SOWETO KINCH - Shared Seating / Standing Room

Soweto Kinch ground breaking Sax player and MC performs at Hideaway
Saturday, 24th Jan 2015

Ticket Update 22nd Jan: All available tickets are now for STANDING ROOM/SHARED TABLES ONLY.

All Standing Room tickets will be admitted from 7pm on this basis, with any available table space to be shared. When this seating is full these tickets will be Standing Room Only so please arrive early!

Soweto Kinch is one of the most exciting and versatile young musicians to hit the British jazz scene in recent years, not just an exceptional saxophonist but a leading light in combining jazz with Hip-Hop and narrative rap.

Line Up-

Soweto Kinch - Saxophone 

Nick Jurd - Bass

Shaney Forbes - Drums

Soweto's musical influences are as broad as they are diverse. He particularly admires Sonny Rollins for his innovative style and successful appropriation of West Indian music within the jazz canon. His Hip-Hop references range from modern day greats such as KRS ONE and Pharaoh Monche to Dub poet innovators such as Linton Kwesi Johnson, Mikey Smith and beat poets such as Jean Sheppard. Most recently, Soweto has been influenced by baroque and early classical music due to an interest he has in the 17th and 18th century black population of Britain. He is keen to reconstruct the African and classical influences that this community would have had.

Whilst much of Soweto's music is firmly rooted in Jazz - drawing equally from swing-era, be-bop and post-bop schools - he also works on projects where he can integrate other music. He has been inspired by groups such as De La Soul, and producers like Mad Lib. And his brief spell with Crosby’s Jazz Jamaica, and Ernest Ranglin’s band have nurtured a respect and affection for reggae and Jamaican folk music – which can be heard in both his Jazz work and his Hip Hop production.

Working with multi-talented saxophonist Jason Yarde as producer,  he created a stunning album which brought together his love of jazz and hip-hop. On Conversations With The Unseen (Dune 2003) he brings Charlie Parker and Q-Tip into the zone, combining straightahead jazz with funky hip-hop and rap vocals. The album launched Soweto on his career as a solo artist, winning a Mercury Music Prize for Album Of The Year 2003, and earning him the MOBO Award for Best Jazz Act 2003 and again in 2007 – a string of awards followed!  Urban Music Awards Best Jazz Act 2004, BBC Radio Jazz Awards Best Instrumentalist & Best Band 2004, Peter Whittingham Award Jazz Innovation 2004, and Alto Saxophone at the British Jazz Awards 2007 – that last one perhaps an acknowledgement of his 2006 album, A Life In The Day of B19, a truly groundbreaking recording project from a great young artist, now creating a major stir on both sides of the Atlantic.

While his debut album earned acclaim for successfully blending Jazz and Hip-Hop where so many others had failed, this album brought the two genres closer still and highlighted Kinch’s incredible talents not only as a Jazz player but also as a leading narrative rap artist.

“One of the freshest and most exciting prospects to emerge through British music for years.” HIT sheet

“If there’s anyone who still believes that musicians from other nations dont swing as hard as Americans, this group should convince them otherwise. Soweto Kinch is that good.” allaboutjazz.com

“Mr Kinch demonstrates what England has to teach [the USA] about narrative Hip-Hop. Don’t sleep on Mr Kinch.” The New York Times

“A clever and entertaining juxtapostion of idioms that kicks pure Jazz and authentic rap into a brave new world.” The Guardian