Doors 7:45 PM, Music 8:30 PM – 2 sets of music
Line-up:
Finn Carter – Piano
Matt Carmichael – Tenor saxophone
Alex Hitchcock – Tenor Saxophone
About:
Part of Finn Carter’s monthly residency at the Vortex, showcasing a new project each month.
Matt Carmichael
Heralded by BBC Music Magazine as “a distinctive new voice in a crowded scene,” Scottish saxophonist and composer Matt Carmichael continues to move from strength to strength and grow his reach globally with his powerfully emotive blend of melodic jazz and folk music. Born just outside of Inverness before moving to Glasgow, where, at the age of 11, he enthusiastically ran home from school clutching a letter from his local music service offering saxophone lessons. Music instantly became his passion, and he soon began writing music for his own band, performing their first gig at the Butterfly and Pig in Glasgow — before half the band were legally allowed in the pub.
Since then, the band has developed a special chemistry and sound together, grounded in collective improvisation. They regularly perform internationally at venues like Bimhuis, Fasching, Celtic Connections, Ronnie Scott’s, and Love Supreme, as well as Matt working as a soloist and arranger with the Grammy Award-winning WDR Big Band and the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra.
Following his critically acclaimed debut Where Will the River Flow (which amassed over 10 million streams), Carmichael signed to the renowned label Edition Records for his second album, Marram. His latest album, Dancing with Embers included collaborations with Rachel Sermanni and Brìghde Chaimbeul and was shortlisted for the multi-genre SAY awards as well as winning ‘Best Album’ in the Scottish Jazz Awards. The next one ‘Held in the Dark’ comes out October 26.
Alex Hitchcock
London-born Alex Hitchcock is a leading international voice on the saxophone. An Ivor Novello-nominated composer and described by The Guardian as a “virtuoso” saxophonist, his innovative collaborations have confirmed a growing reputation as a catalyst for musical encounters that continually push the envelope a little further.
An awarded composer and recording artist, Hitchcock has released music as a leader on New Soil, Edition Records, Whirlwind Recordings, and Fresh Sound New Talent. Dream Band: Live in London (2023) was Jazzwise Editor’s Album of the Year. Recognition for his work includes the Peter Whittingham Award, the Conad Jazz Prize at the Umbria Jazz Festival, and selection for Sound and Music’s In Motion cohort in 2026. Working between London and New York resulted in Letters From Afar (2025), which was selected as a Stereogum and NPR Album of the Week. He arranged and performed on Jasper Høiby’s 2025 release We Must Fight, reworking the landmark Phronesis catalogue for an oud, flute, and saxophone frontline.
His work has been featured by the BBC, France Musique, WDR, JazzFM, Worldwide FM, and in publications including DownBeat, MOJO, Jazzwise, Musica Jazz, Stereogum, and Uncut. He has become known for distinctive contributions in a wide variety of musical contexts. His own music is at times intense and chaotic, at others disarmingly sparse and emotionally direct, inspired by the radical tradition of Black American music.
Finn Carter
As we move beyond the quarter century, the London scene continues to provide a home for some of the most adventurous genre-blending sounds to be heard anywhere. Pianist/composer Finn Carter is at once right at the center of the capital’s jazz community, regularly appearing at venues like Ronnie Scott’s and The Vortex, and yet simultaneously inhabiting a space of his very own, on his own journey that encompasses working with such musically sympathetic stars of the pop world as Loyle Carner, Olivia Dean and Rex Orange County while honing his own uncompromising musical vision. Finn’s music contains echoes of his inspirations – he names Alice Coltrane, Andrew Hill and Jason Moran as favourites, but transcends influence to make its own utterly individual statement.