Looking for jazz I can see live

May 28, 2021 12:58 PM

I got really into jazz during the lockdown, and I'd like to see some live jazz when things open up, but I've only ever listened to mid 20th century stuff and I don't know where to start with new jazz.

I like hard bop, avant garde and free jazz — some of my favourites are John Coltrane, Max Roach, Art Blakey, Ornette Coleman, Albert Ayler, Eric Dolphy and Sun Ra. Can you recommend some artists I might like who are likely to be performing in London in the next year or so?

posted by Chenko to Media & Arts (5 answers total)

Best answer: Are you familiar with Shabaka Hutchings (Call the Comet, Sons of Kemet, Shabaka and the Ancestors)? It looks like he's going to be touring again later in the summer, including London dates in 2021 and 2022.

Call the Comet previously.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 1:36 PM on May 28, 2021 [3 favorites]

Makaya McCraven will be playing London in November.

I don't know about Angel Bat Dawid and the Brothahood's touring schedule, but I'm a big fan.
posted by box at 1:58 PM on May 28, 2021

Best answer: I'm pretty sure the saxophonist Nubya Garcia is London-based and would likely a have some shows this year. She also plays with the groups mandolin conspiracy lists. I've been listening to her album Source a lot lately.
posted by mandymanwasregistered at 2:42 PM on May 28, 2021 [1 favorite]

If you use Spotify, search for “London jazz” and “UK jazz”. There are a handful of playlists by individuals (as opposed to whatever algorithms power Spotify’s own playlists) that update reasonably frequently. They should let you audition some local contemporary names.
posted by fabius at 6:16 AM on May 29, 2021

London Jazz News is a good source for what's happening in the jazz scene there.
posted by Nat "King" Cole Porter Wagoner at 11:00 AM on May 30, 2021