After a perforce quieter year in 2020 the EFG London Jazz Festival is largely back to strength this year, running 12-21 November with plenty of live shows.
Among the many highlights are Julian Lage; Richard Bona & Alfredo Rodriguez Band; Archie Shepp & Jason Moran; John Scofield and Dave Holland duo; Eddie Henderson Quartet; Norma Winstone & Nikki Iles ‘A Time Remembered – The Music Of Bill Evans’; Peter King Memorial Sax Summit featuring Mornington Lockett with Alex Clarke, the Deschanel Gordon Trio; Mike Westbrook ‘The Piano and Me’ plus Q&A with Richard Williams; Vijay Iyer, Linda May Han Oh, Tyshawn Sorey; Cleveland Watkiss and Django Bates; Kathrine Windfeld; London Third Stream: London Sinfonietta + Laura Jurd, Elliot Galvin, Cassie Kinoshi; Jo Harrop; Rosie Frater-Taylor; Jim Rattigan’s Triplicity; Omar Sosa & Seckou Keita; Soweto Kinch & London Symphony Orchestra: The Black Peril; Georgia Mancio; Myra Melford, Mark Dresser, Matt Wilson; Stefano Bollani; Bill Laurance and The Untold Orchestra; John Etheridge & Vimala Rowe; Bansangu Orchestra; and the Brad Mehldau Trio.
The above is a drop in the ocean of gigs listed on the festival’s website. There will also be, as ever, a vast array of further local talent drawn into the event from the city’s regular (and irregular) jazz venues.
The Omar Sosa (piano) and Seckou Keita (kora) gig is one in a batch of UK appearances by the duo (plus Venezuelan percussionist Gustavo Ovalles) in November. They also play Leeds, Oxford, Caernarfon, Manchester, Liverpool, Bury St Edmunds, Nottingham, Bristol, Cardigan and Swansea. Full tour details are on the website of Mwldan arts complex in Cardigan, who are organising the tour.
