Namvula
Namvula Rennie is a singer-songwriter whose cool, engaging style reflects her background. She was born in Zambia to a Zambian mum and Scottish dad, and her songs mix African influences and soulful balladry with jazz. Rennie plays acoustic guitar and her classy backing band includes African musicians and members of the London-based jazz outfit Led Bib.
- Mac, Birmingham, 25 September (0121-446 3232). Then touring until 17 October
Seckou Keita
Born in Senegal but now based in Nottingham, Seckou Keita is an adventurous master of the kora. He has played flamenco, jazz-funk and African styles, and is best-known for his album of duets with the Welsh harpist Catrin Finch. All these influences can be heard in his elegant solo album 22 Strings, released earlier this year and now followed by a lengthy solo tour.
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Ropetackle Arts Centre, Shoreham-by-Sea (01273 464440), 26 September. Then touring until 5 December
Sain Zahoor
Zahoor is a remarkable Sufi mystic singer from Pakistan who spent much of his life travelling across the country, living and performing in shrines. For the past 14 years, he’s also performed on the international circuit, accompanying himself on the three-stringed ektara and singing, as a fan once put it, songs of “spiritual love that make you dance”. He performs this autumn alongside the celebrated band Faiz Ali Faiz, which plays qawwali, or devotional music.
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Transcender festival, Barbican, London (020-7638 8891), 27 September. Then touring until 5 October
Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn
Béla Fleck is surely the finest and most adventurous banjo player on the planet, capable of switching from classical pieces to traditional-influenced songs and African styles, while his fellow banjo virtuoso and wife Abigail Washburn adds in Appalachian or Chinese influences. They are worth checking out even if you think you hate the banjo.
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Howard Assembly Room, Leeds (0844-848 2700), 13 November. Then touring until 16 November
Ewan MacColl Tributes
Ewan MacColl was born 100 years ago last January, but celebrations of his life and memorable songwriting continue. On 30 October, Cooking Vinyl release Joy of Living, a double album of his work performed by a cast including Martin Carthy, Jarvis Cocker and Martha and Rufus Wainwright. This is followed by Blood and Roses, a concert at the Barbican, in London, that features MacColl’s sons Neill and Calum and his wife, Peggy Seeger, along with a lineup that includes Norma Waterson, Martin and Eliza Carthy, and Rachel and Becky Unthank.
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Barbican, London (020-7638 8891), 9 November
JAZZ
Scarborough jazz festival
This year the excellent Scarborough jazz festival has an impressive lineup, from Darius Brubeck, Jean Toussaint’s Blakey Project and the Ian Shaw Trio with Guy Barker to the Kofi-Barnes Aggregation, Dave Newton and Alan Barnes, Gareth Lockrane, Michael Janisch’s Paradigm Shift, and the Beats & Pieces Big Band.
- Scarborough Spa (01723 821 888), 25-27 September
Snarky Puppy
This Brooklyn collective, led by bassist Mike League, have built up such a grassroots following among fans of jazz, funk and fusion that they’ve transcended their cult status. This impressively ambitious big-venue tour of the UK proves that they’ve become one of the biggest live draws in international jazz.
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O2 Academy, Leeds, 1 October. Then touring until 7 October
Matthew Halsall and the Gondwana Orchestra
Manchester-based trumpeter Matthew Halsall draws heavily from the spiritual vibe of Alice Coltrane’s astral jazz for this propulsive project, featuring Rachel Gladwin on harp. Impressive new album, Into Forever, features a host of guest vocalists.
- Capstone, Liverpool (0844-8000 410, 1 October. Then touring until 20 October
Esperanza Spalding
The bass-playing American jazz singer Esperanza Spalding has no new album and only one UK date on a whistle-stop, seven-nation European tour. Spalding’s latest project, a Kate Bush-style theatrical, multimedia song cycle of “live musical vignettes”, is entitled Emily’s D+Evolution and explores childhood and imagination. It has earned ecstatic notices in the US and arrives in London this November.
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Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London (0844-477 2000), 2 November
London jazz festival
Big names at London’s biggest jazz festival include Melody Gardot, Kamasi Washington, Allen Toussaint, Cassandra Wilson, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Dave Holland, Hiromi, Maria Schneider and Kurt Elling. Inventive collaborations include Bill Evans’s bass player Eddie Gómez teaming up with the Britten Sinfonia, Ice T joining trumpeter Ron McCurdy for a Langston Hughes tribute and Courtney Pine duetting with Zoe Rahman at the Globe.
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Venues throughout London, 13-22 November
