LIKE the music itself, the London Jazz Festival, which runs from November 13th to 22nd, just refuses to be silent. A month ago we brought you news of the ambitious mixed programme of live gigs and streamed events … and then lockdown 2 descended.
Daunted but not defeated, the festival organisers have reconfigured the programme again and moved everything online. Quirkily that means the gigs are more readily available than they were before; jazz direct to your sofa.
So what is there for Backseat Mafia people to look out for? There are live streamed shows from the Barbican including nu-jazz/new wave high rollers Seed Ensemble paying tribute to Pharoah Sanders and the princely Shabaka Hutchings re-connecting with the Britten Sinfonia.
Elsewhere Laura Jurd’s dynamic Dinosaur and sax dynamo Binker Golding are being beamed out from King’s Place. Binker’s buddy Moses Boyd is part of a stellar quartet (with Nathaniel Facey, Shirley Tetteh and Gary Crosby) paying respect to Charlie Parker with an online set from the Church of Sound while Tenderlonious gets to showcase artists from his 22a label at a gig hosted by Mixcloud.
The festival also continues its mission as a jazz messenger with a stack of online specials that are free to watch. There’s Emma Jean Thackray and Sarathy Korwar from the Total Refreshment Centre; curated nights with Leafcutter John plus hip labels Erased Tapes and The Spectacular Empire on Mixcloud; and an essential trip into the Turkish alternative scene with psyche legends Mogollar and Baba Zula.
Really that’s just a taster. For the full menu check out the packed programme in the link below and get planning. Also watch out for reviews from some of the gigs here on Backseat Mafia to keep you in tune with the festival highlights. The ‘what do we do in the lockdown’ mystery has been solved.
For more information on events, visit London Jazz Festival 2021 on the web.
