Last week I was in the studio with Ivo Neame, Hannes Riepler, Ryan Trebilcock and Jon Scott recording for our next Whirlwind Recordings release. If you don’t know these guys, they are some of the most incredible musicians on the international jazz scene and listening back to the rough mixes reminds me how lucky I am to have them in my band. The album will be out later this year so keep your ears to the ground.

You can catch us at our first London gig of the year on 31st May at The Forge in Camden. We will be playing music from our acclaimed 2012 album Forward Space and previewing music from our upcoming release. Tickets are now on sale HERE.

I also want to let you know about my latest project ‘Freeway’ which features Alice Zawadzki (voice, violin), Esben Tjalve (accordion), Loz Garrett (bass) and Corrie Dick (drums). The premise of this ensemble is to combine sparse composition and group improvisation with selected poems by Rainer Maria Rilke. We will make our debut on 2nd April at the Amersham Arms in New Cross, London  as part of the weekly event put on by the SE Collective.

In other exciting news, my record label Whirlwind Recordings has teamed up with saxophonist Zhenya Strigalev and Maggie Black Productions to create the Whirlwind Sessions at London’s world famous Pizza Express Jazz Club every Friday night. Each week is led by a different artist on the label and I’ll be taking my turn on April 5th, leading the house band for the first set with invited guests joining during the second set. Read more about it here.

Beyond that, here are a few other highlights looking ahead…

15 May – w/Dee Byrne at The Vortex, London
28 May – w/Henrik Jensen at St. Ives Jazz Club, Cornwall
14 June – Whirlwind Sessions at Pizza Express, London
17 June – w/Henrik Jensen at The Vortex, London
24 June – w/Henrik Jensen at The Oxford, London