Brick Lane Jazz Festival 2025—A Rookie’s Review article @ All About Jazz

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Various Venues
Brick Lane Jazz Festival
London
April 25-27, 2025

The Brick Lane Jazz Festival is now in its fourth year, and although it has been on my radar for a while I’ve never made it. I’ve had very little excuse. The UK jazz scene is arguably the most invigorating on the planet. I don’t live in London but fairly close in the county of Essex, and the festival’s location is walkable from my main station in, Liverpool Street. I know the Brick Lane area well, having spent many nights at venues there in my more youthful clubbing days, and nowadays from frequenting the Rough Trade East record shop. There is a buzzing multicultural vibe, excellent food and drink options, and perhaps unique for London, it still feels real and not too touristy. To say I was excited to attend this year was an understatement.

Preparing to go, I faced the usual festival FOMO -what acts could I absolutely not miss, who was clashing with who, how packed were the venues going to be, how early did you need to start queuing to get in and get a good spot. Armed with a hit list, I headed in on the Saturday and Sunday. The festival started on Friday evening and had an after-party DJ-led club events later each night, but I was going in with a less-is-more attitude to see what would transpire. You can’t do everything I told myself, an anti-FOMO strategy. The line-up was a smorgasbord of established, up-and-coming, and legendary UK jazz acts plus some international artists, covering jazz in all its forms.

Arriving on Saturday around 1:15pm, collecting the weekend wristband was easy with no queue or fuss. The weather was good. I grabbed some dumplings from the Tibet Kitchen stall and sat down to eat before my first planned gig. I couldn’t help listening in to a conversation on another table, three people clearly with knowledge of jazz, young musicians, recalling a story of a bassist who slept in the instrument’s case after a particularly heavy night. I had to interrupt, asking who they were looking forward to seeing at the festival but also to ask who the bassist was. They wouldn’t tell me as I would “definitely know them.” Interestingly they had not been to the festival before either, more to gigs at larger venues like the Barbican and the South Bank in London. They hadn’t really decided who to see (youthful pre-FOMO for you) but were looking forward to seeing

Jasmine Myra

saxophone, alto

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data-original-title=”” title=””>Jasmine Myra, who was on my list too.

Then onto act one,

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data-original-title=”” title=””>Jay Phelps at the multi-room venue 93 Feet East. I managed to get right to the front of the live room as had arrived early, and centre of stage. I hadn’t previously listened to Phelp’s music but recognised his name, a trumpeter born in Canada. I’d noticed some other upcoming gigs of his were a replay of Kind of Blue, and given the early timing of this one, was expecting the same. A chilled virtuoso version of a classic album to ease us into the day. But no, Jay and the band kicked straight off with an up-tempo broken-beat version of Coltrane’s “Naima.” An absolute favourite, and a high energy start. He then proceeded to play tracks from his first and upcoming Broken Standards albums, volume 2 out in July, mixing the live band playing with samples and effects and even singing on “I Get A Kick Out Of You.” A fresh take on classics, brought up to date with modern production and groove. The packed room clearly enjoyed crowd- pleasers like Herb Alpert’s “Rise,” with Phelps adding some rap as a nod to it being sampled many times.

Most sets at the festival were 45 minutes long, but Phelps was billed for an hour so I left before the end to go to the next on the list. Saxophonist

Xhosa Cole

saxophone, tenor

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data-original-title=”” title=””>Xhosa Cole at 91 Living Room, opposite 93 Feet East, which was due to start as Phelps ended. I was somewhat shocked to see a long queue already, which confirmed my suspicion that arriving early would be crucial to not miss an act, or to get a spot close to the front. In reality the queue moved quite quickly, and I managed to manoeuvre myself close to the front on the right. Cole was on my list as I wasn’t quite sure to expect. I knew he was talented as had won the BBC Young Jazz Musician Of The Year in 2018, and had released several albums. I had checked his most recent, his interpretations of Monk tunes entitled On A Modern Genius (Vol.1) . But it hadn’t grabbed me, I probably hadn’t given it enough focused attention. Which was exactly what we were told to do by the genial and effervescent Adam Moses, the kingpin of the Jazz Re:freshed organisation, hosts of this venue. He would be enforcing the no- talking during the performance rule: “your participation is not your conversation.” He introduced Cole as the “future of jazz” setting quite the expectation. Cole and his trio performed tracks from the Monk album, and the audience was entranced. The pieces were long, deconstructed then reconstructed versions of classics like “Straight, No Chaser” and “Round Midnight,” improvising but with small hooks from the original to keep you on track. The drummer had a beautiful light touch in solos on cymbals and rims. Playing with his eyes tight shut. Solos from the bassist felt full and swinging, magic with the no talking rule. These guys were young, and fully accomplished musicians. This was how to showcase the future of jazz. The room was full, the sound was excellent. Cole was very engaging with the crowd at the end sharing some amusing anecdotes, explaining that his thumb was heavily bandaged as he’d sliced it somehow but luckily it hadn’t affected his playing. He then pointed people to the merch table where he would happily chat more and sign copies of his albums. It was great to see both young and elderly fans taking up his offer.

Adam from Jazz re:freshed then told us about the next act coming up, a serious talent that we should not miss an opportunity to see play, as he had yet to release any music. The pianist

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data-original-title=”” title=””>Deschanel Gordon, someone I didn’t know at all. I was sold, and would return to the venue for this and change my other plans. You’ve got to be flexible and break the rules, new discoveries are essential experiences at a festival and often a highlight. This was absolutely the case, I was completely blown away. This was an astonishing performance, what an unexpected treat. The crowd was rapturous. Kicking off with a firing version of

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data-original-title=”” title=””>Chick Corea‘s “Humpty Dumpty” with Gordon hammering the keys, then into a more restrained but groove heavy rendition of “Betcha By Golly, Wow.” The band played some original material too, one track morphing into something with the feel of a house music track, the rhythm section being so tight with Gordon vamping over the top. The trio featured the same bassist as the Xhosa Cole session, working overtime but this is exactly what you see on the London scene, there is a real community of musicians all playing with each other. Having looked into Gordon after the gig, his place in the scene became apparent. A graduate of Trinity Laban he was the 2020 winner of the BBC Young Jazz Musician Of The Year, and has already collaborated with the likes of

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data-original-title=”” title=””>Nubya Garcia,

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data-original-title=”” title=””>Courtney Pine,

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data-original-title=”” title=””>Mark Kavuma and

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data-original-title=”” title=””>Ezra Collective. But, as Adam kept ribbing him about, has yet to record and release his own material. This has to happen, it has to, and encouragingly, the drummer in the trio confirmed some studio time had been booked. I cannot wait to hear this. Chatting to another audience member, he made the comment that players like Gordon are part of the 2nd generation of modern UK jazz acts coming through. The first being the explosion around 2018 from the likes of Nubya, Ezra,

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data-original-title=”” title=””>Shabaka Hutchings and others (Unapologetic Expression: The Inside Story Of The UK Jazz Explosion). A valid observation, a sign of how healthy and alive the scene is.

Back in on the Sunday, warm and sunny again. Laid-back music from the Signature Brew bar caught my attention, it was Miriam Adefris on harp with a saxophonist creating a gentle vibe to match the weather. But first on today’s list was Mark Kavuma and his Banger Factory band at Juju’s Bar & Stage. Chosen as although I’ve really enjoyed Kavuma’s previous albums, his latest work Magnum Opus was another I’d not been hooked by and keen to see performed live. In my mind, the album was a bit too “obvious.” The band featured Kavuma on trumpet, three on saxophone, trombone, guitar, keyboards, bass and drums. A big presence and they rocked the room, I couldn’t keep still. Blasting my snobbish critique away with pieces like “Pink Sky” and other high-tempo tracks from the album.

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data-original-title=”” title=””>Artie Zaitz on guitar was particularly impressive, you can see why Kavuma has released an album from him on the Banger Factory label. Scatting from the keyboard player added a soulful vocal elements to some tracks, really effective and lapped up by the crowd. The show, a reminder, if needed, that the live rendition of an album is a completely different experience to the studio version, and I’ll take any future opportunity to see the band again.

Then over to Rich Mix to see saxophonist from Leeds, Jasmine Myra. A short walk from Brick Lane with the venue strategically placed between there and the act I wanted to see next, at Village Underground. I felt I knew what to expect from Jasmine—thoughtful, spiritual-leaning music typical of

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data-original-title=”” title=””>Matthew Halsall‘s Gondwana label. But again there was much more energy live, the crowd encouraging her to let rip a little with their whoops of support. She interacted with the room a lot, clearly a little nervous in her speech, sharing how she had not often played to large crowds like this. That the album Rising was about growth and becoming more sure of herself. Her journey of acceptance, not fitting into a box, that it’s OK to be different and acknowledging this will lead to confidence. Themes coming across in tracks like “Still Waters” and “How Tall The Mountains.” The band featured a flutist centre of stage not Jasmine—a physical manifestation of her thinking. Harp, keys and a bass clarinetist were present too, the clarinet a deep, rich sound I love to hear on record but had never seen live.

Again I had to leave the gig before the end, as the next at Village Underground was a crucial one.

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data-original-title=”” title=””>Gary Crosby premiering his new project, Africa Space Programme. Billed as “inspired by the cosmic explorations of

”
data-original-title=”” title=””>John Coltrane and

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data-original-title=”” title=””>Pharoah Sanders, the avant-garde brilliance of

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data-original-title=”” title=””>Sun Ra, and the free jazz innovation of

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data-original-title=”” title=””>Ornette Coleman.” Without Crosby, co-founder of Tomorrow’s Warriors, some of the acts at the festival and so many others would simply not have been heard. The mentoring and support from the organisation providing opportunities for young, under-represented jazz musicians, giving rise to the success of the UK scene right now. The venue was the largest of the festival, used for the after-parties, and to the sound of a

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data-original-title=”” title=””>Roy Ayers playlist was filling up. I was right at the front, expectations high. Players I had never seen, but respected enormously for their influence on the current scene. The band had never performed together before. UK sax legends

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data-original-title=”” title=””>Denys Baptiste and

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data-original-title=”” title=””>Steve Williamson, drummer Winston Clifford and Crosby on bass. He told us to “strap ourselves in” and this was a full-on, in your face performance. Baptiste and Williamson trading solos and not holding back one iota. Yet the sound still had an underlying sense of funk that can only come from London. Proven when a jazz dancer came out for the last tune, after Clifford got the crowd to follow a clapped rhythm of his. There was such power in the music, such intensity, and I seriously hope the band has time to put this music out, it needs to be heard. I was encouraged to see they played again after the festival, a week later at 91 Living Room. But I feel lucky to have been a part of this moment. It felt full- circle, like Crosby giving something back to the community he has helped create. A joyful noise, a celebration, and a blessing.

It was then time to check train times home, and to see if there was anything else possible to squeeze in. ”
data-original-title=”” title=””>Bruno Berle was on at Rich Mix, and a brief visit there confirmed his status as a torch bearer for modern Brazilian MPB. Short pieces of delight from both his albums, Berle singing and playing guitar with his trio. Beautiful. Back quickly to Village Underground, I caught 15 minutes of ”
data-original-title=”” title=””>Flock. They were stretching out tracks from their albums and I wished I could have stayed longer to see where the performance went. It was building up to something, the room an electronic jazz ashram. Then that was a wrap, time to head home. I’d seen the acts I most wanted to see, and made some new discoveries. Perfect.

There are many other jazz festivals in the UK, but Brick Lane encapsulates what the UK jazz scene is and where it is going like nothing else. An essential event on the calendar and I will definitely be back. No excuses.

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