Iconoclastic art-rock maverick Iggy Pop has been
announced for the EFG London Jazz Festival, which runs from 15 to 24
November, with Pop set to headline the Barbican on 21 November.
The singer will give an exclusive performance of music from his acclaimed recent album, Free,
which he’s described as a reaction to being ‘drained’ after frequent
touring, the album’s loose jazz-rock influences indicative of a new
sense of musical freedom in his work. The album follows a series of
jazz-inspired collaborations with the likes of Jamie Saft, Steve Swallow and Bobby Previte on 2017’s Loneliness Road and his album of jazz, chanson and literature readings on 2009’s Préliminaires.
This
concert joins those announced in the full programme which also include
the premiere of a new multi-media music and dance project from
award-winning saxophonist and MC, Soweto Kinch, which will be performed at EartH, Hackney on 22 November. Entitled The Black Peril,
the conceptual piece is inspired by the turbulent century of race
relations and cultural clashes 100 years after the post-war ‘Red Summer’
riots of 1919 in the US and UK, seeking to tackle many of the thorny
sociopolitical issues that still remain pertinent today. Reimagining
ragtime, proto-jazz, West Indian folk music and the classical works from
black composers of the period via hip hop and contemporary sounds, the
music will be performed by a high-calibre 14-piece ensemble including
musicians from the London Symphony Orchestra, Chicago jazz stars Makaya McCraven and Junius Paul as well as dance choreographed by rising star Jade Hackett,
all against a backdrop of news and archive film footage from 1919. An
album of the music will be released on 18 November, with Kinch set to
tour the project in the Spring of 2020.
Also announced are some of the special guest vocalists who will perform at the opening night
Jazz Voice concert at the Royal Festival Hall (15 Nov) who include
Cécile McLorin Salvant,
Urban Flames,
Raul Midon,
Judi Jackson,
Cherise Adams Burnett and
Corinne Bailey Rae. The full line-up of gigs celebrating the
ECM label’s 50th anniversary now include several Southbank Centre shows on 17 November by pianist
Julia Hülsmann’s Quartet (Purcell Room), saxophonist
Joe Lovano’s Trio Tapestry with
Marilyn Crispell and
Carmen Castaldi (Queen Elizabeth Hall) and the
Jan Garbarek Group (Royal Festival Hall). There are also opening night performances from ‘Zen-funk’ pianist
Nik Bärtsch and artist
Sophie Clements’ audiovisual project When The Clouds Clear: A Light and Sound Poem (Barbican) and leading Polish pianist
Marcin Wasilewski’s Trio (Cadogan Hall), both on 15 November.
Another epic opening nighter comes from renowned bassist/composer
Barry Guy who performs the UK premiere of his stunning large scale work,
The Blue Shroud
(Purcell Room, 15 Nov) Inspired by Picasso’s powerful painting
‘Guernica’, the stellar pan-European ensemble includes the likes of
singer
Savina Yannatou, trumpeter
Percy Pursglove and tenorist
Per Texas Johansson among others. These concerts join those already announced in
Jazzwise, who is festival media partner.
For the full programme and tickets visit https://www.efglondonjazzfestival.org.uk/" rel="nofollow - www.efglondonjazzfestival.org.uk