What happened in London in the 2010s
Text by Mitsutaka Yanagihara (jazz critic)
Yusef Kamaal, a project formed by Kamaal Williams and Yusef Dayes, released Black Focus in 2016. Looking back, the success of this album may have signaled that a new jazz movement was beginning to emerge in the UK.
In 2018, We Out Here was released, featuring Shabaka Hutchings, Ezra Collective and Nubya Garcia, putting UK jazz on the global stage and sparking a movement.
The jazz produced by Caribbean and African immigrants living in London was a direct reflection of London's culture, which was closely connected to clubs, DJs, and record culture, and blended with reggae, Afrobeat, UK garage, and grime. UK jazz succeeded in demonstrating modernity in a way that was different from American jazz, and gradually infiltrated various genres.
Jazz musicians have made significant contributions to the music of Damon Albarn's Gorillaz, Thom Yorke's The Smile, and even Sampha. Over the past decade, the image of jazz in the UK has changed completely. It can be said to be a new culture that symbolizes the city of London.
A representative event of the London scene. A session event where musicians gather in a church. The gig is divided into two parts: the first part is a performance of classic songs and music by legends, called a songbook, and the second part is a performance of their own music.
