Our events

Thu 28 April

Booking   https://www.designmynight.com/london/bars/soho/the-spice-of-life/maridalen-corrie-dick-christos-stylianides?t=tickets

First Set: Corrie Dick & Christos Stylianides  Second set: Maridalen  

Line-up: Anders Hefre - saxophone 

Jonas Kilmork Vemøy - trumpet 

Andreas Rødland Haga – double bass   

The Norwegian jazz trio Maridalen takes its name from the scenic valley that lies just north of Oslo city center. The trio's debut album "Maridalen", released in spring 2021, has received rave reviews both nationally and internationally. 

The album, among many other plaudits, was listed on the lists "Best Norwegian albums of the Year" in Aftenposten, and "Jazz albums of the Year" in British MOJO Magazine. On March 25, 2022, Maridalen release their second album «Bortenfor» on Jazzland Recordings. 

Like its predecessor, this album is also recorded in the old wooden church in Maridalen, but this time the trio also moves a little beyond the valley - down to night-lit streets and old apartment buildings. With the warm and acoustic sound of double bass, trumpet and woodwind, the trio creates their own musical space that captures different moods and spins small stories. Through these moments, the listener is invited to new adventures; from a city gateway, old and forgotten places are explored: through pictures from a movie, to a ride on a moon bike in dreamland. 

The moods and stories are conveyed through a strong collective where the sum is greater than the individual performances - where the space, atmosphere and excitement become an inextricable part of the whole. The soundscape is intimate, transparent, and provides great opportunity and plenty of space for the three musicians to play. The trio also rounds out the sound with contributions from piano, an old radio and kitchen utensils, with the addition of pedal steel guitarist Emil Brattested on two songs.   

Corrie Dick graduated with a BMus (Hons), jazz drumkit in 2014. During his time at Trinity Laban he collaborated with many well known artists including Jacob Collier, Jasper Høiby, Ligeti Quartet, Bobby Wellins and released his own debut album “Impossible Things” on the record label Chaos Collective, which he set up with his close collaborators and fellow alumni Laura Jurd and Elliot Galvin. Corrie now performs across the world with bands including Mercury winner Dinosaur, Elliot Galvin Trio, Rob Luft Group, Blue-Eyed Hawk, indie-art-rock trio Ink Line. 

He frequently gives solo drum performances where he demonstrates the rich and diverse potential of the drum kit. As well as winning a Gold Medal at Trinity Laban, Corrie also won a Scottish Jazz Award 2012 for Up and Coming Artist and BBC’s Young Scottish Jazz Musician of the Year 2013 and has been nominated for multiple Parliamentary Jazz Awards and Jazz FM awards.

Thu 12 May

Booking           https://www.designmynight.com/london/bars/soho/the-spice-of-life/leo-richardson-quartet?t=tickets

“I can’t remember hearing a more impressive debut.   The style is hard bop, but music as good as this is beyond category."      Dave Gelly, The Observer ***** 

"When I heard this album my immediate thought was that all bets are off regarding the CD of the Year.”     Lance Liddle, Bebop Spoken Here    

"I have known Leo Richardson for several years and in my view he is destined to become one of the finest jazz tenor saxophone players this country has produced. He has a rare natural talent"  ​  Alan Skidmore.  ​  

Leo is a “sax player capable of projecting to audiences in the manner of Joshua Redman”     Sebastian Scotney.

Without a doubt, Leo Richardson is widely recognised to be one of the UK's leading Jazz Tenor Saxophonists, best known for his honest, straight-ahead, contemporary hard-bop style. His most significant influences include John Coltrane, Joe Henderson, Dexter Gordon, Horace Silver and Art Blakey.

Leo’s quartet consists of killer artists who are all standouts in their own right. Rick Simpson, winner of the Yamaha Scholarship Prize for Outstanding Jazz Musicians, resides on piano. Tim Thornton, one of the most sought-after young musicians of his generation, drives a hugely vibrant, powerful double bass. And, in keeping with the talent in this line-up, the exceedingly diverse Ed Richardson rounds things off on drums.     ​

Thu 26 May

Booking    https://www.designmynight.com/london/bars/soho/the-spice-of-life/tony-kofis-generation-monk-quintet?t=tickets

#futurenow       

Line up:  

Tony Kofi - band leader/sax  

Matt Jacobs - piano  

Billy Rowlatt - trumpet  

Myra Brownbridge - bass  

Matt Holmes - drums   

British Jazz multi award winning instrumentalist saxophonist Tony Kofi brings a young quartet of musicians from the National Youth Jazz Orchestra to play the music of one of the most original voices in jazz Thelonious “Sphere” Monk.    

Thu 9 June

Booking link   https://spicejazz-soho.designmynight.com/625440d6d4ea511161032a76/maria-rehakova-topoana

Line up:  

Maria Rehakova - flute, voice  

Gustavo Clayton Marucci - clarinet  Sam Knight - tenor saxophone  

Eddie Lee - piano  

Sam Ingvorsen - double bass  

Floyer Sydenham - drums

Maria Rehakova is a jazz flautist, singer and composer based between London and Bratislava. She studied jazz at the Guildhall School of Music and was the flute chair for National Youth Jazz Orchestra.   Combining jazz tradition with songs Maria grew up singing and dancing to in her childhood Slovak folklore group, TOPOĽANA is a jazz folk fusion sextet packed with some of the freshest young talent on the London jazz scene. Since the band formed in 2016, they have gigged extensively around the UK, Slovakia and Czech Republic, building an enthusiastic audience and even reaching the finals for “BJD 2019” Young Talents competition.   

SpiceJazz will be the premiere performance of their 2022 European Tour (UK, SK, AT, CZ, PL), at the end of which they are recording their debut album.   

“High quality performance full of emotions and sincere love and devotion to music”   

- Dávid Oláh, jazz.sk   

“It’s the blend of folklore, traditional jazz phrases and eagerness of young musicians that make Topoľana unique"   - Soňa Juríková, SkJazz   

Thu 23 June

#futurenow

Booking link   https://spicejazz-soho.designmynight.com/625450f3675de449894e1e87/kalpadruma-onwards-album-launch

Kalpadruma is an exciting collective exploring connection between Arabic, Turkish, Indian, Contemporary Classical and Jazz musics, led by saxophonist/ composer Asha Parkinson. The group have collaborated with SAMYO (South Asian Youth Orchestra) and the Orchestra of Syrian Musicians. In its third year, the group has played at several high-profile venues including the London Jazz Festival, Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, the Jazz Seven Leeds series and the Union Chapel. Their debut album ‘Onwards’ is scheduled for release in Summer 2022.

Kalpadruma is a twelve piece ensemble fusing a range of musical genres, from jazz to contemporary classical to classical Indian, Turkish folk music, Arabic maqam,  and Spanish flamenco. The unorthodox line-up (string quartet, trumpet, saxophone, bass clarinet, flute and rhythm section) goes with the group’s unusual sonic identity. It features two BBC Young Musician finalists and a semi-finalist , offering what’s been described as ‘a fiery feast of additive rhythms and Messaienesque harmonies and “feel-good” melodies’.

Band leader Asha Parkinson is a young composer and saxophonist  whose work regularly crosses the boundaries between traditions, from jazz to ‘classical’ to world musics and beyond – interests reflected equally in her work with her own Kalpadruma quintet and dodectet and her compositions for professional groups like TableMusic.  

She’s UK based but also internationally focused and has already received a major award for work that goes beyond music.     

 ‘ The fiery tenor saxophonist…’     

 ‘…quietly intense alto … wonderfully understated drama… impressive ‘    

  Richard Williams – The Blue Moment