VIA PRESS RELEASE | The EFG London Jazz Festival will be going ahead as a huge range of shows and special events online, with live concerts now streamed from venues across London and remaining an integral part of the programme. There are a host of streams and online events in the Festival, many available free to view: new work, new collaborations, unique performances, bespoke productions from international artists, talks, family events and interactive sessions, bringing this exceptional 10-day event to audiences across the world.
The Festival’s signature Jazz Voice (Friday 13 November) opens both the programme and the EFG Elements Series. Streamed from Cadogan Hall, it features China Moses, David McAlmont, Zara McFarlane, Luca Manning, Cleveland Watkiss and Vanessa Haynes, musically directed by Guy Barker and hosted by Jumoké Fashola. The EFG Elements Series also includes performances from Judi Jackson (Saturday 21 November) and Kansas Smitty’s House Band (Sunday 22 November), alongside a special concert live-streamed from the Barbican by Cassie Kinoshi’s SEED Ensemble, with special guests Shabaka Hutchings, Ashley Henry, Richie Seivwright and Yahael Camara-Onono (Saturday 14 November).
The Barbican will also host a live-stream of Shabaka Hutchings with Britten Sinfonia (Wednesday 18 November), whilst Dinosaur (Sunday 15 November), Yazz Ahmed (Thursday 19 November) and Binker Golding (Saturday 21 November) will present online concerts from Kings Place.
A new partnership between the festival and Mixcloud will host a series of shows, including Emma Jean Thackray (Friday 13 November), Sarathy Korwar (Thursday 19 November) and Rosie Turton (Saturday 21 November), all filmed at Total Refreshment Centre. Mixcloud will also present the concerts from the Between the Lines Festival: a night curated by Leafcutter John (Tuesday 17 November), Erased Tapes featuring Anne Müller, Daniel Thorne and Hatis Noit (Monday 16 November) and The Spectacular Empire featuring Loraine James, GLOR1A and more (Wednesday 18 November). Tenderlonious Presents the Music of 22a (Sunday 22 November), a night featuring Ruby Rushton, Nick Walters, The Piccolo and a DJ set from Dennis Ayler, and PALATIUM, presented by GAIKA with Azekel & Miink (Friday 20 November) will also be hosted by Mixcloud.
A series of exclusive streams by international artists include Armenian piano maestro Tigran Hamasyan (Saturday 14 November), jazz bassist Linda May Han Oh (Monday 16 November), the bass player of Pat Metheny, a collaboration between French guitarist Paul Jarrett and inspirational drummer Jim Black (Monday 16 November), a concert filmed in Paris by Vincent Peirani & Emile Parisien (Tuesday 17 November), a performance by Cuban pianist, Harold López Nussa (Tuesday 17 November) and a concert by Norwegian guitarist-composer Hedvig Mollestad (Thursday 19 November). Istanbul Psychedelic (Saturday 21 October) features special names in Turkish alternative music, Moğollar, Baba Zula, Islandman and Ilhan Ersahin’s Istanbul Sessions, whilst Vilnius Jazz transmits the very best of Lithuanian talent (Sunday 15 November), New Switzerland (Saturday 14 November) brings together Julie Campiche, IKARUS and Trio Heinz Herbert and New Sweden (Saturday 21 November) includes Fartyg 6 and POST-SUN-VISION.
Writer and broadcaster, Kevin Le Gendre, will present livestream sessions ARTicle10: Conversations in the Era of Black Lives Matter (Tuesday 17, Wednesday 18, Thursday 19 November), where he is joined by six special guests for a series of conversations on race, racism and the need for change within the music industry. Guest speakers include Janine Irons (Tomorrows Warriors), Ammo Talwar (PUNCH), Carleen Anderson, Nicole Mitchell, Jason Moran and Orphy Robinson.
Gary Crosby, co-founder and artistic director of Tomorrow’s Warriors, makes a rare appearance in Church of Sound: Gary Crosby’s Groundation present the Charlie Parker Songbook and Originals (Friday 20 November), collaborating with alumni Nathaniel Facey, Shirley Tetteh and Moses Boyd. The Festival continues its close relationship with Chicago’s ground-breaking label International Anthem, presenting Ben Lamar Gay (Sunday 15 November) and a performance by collective Irreversible Entanglements (Sunday 22 November), featuring front woman Moor Mother.
Multi-instrumentalist and composer Orphy Robinson and composer/filmmaker/director Gabriel Finn collaborate to deliver Orphy Robinson’s Virtual Jazz Club Band (Saturday 21 November), and in a festival first, multi-instrumentalist and producer Shri Sriram will accompany mindful Jazz Yoga (Sunday 22 November). Singer Juliet Kelly will lead both ‘Songs From Life’ (Saturday 14 November) bringing reminiscence for African Caribbean elders, and Jazz Kids (Saturday 14 November), an interactive musical session for all the family.
Jazz history features at the Esquire Covers Club, in a specially-built digital exhibition hall that launches next week, with contrasting sleeves from the American and British releases of classic jazz albums.
Films include a screening of Billie, documenting the life of the iconic Billie Holiday at the Barbican’s Cinema on Demand Platform running throughout the festival, with a Q&A with the film’s director James Erskine and co-producer Shianne Brown, hosted by Zakia Sewell (Sunday 15 November). BBC Four Jazz 625 returns to celebrate the UK jazz boom with Sons of Kemet, Matthew Halsall, Sarathy Korwar, Moses Boyd Exodus, Ezra Collective, Nubya Garcia and Kokoroko (Friday 20 November) and hosts the final of the BBC Young Jazz Musician competition (Sunday 22 November).
BBC Radio 3 live broadcasts Jazz Voice, followed by jazz through the night, including J to Z Late live, featuring Kansas Smitty’s House Band, Camilla George and Jas Kayser and concerts by Chick Corea in 2012 and Wayne Shorter in 1995 from the Jazz Festival archive (Friday 13 – Saturday 14 November). BBC Radio 3 broadcasts will follow with another J to Z EFG London Jazz Festival Special featuring exclusive performances from Festival shows (Saturday 14 November), a concert by Abel Selaocoe and the BBC Concert Orchestra, conducted by Clark Rundell, from the Royal Festival Hall (Friday 20 November). Jazz FM presents a host of interviews and a special programme dedicated to the Festival, hosted by Jez Nelson, on Saturday 14 November at 9pm.
The Festival will also feature a breadth of shows streamed from London’s grassroots clubs and venues with artists such as Gwilym Simcock, Trish Clowes, Nathaniel Facey, Anoushka Lucas, and Sam Leak, performing from Ronnie Scott’s, 606 Club, CLF Art Lounge, Green Note, Oliver’s Jazz Bar, and more.
For a comprehensive guide to the festival and streaming links of these shows please go to: www.efglondonjazzfestival.org.uk/whats-on
