For 25 years trombonist Dennis Rollins has played at the forefront of the UK jazz, funk and pop as an ‘impossibly’ virtuosic’ sideman to such stars such as Maceo Parker, Courtney Pine and as an award-winning leader in his own right.
Kikimiki is a young jazz fusion band based in London and led by and playing original music by vocalist and flautist Keira Chakraborty. Blending vocal and instrumental styles, with a particular emphasis on vocal harmonies.
DREAMSCAPES is a UK-based post-fusion, nu-jazz ensemble blurring the lines of genre boundaries to create a musical experience of true freedom. Drawing from a wide range of influences such as Radiohead, Björk and Aphex Twin, their sound is immersive and rich in texture.
19-year-old jazz trumpet player, Klara Devlin, was a 2024 BBC Young Jazz Musician finalist, currently studying jazz at the Royal Academy of Music. She began playing trumpet at five and discovered jazz at eight. Her quartet, formed through Tomorrow’s Warriors, performs her original compositions and arrangements inspired by bebop, blues and free jazz.
Comprising four long-term collaborators and friends (thus the ‘family’ tag), the band takes as its starting point the freewheeling music of those musicians who, back in the 1960s, were at the forefront of the free jazz revolution/
On this special night, award-winning saxophonist Kasper Rietkerk takes the stage with music from his critically acclaimed album The Happy Worrier, performed by the original recording line-up.
Doors 10:00 PM, Music 10:30 PM – 2 sets of music Line-up: Tom O’Brien – Piano George Mooney – Saxophone Barney Anderson – Electric guitar Kobe Heath-Ngugi – Bass…
John Etheridge’s reputation in the jazz world cannot be overstated. A genuinely virtuosic fusion guitarist, Etheridge is one of a handful of players who can claim to have helped shape the character of modern jazz guitar.
A weekly session on Sunday evenings, hosted London’s finest – members and musicians go free!
The duo will be playing music from Sebastian Rochford’s ECM album “A Short Diary” and some new music.
This gathering brings together close collaborators and musical allies of the late drummer Tony Bianco for an evening of performance, remembrance, and shared musical language.
The brainchild of trumpeter and composer Robbie Robson, Dog Soup was briefly part of the Loop Collective, a group of musicians founded in London in 2005.
Bright, punchy, and vibrant, drummer Ananda Brandão presents a fresh set of original music with a new quartet. Blending modern jazz, Brazilian influences, and ambient music.
A special one-off London line-up feature some of the UK’s most exciting Jazz and Folk musicians. Alongside music from previous albums this gig will also preview new material that sees the music moves into a slightly darker, more guitar-driven space, evolving the Scottish Folk-Jazz sound with indie influences.
In their almost two-decade history, the Grammy-nominated band Kneebody has created a genre and style all its own. Their sound is an explosive blend of rock energy and high-level.
Roella Oloro is a multi-instrumentalist and composer originally from Gloucester, UK with Nigerian and Jamaican Heritage. She has performed worldwide and written music in a variety of styles ranging from trio and quartet instrumentation to Jazz and Symphonic orchestra.
Nick has lead his trio with bebop drumming virtuoso Josh Morrison and mainstay of the Uk jazz scene Dave Whitford on double bass for over 5 years. Performing on a weekly basis has given them the unique opportunity to develop a profound chemistry built on a shared love of American jazz tradition and language.
This gig features her both as soloist and especially composer, with a new set of pieces created for the LJO. Only the third player/writer to hold her tenor saxophone “chair”.
A proud exponent of the São Paulo scene known for its subversive, alternative music underbelly, Naná Rizinni is a drummer, producer and composer who bridges improvisatory flavours with progressive electronics.
Ed Hogben is a London-based trumpeter exploring uncharted territory with his instrument. Using a MIDI harmoniser, he’s able to play chords in real time – essentially fulfilling the role of piano or guitar in a jazz trio.
The award-winning singer, multi-instrumentalist and composer released her latest highly-lauded album, Za Górami, with ECM Records in 2024, produced by Manfred Eicher, described by Bayerischer Rundfunk as “a model of cliché-free beauty”.
Reuben Goldmark and Andrew Lisle invite Cologne bassist Roger Kintopf for a set of multi-directional free improvisation.
World renowned, Norwegian piano maestro Bugge Wesseltoft, makes his Vortex debut in the company of celebrated British improvising percussionist, Mark Wastell.
Tonight they will be launching the new album inspired by Hungarian composer and pianist Béla Bartók’s Mikrokosmos, which Bruno studied as a child. Bartok composed these books of short pieces as an educational tool to teach his own son at the piano.
Doors 7:45 PM, Music 8:30 PM – 2 set(s) of music Line-up: Byron Wallen – Trumpet Jonny Mansfield – Vibraphone Daniel Kempshell – Guitar Menelick Claffey – Bass Zoe Pascal…
Welcoming and relaxed, come for a drink, sit back and enjoy the music, or bring your horns, sticks and strings to join in during the second set.
Eleventh Hour Jazz Orchestra is a new project co-led by bassist Chris Diamand and pianist Lorenzo Bellini. The big band features some of the most promising young stars of the UK and European jazz scenes, with a modern sounds that is rooted in tradition.
Award-winning pianist and composer Nikki Yeoh presents a new trio with bassist Ewan Hastie and drummer Miranda Radford. Having first crossed paths with Hastie at the BBC Young Jazz Musician competition.
Doors 6:45 PM, Music 7:15 PM – 1 set of music Line-up: Tara Cunningham – Guitar Caius Williams – Double bass Theo Guttenplan – Drum kit About: Argia…
The Olie Brice Quartet – featuring Rachel Musson, Alexander Hawkins and Will Glaser – play music from their debut album ‘All It Was’. Brice’s most personal album to date – with most of the music written shortly after the death of his father – ‘All It Was’ combines powerful freedom and exploration with memorable melodies.
Queer Jazz, founded by Tina Edwards and Arowah, exists to platform, nurture and celebrate the emerging queer jazz scene. For this night they have assembled a very special quartet of exceptional and experimental musicians from the emerging queer jazz scene.
Together, they weave a tapestry of songs that evoke the mystery and joy of the night, the moon, and the magic that lives within us all. This musical journey is a gentle caress, a soothing lullaby that offers hope in the darkness.
Doors 2:00 PM About We are thrilled to present London to Brighton – a collaboration between London Mopomoso and Brighton Safehouse – via Spain and Sweden! Mike Cooper (guitar) Spain…
Inner Space plays Jazz of a rare warmth and immediacy, in the form of compositions for improvisers with roots in both jazz and free playing.
Zak Scerri is a guitarist and composer from Australia who now lives in London. His love for guitar began at age 12, and he has built his music upon the rich jazz tradition while also taking inspiration from more modern and contemporary sounds.
As they celebrate their 35-year anniversary, renowned jazz development organisation, Tomorrow’s Warriors, shines a spotlight on some of the finest young emerging jazz talent in London as two of their ensembles come to Vortex for this special double-header.
Binker Golding, John Edwards & Steve Noble play an improvised set based on the music of their album “Moon Day”.
Over two albums, the Cape Town-based trio alchemised a distinctive global sound, fusing modern pop production with complex rhythms, lilting indie rock and folk.
Robert Mitchell is an award-winning pianist/keys player, composer, curator, poet, and author. He released 16 albums of his own projects, four poetry books and played in 100+ projects as a sideman and performed in 40+ countries.
With the Julian Siegel Quartet, the BBC Jazz Award winning saxophonist and composer Julian Siegel can be heard alongside some of this generation’s most distinctive voices, creating an in-demand Quartet on the UK and European Jazz scene.
Welcoming and relaxed, come for a drink, sit back and enjoy the music, or bring your horns, sticks and strings to join in during the second set.
Poppy Helmer is a flautist and saxophonist from Brighton, now based in London where she studies jazz at Trinity Laban. Her influences include Eric Dolphy, Charles Mingus and Thelonious Monk.
After spending the past months in Brazil recording her upcoming album and collaborating with renowned artists including Brazilian legend Chico César, London-based singer-songwriter and bandleader Noga Ritter returns to one of her favourite venues with her beloved quartet.
In EXTRA, three of contemporary music’s most fearless improvisers collide in a sonic high-speed chase that redefines what a jazz trio can be. Far from revisiting standards or offering tidy interplay, the group constructs an explosive, multilayered language where glitchy electronics, hardcore grooves, and unruly textures crash into one another—often within a single phrase.
Evan Parker and Peter Evans have a relationship going back over 20 years to the early 2000s, when the (then) young trumpeter sought out a major influence and inspiration.
Born out of pianist/arranger Alex Webb’s love of Ellington, The Pocket Ellington manages what ought to be impossible – creating a classic Ellingtonian sound with just four horns and a rhythm section. But with a top-drawer horn section, and with veteran bassist Dave Green and powerhouse drummer Winston Clifford providing the swing, the group does justice to classic Ellingtonia – and a lot more.
Renowned pianist Bruno Heinen joins forces with legendary New York drummer Nasheet Waits (Jason Moran, Andrew Hill, Fred Hersch) and the formidable, groove-heavy double bassist Rio Kai.
The Band plays on the differences of Andrea Di Biase’s two musical worlds, divided by the sea: one is rooted in his native Italy with the melodic and poetic approach of Italian masters such as Nino Rota and the band’s first pianist Antonio Zambrini.
Pianist and improviser Kit Downes is playing again downstairs at the Vortex, as part of a series of improvised nights.
Diving deep into Aztec mythology and Latin American dance traditions, Tara Minton and her band lead the listener through a dark and joyous exploration of what it means to be human.