Every year at this time, jazz of every imaginable kind takes over London’s music hubs, clubs, pubs and air waves for the two weeks of the EFG London Jazz Festival. Judith Schrut looks back at this year’s Festival.
Whether you’re a seasoned fan or a jazz newbie, the annual EFG London Jazz Festival will have you ah-ing, oo-ing and hard-to-choosing over its wide ranging programme of jazz giants, rising stars, exciting new talent and innovative sounds and styles. You’ll find hundreds of events in dozens of venues.
As ever, the 2019 Festival had something for everyone, from the traditional opening night gala, Jazz Voice, to tribute events honouring the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Blue Note Records, Nat King Cole, Chet Baker and Art Blakey, to more eccentric gigs like the Legend of the Jazz Penguins, Groove onto the Moon, Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox and Jazz for Toddlers.
This year’s musical feast shined an especial spotlight on women artists, including some of my personal favourites, Claire Martin, Cecile McLorin Savant, Corinne Bailey Rae, Rhiannon Giddens and Barb Jungr. Did you know Chrissie Hynde (lead rocker of the Pretenders) has just released a jazz album? Yup, and she played it to a sell out crowd at this year’s Festival.
I also had the joy and luck to see one of the Festival’s final treats at Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall. Jazz Generation was an innovative concert mixing music and performers from across the generations. Its centrepiece was the world premiere of Evolving Spring, a jazz cello concerto created by Misha Mullov-Abbado. If you’re a jazz fan and haven’t yet heard of Misha M-A, no doubt you soon will. He’s a composer, arranger, bass player, BBC New Generation artist and one of jazz’s rising young stars. His musical pedigree is impeccable: his mother is virtuoso violinist Viktoria Mullova; his late father was renowned conductor Claudio Abbado. He’s been busy breaking new ground in jazz’s ever fertile soil, this time in collaboration with cellist Matthew Barley (who happens to be his stepfather), the BBC Concert Orchestra, Nu Civilisation Orchestra and String Ting. I also enjoyed the other main concert piece, an exciting rendition of Duke Ellington’s jazz suite, The River.
This year’s London EFG Jazz Festival took place from 15-24 November 2019 in venues across the city including Southbank Centre, Upper Ground, London SE1. Planning for the 2020 Festival is well underway, but since London’s jazz scene continues to boom and bloom, you can experience jazz any day of the week at numerous venues. For up to date listings check out jazzinlondon.live.
By the way, if you’re not yet on Southbank Centre’s mailing list, sort that out now! You won’t want to miss news of Southbank Centre’s wondrous 2020 events, jazz and otherwise, such as the Imagine Children’s Festival, the Meltdown Festival in June, this year to be curated year by Grace Jones, and Shankar 100, celebrating the late great Sitar maestro Ravi Shankar. All you need to know is at www.southbankcentre.co.uk.
