Live Jazz in London

Doors 6:45 PM, Music 7:15 PM - 1 set of music About: BoNo - Bonney/Noble - Trumpet/Drums After making multiple unreleased recordings together, the duo performs at the Vortex Jazz Club for the first time. Steve Noble is London’s leading drummer, a fearless and constantly inventive improviser whose super-precise, ultra-propulsive and hyper-detailed playing has galvanized encounters with Derek Bailey, Matthew Shipp, Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith, Stephen O’Malley, Joe McPhee, Alex Ward, Rhodri Davies and many, many more. In the early eighties, Noble played with the Nigerian master drummer Elkan Ogunde, Rip Rig and Panic, Brion Gysin and the Bow Gamelan Ensemble, before going on to work with the pianist Alex Maguire and with Derek Bailey (including Company Weeks 1987, 89 and 90). He was featured in the Bailey’s excellent TV series on Improvisation for Channel 4 based on his book ‘Improvisation; its nature and practise’. He has toured and performed throughout Europe, Africa and America and currently leads the groups N.E.W (with John Edwards and Alex Ward) and DECOY (with John Edwards and Alexander Hawkins). Alex Bonney is a trumpeter, electronic musician and recording/mix/mastering engineer and producer based in London. He performs internationally with several groups including Pando Pando, Leverton Fox, Scarla O’Horror, Brass Mask, light.box, Olie Brice’s Quintet and Octet, in duo with Will Glaser as well as many informal improv collaborations with leading improvisers on the UK scene. He is also in demand in the studio and works for a great variety of artists on their album releases for leading record labels including ECM.

Sat, Jul 4, 7:45 PM

Coltrane and Hartman on Impulse! feat. Mark Lockheart and Marvin Muoneké

Vortex Jazz Club / Dalston / Map

Doors 7:45 PM, Music 8:30 PM - 2 sets of music Line-up: Mark Lockheart - Tenor saxophone Marvin Muoneké - vocals Alfonso Vitale - Drum kit Gary Crosby - Bass About Revisiting the famous album when John Coltrane teamed up with vocalist Johnny Hartman to explore their favourite romantic standards, tenor sax virtuoso Mark Lockheart is joined by the extraordinary vocalist Marvin Muoneké and a top-flight rhythm section of Gary Crosby (bass), Alex Webb (piano) and Alfonso Vitale (drums). As well as the songs from the 1963 Impulse album, the group explores other standards that Coltrane liked to play, including All Or Nothing At All, Out Of This World, Say It Again and a vocal version of Moment's Notice. The original album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2013, 50 years after its release. ‘A new vocal sensation in the UK’ – JazzFM ‘A singing superstar in the making’ Jazzwise. Marvin Muoneké has been dubbed 'The Young Man with The Old Soul’ and once you hear his voice you'll understand why – his sound has been likened to Nat 'King' Cole, Johnny Hartman and Billy Eckstine. He has toured with the award-winning swing band, Down For The Count and sung with the Vince Dunn Orchestra and NYJO (the National Youth Jazz Orchestra). He is also a gifted songwriter, arranger and trumpet player. Saxophonist and composer Mark Lockheart first came to prominence in the mid 1980s with the influential big band Loose Tubes. The mid-90s saw Mark recording and performing with many artists including Django Bates, Kenny Wheeler, Norma Winstone, June Tabor, Robert Wyatt and Radiohead as well as his own group, Perfect Houseplants. In 2003 Mark joined Seb Rochford’s Polar Bear, which over a period of twelve years picked up two Mercury award nominations. In 2016 Mark was awarded Jazz FM Instrumentalist of the year and was nominated for the British Composer Awards for his composition ’With One Voice’. His new album, ‘Shapeshifter’, was release in March 2026. ‘Mark Lockheart has been at the centre of British music for four decades’ – UK JazzNews. ‘Saxophonist Mark Lockheart is assured of his place in musical history’ – ThejazzMann.com Alex Webb is a prolific songwriter, arranger and pianist, whose songs have been recorded by jazz singers China Moses, Mina Agossi, Sandra Nkake, Liane Carroll, Allan Harris, Vimala Rowe and Alexander Stewart, among others. Gary Crosby OBE is a leading jazz double bassist, bandleader, composer/arranger, educator, record producer, company director and facilitator, and was a founder member of the Jazz Warriors. He is the Founder and Artistic Director of Tomorrow’s Warriors, providing a platform for talented young musicians who wish to pursue a career in jazz. Alfonso Vitale, from Messina, Sicily, is a top-drawer jazz and classical percussionist and one of the most in-demand drummers in London today. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pkOQUVkboE&t=4s[/embed]

Doors 3:30 PM, Music 4:00 PM - 2 sets of music About Trumpet legend Henry Lowther is in the prime time of his life. A mainstay of the band for over 30 years, the LJO is about to launch their double LP of Lowther’s music, “Primetime”, on his 85th birthday on 11 July. Henry is one of the few players in jazz whose expressive sound is immediately recognisable - he sounds like no one else, and his playing and writing has helped define the sound of the LJO over its 35 years. In advance of the album launch, this gig features the great music he has created for the band.

Bruce Adams has been a stalwart of the UK jazz scene for almost 50 years, performing with the likes of Harry Sweets Edison, Buddy Tate, Al Cohn and Benny Waters and is widely regarded as one of the finest mainstream cornet/trumpet players in Europe. Lately, Bruce has appeared regularly here at the Club with iconic UK saxophonist Alan Barnes, but for this show he’ll be joined by the fantastic saxophonist, Art Themen . An exciting, playful and inventive saxophonist, Art has been a leading light of the British jazz scene for over 50 years. Perhaps best known for his long association with the iconic UK pianist Stan Tracey he was described by The Observer as "One of the tiny handful of undeniably perfect jazz musicians”. A terrific, swinging jazz gig from two masters of the genre! “Bruce Adams…there is as much delicacy as power in his playing” Guardian; "Themen, a veteran master now, in such eloquent form" Jazzwise

Timings: 1st Show Doors 7:00 PM, Music 7:30 PM – 1 set of music 2nd Show Doors 9:00 PM, Music 9:30 PM – 1 set of music Line-up: Chris Outhwaite - Piano Aleks Dimitrova - Double bass Miranda Radford - Drum kit Ollie Kelly - Alto Saxophone Emma Jackson - Tenor Saxophone Noah Black - Saxophone Diggory Keysr - Trumpet Louis Lodder - French horn Misha Fox - trombone Charlie Mellon - trombone About: Tony Kofi, a renowned saxophonist, composer, and educator, began his recording career with a tribute to the legendary jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk, releasing the double award-winning album All Is Know. He will appear with his Tentet at the Vortex, performing the 1959 classic Thelonious Monk Orchestra at Town Hall performing compositions such as Friday 13th, Thelonious, Crepuscule with Nellie and Little Rootie Tootie, alongside a selection of other Monk compositions. The ensemble showcases some of the UK’s most exciting emerging jazz talent, featuring Chris Outhwaite (piano), Aleks Dimitrova (double bass), Miranda Radford (drums), and Louis Lodder (French horn). [embed]https://youtu.be/cd5rGoDqTyE?si=Yhg9gdcVyW9cjgPH[/embed]

Doors 2:00 PM - 3 sets of music About Mopomoso is the UK’s longest running concert series dedicated to freely improvised music! Line-Up Phil Minton (voice), Ivor Kallin (viola) & Charlotte Keeffe (trumpet) + Clive Bell (shakuhachi) & Mike Adcock (piano/accordion/small percussion) + "Over the Edge" trio with Marcello Magliocchi (drums, percussion), Adrian Northover (soprano saxophone), and Domenico Saccente (accordion, piano) (not necessarily playing in this order)

An experienced and highly regarded trumpet player the Award-winning Bryan Corbett includes work with the likes of Us3, The Brand New Heavies, Alesha Dixon, Mica Paris, Beverley Knight, Ruby Turner and Jocelyn Brown on an impressive cv. Also a featured soloist with the 'BBC Concert Orchestra' and Big Band Małopolski in Krakow, Poland he was the recipient of the 'Jerwood Rising Star' at Cheltenham International Festival, while his Quartet was a poll winner at Symphony Hall in Birmingham. He has toured and performed around the globe as a guest artist and with his own bands and regularly appears at festivals, concert halls and clubs throughout the U.K. Tonight Bryan is bringing to the Club his latest project, “Instrumental Groove Unit”, which features his thoughtful, beautifully melodic, flowing, trumpet playing and which he describes as “An original project full of improvisation, hip grooves, beautiful melodies, unique musicianship, interplay and virtuosity, with emphasis on the 'pocket' of groove and freedom of improvisation - a chance to play some original tunes and ideas, coming to it from a slightly different angle than I normally would”. Also featuring Luke Harris (The Brand New Heavies)-drums, Paul Deats kybds & Wayne Matthews bass this promises to be an exciting but highly musical take on the jazz/groove idiom. “I’d heard a lot of good things about IGU and I’m pleased to report that the band didn’t disappoint. Corbett’s fluent and incisive trumpet soloing…flugel solo was characteristically fluent, his tone warm and rounded” JazzMann; “Aside from a love of the fuller, songlike tone and wittily extrovert approach to trumpet playing…Corbett also shows he's able to rise above the naffness of much contemporary jazz fusion” Jazzwise

Fri, Jul 24, 7:45 PM

Mark Kavuma Quintet

Vortex Jazz Club / Dalston / Map

Doors 7:45 PM, Music 8:30 PM - 2 sets of music Line-up: Mark Kavuma - Trumpet Noah Stoneman - Piano Jack Thomas - Drum kit Wilf Diamond - trombone TBC - Double bass About: Named Jazz Instrumentalist of the Year at the Jazz FM Awards 2025, trumpeter, composer and bandleader Mark Kavuma has become one of the defining voices in contemporary British jazz. Renowned for his work with The Banger Factory—winner of Ensemble of the Year at the Parliamentary Jazz Awards 2025—and for nurturing emerging talent through Banger Factory Records, Kavuma's music combines deep swing, soulful lyricism and a strong sense of community. This performance marks the debut of a brand-new quintet, presenting new compositions and a new musical direction. The quintet promises an evening of adventurous improvisation, compelling melodies and collective expression. Join Mark Kavuma and his new quintet for their very first outing at the Vortex.