Opening Night

Description

The Battersea Jazz Festival will be opening its 2025 run at the beautiful Landor Space, featuring a top class nine-piece band featuring members of the North London Jazz Collective. The North London Jazz Collective is a multifarious group of some of the finest jazz musicians in the UK, who play largely but not exclusively bebop, swing, gypsy and modern jazz; and meet once a week on a Wednesday evening at the Brewhouse in Highbury for what has become the one of the most talked about jazz nights in London.

This band, led as a collaboration between NLJC convener and drummer Robbie Ellison, bassist Dominic Howles, and pianist and singer Hugo Jennings, will present an extremely rare collection of arrangements written by Marty Paich for Louie Bellson and his band in the 1960s, which subsequently were toured in the UK. Hear this music live and on your doorstop for the first time, along with original arrangements and compositions by Dom Howles, Robbie Ellison, Honey Boulton and Hugo Jennings.

Robbie Ellison is one of the most respected young drummers in London. As well as running his weekly Wednesday night session at the Brewhouse in Highbury, he can be found playing all over London the UK and throughout Europe as an in-demand member of the jazz community. Since graduating from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, he has shared the stage with many legends of the UK jazz scene, including Alex Garnett, Pete Horsfall, Ivo Neame, Dave O’Higgins, Simon Spillet, Deschanel Gordon, Bruce Adams, Sara Dowling, the Alex Mendham Orchestra and many more; as well as New York giants John Marshall,  Chris Byars, Eric Alexander, Mike LeDonne, Tom Kirkpatrick, Frank Basile, Paul Sikivie, Ari Roland and Zaid Nasser. His debut album, co-lead with Steve Fishwick and Frank Basile, is scheduled for release in 2026. Robbie’s compositions and arrangements draw upon a diverse range of influences, including the music of Dizzy Gillespie, Tadd Dameron, Mary Lou Williams, Gil Evans, Benny Golson and Slide Hampton, as well as classical composers Mahler, Schoenberg and Alban Berg.

After living his early years in Jamaica and Hong Kong, Dominic Howles moved to leafy Somerset at the age of 13 to encounter two things he had never experienced before; Snow and the Wurzels. After studying at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he was able to play with renowned pianist John Taylor, singer Norma Winstone and saxophonist Stan Sulzmann, Dominic has been busy on the British jazz scene playing all across Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Some of the people with whom he has played and recorded include Stacey Kent, Anita Wardell, Gary Smulyan, Kate Williams, Julian Siegel, Phil Robson, Tim Richards, Gareth Lockrane, Pete Long, Malcolm Earle Smith, Pete Cater, and many others.

Hugo Jennings is a pianist, singer, and bandleader. He has established himself as a respected name in British jazz through his playing, knowledge of the music, and work as founder and director of the Battersea Jazz Festival. His music is inspired by Barry Harris, Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, Cedar Walton, Thelonious Monk, and countless other jazz and classical composers. He has appeared at venues including the Clapham Grand, Pizza Express Dean Street, ExWide in Pisa, and performed alongside musicians including Steve Fishwick, Alex Garnett, Tom Smith, Quentin Collins, and American artists including Chuck Redd and Adam Moezinia.

Lineup: Donovan Haffner, alto sax; Jacob Wilson, tenor sax; Alex Garnett, bari sax; Steve Fishwick, trumpet; Joe Fenning, trombone, Ozzy Düzenli, guitar; Hugo Jennings, piano; Dominic Howles, bass; Robbie Ellison, drums

Doors open at 7pm; music starts at 8pm