nightly to Fri 21); Trinity Laban Contemporary Jazz Ensemble (QEH Front Room, 6pm, Free); Steve Swallow/Carla Bley Quintet (Ronnie Scott’s, 7.15pm); Chris Dowding and Sarah Woolfenden (Vortex, 7.15pm); Flamenco Jazz: Chano Dominguez and Niño Josele (Shakespeare’s Globe/Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, 7.30pm); Pete Wareham & Kit Downes (606, 8pm); Noemi Nuti (Forge, 8pm); Tom Green & Tom White (Spice of Life, 8pm); The Bad Plus (Village Underground, 8pm); Moonlight Saving Time (Pizza Express, 8.30pm); Tolis Zavaliaris (Charlie Wright’s, 9pm); Giovanni Di Domenico and Tatsuhisa Yamamoto (Cafe OTO, 8.45pm); Cyrille Aimée (RAH / Elgar Room, 9.45pm).

Tuesday 18 November: Snarky Puppy (The Roundhouse); Mike Fletcher Trio (Milton Court Concert Hall, Barbican, 7.30pm); Trish Clowes and Guy Barker with the BBC Concert Orchestra (QEH, 7.30pm); Richard Pite presents The Newport Jazz Festival: The 1950s (Cadogan Hall, 7.30pm); Arifa (Purcell Room, 7.45pm). Andre Canniere (Pizza Express, 1pm, Free); Patchwork Project (QEH Front Room, 6pm, Free); Mike Fletcher (Guildhall School / Milton Court, 7.30pm); Sue Richardson (Crazy Coqs, 8pm, Nightly to Sat 22); Tori Freestone & Metamorphic (Servant Jazz Quarters, 8.30pm); Pascuala Ilabaca and Fauna (Rich Mix, 8pm); The Weave (Spice of Life, 8pm); Emilia Mårtensson (606, 8.30pm); Rick Simpson’s Klammer & Alex Munk (Green Note, 8.30pm); Lafayette Gilchrist, Paul Dunmall and Mark Sanders (Vortex, 8.30pm); Ripsaw Catfish (Long White Cloud, 8.30pm); Buck Clayton Legacy Band (Pizza Express, 8.30pm); Happenstance (Arch1, 8.30pm); Pat Thomas and Tatsuhisa Yamamoto + Giovanni Di Domenico (Café OTO, 8.45pm).

Wednesday 19 November: Guildhall Jazz Band (Milton Court Concert Hall, 7.30pm); Ibrahim Maalouf – Illusions (QEH, 7.30pm); Jane Monheit (Cadogan Hall, 7.30pm); NYJO plus BuJazzO Freedom and Friendship – A Century Of Jazz (Purcell Room, 7.45pm). Neal Richardson (Pizza Express, 1pm, Free); Harvey Mason (Ronnie Scott’s, 7.15pm); The Soapbox Series (Vortex, 7.15pm); Guildhall Jazz Band (Guildhall School / Milton Court, 7.30pm); Steve Lodder (Forge, 8pm); Vocal Jazz Summit (Spice of Life, 8pm); Small Ensembles (Bull’s Head, 8.30pm); Kris Bowers + Peter Edwards (XOYO, 8pm); Amina Figarova (606, 8.30pm); Emile Parisien & Alexander Hawkins (Vortex, 8.30pm); Jesse Bannister and Zoe Rahman (Pizza Express, 8.30pm); Black Top (Café OTO, 8.45pm, & Thu 20 ); Brendan Reilly (Ace Hotel Shoreditch, 9pm); Nicole Perez (Charlie Wright’s, 9pm); Alice Zawadzki (RAH / Elgar Room, 9.45pm).

Thursday 20 November: Tomasz Stańko New York Quartet plus Stefano Bollani and Hamilton de Holanda (Barbican, 7.30pm); John McLaughlin (RFH, 7.30pm); 100 years of British Song: Ian Shaw with special guests (QEH, 7.30pm); Movers and Shakers: The art of the British jazz group (Purcell Room, 7.45pm); Frazey Ford (Cadogan Hall, 7.30pm); Chucho Valdés (Kings Place: Hall 1, 7.30pm); Dan Tepfer – Goldberg Variations/ Variations (Wigmore Hall, 7.30pm). Plaistow (Pizza Express, 1pm, Free); L’Hijâz’Car (Barbican Free Stage, 6pm, Free); Nérija (QEH Front Room, 6pm, Free); Oren Marshall (Handel House, 6.30pm); Harvey Mason (Ronnie Scott’s, 7.15pm); Brendan Reilly (artsdepot, 7.45pm); Jay Phelps (Hippodrome, 8pm); Inner Spaces (Spice of Life, 8pm); Tim Garland (Club Inégales, 8pm); Soweto Kinch (606, 8.30pm); Quadraceratops & Entropi (Long White Cloud, 8.30pm); Tommaso Starace (Lauderdale House, 8.30pm); Evan Parker (Vortex, 8.30pm); Olivia Trummer (Pizza Express, 8.30pm); Emily Saunders (229 The Venue, 8.30pm); The Dixie Ticklers (The Golden Hinde, 8.30pm); In Sound Out (Servant Jazz Quarters, 8.30pm); Out Of The Loop (Charlie Wright’s, 9pm); Tony Allen (Village Underground, 9pm); Aaron Goldberg (Pizza Express, 11.45pm, Free); Finn Peters Curates (Vortex, 12.30am).

Friday 21 November: Henry Cow, Music For Films, News From Babel and Oh Moscow play the music of Lindsay Cooper (Barbican, 7.30pm); Marcus Miller plus Tony Remy (RFH, 7.30pm); Kenny Barron & Dave Holland plus Jeremy Monteiro (QEH, 7.30pm); Coleridge Goode: A Celebration (Purcell Room, 7.45pm); Leszek Możdżer (Cadogan Hall, 7.30pm); Chucho Valdés (Kings Place: Hall 1, 7:30pm). Girls In Airports (Pizza Express Jazz Club, 1pm, Free); Ezra Collective (QEH Front Room, 5.30pm, Free); Estafest (Barbican Free Stage, 6pm, Free); Laura Zakian (National Portrait Gallery, 6.30pm, Free); Natalie Williams (Pizza Express, 7.30 & 10.30pm); Sean Noonan + Tomasso Starace (The Crypt, 8pm); Zara McFarlane (Rich Mix, 8pm); Hedvig Mollestad (Club Inégales, 8pm); Chaos Orchestra (Spice of Life, 8pm); Partisans (Vortex, 8.30pm); Roy Hargrove (Ronnie Scott’s, 7.15 & 11.15pm); Norma Winstone + Emily Remembered (St. Mary’s Old Church, 8.30pm); Samara (606, 9.30pm); Finn Peters Curates (Vortex, 12.30am).

Saturday 22 November: Nikki Iles (pictured above – Purcell Room, 2pm); Lau plus Bugge Wesseltoft, Henrik Schwarz, Dan Berglund (Barbican, 7.30pm); Celebrating 75 Years of Blue Note: Jason Moran, Robert Glasper & guests (RFH, 7.30pm); John Stevens – A Celebration (QEH, 7.30pm); Regina Carter plus Yazz Ahmed (Purcell Room, 7.45pm); Charnett Moffett/Jean Toussaint (Kings Place: Hall 1, 3pm), Engines Orchestra and Phil Meadows Group (Hall 2, 3pm) John Escreet/James Mainwaring (Hall 2, 7.30pm) Chucho Valdés (Hall 1, 7.30pm); Johanna Graham (Pizza Express, 1pm); Search & Reflect: with Maggie Nicols (Southbank Centre / Blue Room, 10.30am); John Stevens Remembered (QEH Front Room, 2pm, Free); Clare Teal (Pizza Express, 7.30 & 10.30pm); Gwilym Simcock and John Etheridge (St John’s Downshire Hill, 7.30pm); Cactus Truck (Club Inégales, 8pm); Wild Card (Spice of Life, 8pm); Liane Carroll (St James Theatre, 8pm); Led Bib (Vortex, 8.30pm); Michal Urbaniak (POSK, 8.30pm); Roy Hargrove (Ronnie Scott’s, 8.30 & 11.15pm); Smiling Organizm (Charlie Wright’s, 9pm); Juliet Roberts and Vula Malinga (Hideaway, 9pm); Tribute to Stan Tracey (606, 9.30pm).

Sunday 23 November: Robert Mitchell – Invocation (QEH, 2pm); Charles Lloyd Quartet plus Joe Lovano and Dave Douglas (Barbican, 7.30pm); Kassé Mady Diabaté (Purcell Room, 7.45pm); Different Every Time – an evening with Robert Wyatt (QEH, 7.30pm). Gareth Lockrane Big Band (Spice of Life, 1.30pm); Nick Costley-White (Forge, 2pm); Gabriel Garrick Big Band (Hideaway, 2pm); Jazz in the Round (RFH Foyer, 2pm, Free); Blow the Fuse presents… (QEH Front Room, 2pm, Free); Yazz Ahmed (Vortex, 3.30pm); Arun Ghosh Sonic Boom (Rich Mix, 7.30pm); Will Butterworth (Dysart, 7.30pm); EyeShuTight (Forge, 7.30pm); Kneebody (Ronnie Scott’s, 8pm); Clare Teal (Pizza Express, 8pm); Loop Collective (Vortex, 8.30pm); Lillian Boutté (606, 8.30pm); Deep Whole Trio + Colin Webster and Mark Holub (Cafe OTO, 8.45pm); Juliet Roberts and Vula Malinga (Hideaway, 9pm); Smiling Organizm – Upside Down (Charlie Wright’s, 9pm); Andrew Woolf (The Salisbury, 9pm).

For all ticket information go to www.efglondonjazzfestival.com