Queer Jazz exists to platform, nurture and celebrate the emerging queer jazz scene. Programmed by Tina Edwards and Arowah, they have put together an exciting monthly programme of innovative LGBTQI+ artists at The Vortex Jazz Club, supported by Arts Council England.
Like minded improvises meeting again for the second time downstairs at the vortex for responsibly controlled chaos.
Welcoming and relaxed, come for a drink, sit back and enjoy the music, or bring your horns, sticks and strings to join in during the second set.
“Vortex Lates” is a series of events taking place in our downstairs bar on Friday or Saturday. A new late-night jazz hang for Dalston where you can grab a drink and listen to some of the best improvised musicians from around the city.
John Etheridge’s reputation in the jazz world cannot be overstated. A genuinely virtuosic fusion guitarist, Etheridge is one of a handful of players who can claim to have helped shape the character of modern jazz guitar.
Frost and Marrows come together with a brilliant rhythm section of Huw V Williams on double bass and Ollie Peszynski on drums in this co-led band to perform a selection of their own compositions as well as some their favourite music from celebrated jazz musicians/composers including Paul Motian, Keith Jarrett and Joe Zawinul.
Our monthly series brings together some of the most prominent voices in contemporary songwriting, hosted by Matthew Herd. This month we welcome Ella Clayton with her beautiful, nuanced songs and singularly enchanting voice.
The trio present a buoyant and elusive jazz, driven by referential investigation and an unorthodox approach to the warp and phase of rhythm.
Longtime collaborators Jessica Ackerley (guitar) and Eli Wallace (piano) will team up with UK improvising pioneers Rachel Musson (sax) and Mark Sanders (drums). Marking their second time playing in London and at Vortex, Ackerley and Wallace are ecstatic to explore new, spontaneous musical territory with Musson and Sanders, a cross-Atlantic meeting that draws upon the singular output of each musician and the collective improvised vernacular they share.
Rick Simpson presents his first Piano Trio project. This is a trio that thrives on freedom and interaction. Original tunes and inventive arrangements become launching points for improvisation, with the band slipping effortlessly from one piece into another.
Hong Kong-born jazz guitarist and composer Kurtis Li invites you to an intimate evening at Vortex Jazz Club, featuring selections from his acclaimed debut album In Bloom alongside new original compositions.
A weekly session on Sunday evenings, the jams will be hosted by some of London’s finest: drummer Jas Kayser, pianist Rick Simpson, guitarist Nick Costley-White, trumpeter Sean Gibbs and tenor saxophonists Harben Kay and Riley Stone-Lonergan (+ sometimes a few guest leaders) each one hosting one session on rotation.
The London Jazz Orchestra, one of London’s musical treasures, opens its 35th season at the Vortex featuring the music of one of the great jazz writers, tenor saxophonist Pete Hurt. A long-serving members of the band, Pete is an outstanding soloist and composer of numerous pieces for the LJO.
Liminal is a London/ Bristol based band, presenting a unique blend of deconstructed elements from rock, jazz, americana and electronic music with the experimental sensitivities of long-form collective electroacoustic improvisation.
Pianist/composer Hans Koller joins forces with double bassist Calum Gourlay, fellow founder member of the Monk repertoire band Thelonious, and with the unique saxophone virtuoso Tony Kofi, plus the amazing young drummer Noah Ojumu in a celebration of the music of Thelonious Monk.
With the Julian Siegel Quartet, the BBC Jazz Award winning saxophonist and composer Julian Siegel can be heard alongside some of this generation’s most distinctive voices, creating an in-demand Quartet on the UK and European Jazz scene.
Award winning vibraphonist and composer Jonny Mansfield brings his quartet for a special show at the Vortex featuring the incredible Emmanuel Michael.
Billy Pod is an award-winning Greek drummer/musician based in London. His debut album “Drums to Heal Society” that was released in 2019 has not just given Vasileios Podaras (aka Billy Pod) a prominent position among the new generation of drummers internationally but also demonstrated his compelling skills as a composer and music ensemble director.
Stan Brunt is an award-winning jazz guitarist, arranger and composer leading a new project which explores the space created by having just guitar as the chordal instrument, focusing heaving on improvisation and textural changes.
Featuring: dj angel wings b2b with aloisius, who will leave a kiss upon every petals forehead on the wing of your heart Cajm, who will leave a kiss on the wind Damsel Elysium, who will leave a kiss by the door and on the window + the sweet voices of: Coby Sey, Imvn, Camelia, Shauwdii
A weekly session on Sunday evenings, the jams will be hosted by some of London’s finest: drummer Jas Kayser, pianist Rick Simpson, guitarist Nick Costley-White, trumpeter Sean Gibbs and tenor saxophonists Harben Kay and Riley Stone-Lonergan (+ sometimes a few guest leaders) each one hosting one session on rotation.
Reimagining jazz repertoire for the 21st century.
Saxophonist Jean Toussaint presents a special edition of his quintet JT5.
Since Jean Toussaint Left Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, he hasn’t looked back. Nor has he spent a career trying to repeat the past.
Following their packed debut in May, Bone Folder return to the Vortex, this time presenting a set from Cambridge heavy improv trio Welkin.
LVDF is the new Italy / UK / New Zealand cross cultural collaboration between four artists at the forefront of their respective boundary-pushing jazz scenes, and are excited to celebrate the launch of their debut EP at the Vortex Jazz Club!
The “New Masters” quintet brings together a group of outstanding younger musicians who I met in the main on London’s thriving jam session scene after the Covid curtain lifted in 2021.
Andrea Rinciari is an Italian jazz musician based in London, his style is rooted in the bebop and straight-ahead lineage.
A weekly session on Sunday evenings, the jams will be hosted by some of London’s finest: drummer Jas Kayser, pianist Rick Simpson, guitarist Nick Costley-White, trumpeter Sean Gibbs and tenor saxophonists Harben Kay and Riley Stone-Lonergan (+ sometimes a few guest leaders) each one hosting one session on rotation.
Tom Smith is an award-winning saxophonist, composer, and arranger, firmly established within London’s vibrant jazz scene.
Rebecka Edlund & Immy Churchill present 11.02077, a project by the London-based, American songwriter and musician Nina Erickson.
Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, this performance had to be postponed. We hope to announce a new date soon.
New gig confirmed: Ollendorff/Stone-Lonergan/Chaplin/Giles
Four of London’s most in-demand musicians come to The Vortex on Friday 22nd August to present a set of inventive arrangements drawn from the modern jazz tradition. Expect an evening of close interplay and fresh perspectives on well-loved material.
For this appearance, London-based saxophonist and Dankworth Prize-winning composer Matt Anderson will be joined by some of his favourite musicians from the new generation of the London jazz scene, pianist Scottie Thompson and drummer Kai MacRae, alongside his long-time collaborator bassist Will Harris, who is a regular member of the Matt
Anderson Quartet.
New York tap dancer Liberty Styles joins forces with saxophonist Rachael Cohen for a performance bursting with creativity, tradition and spontaneity. An exciting meeting of two artists at the height of their craft.
Welcoming and relaxed, come for a drink, sit back and enjoy the music, or bring your horns, sticks and strings to join in during the second set.
A weekly session on Sunday evenings, the jams will be hosted by some of London’s finest: drummer Jas Kayser, pianist Rick Simpson, guitarist Nick Costley-White, trumpeter Sean Gibbs and tenor saxophonists Harben Kay and Riley Stone-Lonergan (+ sometimes a few guest leaders) each one hosting one session on rotation.
This month featuring: Dave Tucker, Alex Ward, Hannah Marshall & Matt Hutchinson + mcddavid & members of mToo – stattwerke international: Matt Clark, Sylvia Hallett, Charlotte Keeffe, Maria Sappho, Paul Jolly, Tim Fletcher, Armin Sturm, Susanna Ferrar, Ulrike Schöller, Jörg Hufschmidt. Expect some surprises!
Quentin Collins Quintet features an All-Star line up of contemporary straight-ahead musicians on the London scene. Featuring regular front line partner and renowned tenor sax tyro Leo Richardson, expect new and old QC originals as well as choice arrangements from the contemporary bop canon, always focusing on tight ensemble playing and swinging grooves.
Heidi Vogel vocalist with The Cinematic Orchestra has performed around the world from The Sydney Opera House to Fuji Rock and Headlining Montreux Jazz festival with Quincy Jones in attendance.
This evening at the Vortex Joy will be performing music from all three of her albums on voice and piano alongside her quartet. She will also be previewing new music from an upcoming release.
Award winning virtuoso jazz guitarist, composer and bandleader Miles Mindlin returns to the Vortex with a group featuring Mejedi Owusu (trumpet), Kai MacRae (drums) and Tom Sheen (double bass).
A weekly session on Sunday evenings, the jams will be hosted by some of London’s finest: drummer Jas Kayser, pianist Rick Simpson, guitarist Nick Costley-White, trumpeter Sean Gibbs and tenor saxophonists Harben Kay and Riley Stone-Lonergan (+ sometimes a few guest leaders) each one hosting one session on rotation.
Alexandra Ridout, Quinton Cain (NYC) and Freddie Jensen have formed this trio featuring their original music for a tour this summer. Alexandra has been playing with Freddie for the last 10 years and Quinton the last 4 in NYC.
Since returning to the UK Zoe has recorded and toured 4 albums with her partner, multi-award winning guitarist Jim Mullen. The most recent “Somewhere in the Night”.
Our monthly late night series brings together some of the most prominent voices in contemporary songwriting, hosted by Matthew Herd. This month brings together the brilliant folk-tinged Lily Lyons in a rare duo outing with pianist and writer Angus Bayley.
The most intimate version of Billy Marrows’ acclaimed 12-piece chamber-jazz ensemble, the Grande Família Quartet features an unusual line-up of some of London’s finest young jazz musicians.
As soon as Korhan Futacı presses his lips to the saxophone’s mouthpiece, the ritual begins. During his London debut at Vortex as a new resident, the prominent figure of Turkey’s alternative music scene will guide us from the chaos of Istanbul to an uncharted realm. A place filled with vitality but also darkness; fusing traditional Turkish music with free improvisations.
Joe Herbert is a London-based jazz guitarist whose music channels raw spirit, compositional clarity, and unfiltered energy into a sound that’s both deeply personal and explosively alive. In a trio that listens as intently as it plays, Joe finds space to challenge expectations and stretch the language of modern jazz into something raw, honest, and alive.
Ashley Bonfante brings his fun new project to the Vortex for the first time. This exciting group, full of wonderfully creative improvisers at the forefront of the London scene, will be exploring the music of the great Ornette Coleman with some Booker Little, Eric Dolphy, and original compositions thrown in for good measure.
The trio of John Butcher, Mark Wastell, and Luigi Marino first met in 2022 at the chapel of St. Margaret’s House in Bethnal Green, London. Wastell and Marino had begun collaborating in 2018—initially within Mark’s large ensemble The Seen, and later as a parallel duo—focusing on the resonances of metal instruments and a shared sense of time.