PYJÆN (Deep Matter) + Mikoudi + Yoshizawa - a DJ Lubi x Leeds Jazz Festival special
Saturday 27th May
Doors 7pm, Music from 8pm
Tickets £8 student / £10 general
Presented by DJ Lubi
14+. Under 18’s must be accompanied by an adult.
Leeds Jazz Festival is back for the second edition in 2023 from 25th-30th May across various venues. Last year, the city's "Mr Jazz" Lubi Jovanovic (DJ Lubi) featured three great shows in the festival at Brudenell Social Club (TC & The Groove Family, Jasmine Myra, Live Evil : Electric Mles Reimagined), and this year, he returns to the venue for a Saturday night LJF special on 27th May. Headliners will be London highly rated jazz fusion kings PYJÆN making their first appearance in the city for over a year promoting their spring release EP "Sunset Milk Tea" on Deep Matter Recordings. Support comes from two of Leeds' most exciting bands on the alt-jazz/nu-jazz scene - Mikoudi and Yoshizawa.
PYJÆN reaches inside the deep, multidimensional well of what is broadly called jazz and brings together all its diverse components in a singular, emotional sound. They released their debut self-titled album in 2019 to wide critical and public acclaim, garnering support from the likes of Gilles Peterson, Huey Morgan, Jazz FM and Clash Magazine.
The new chapter of their musical journey created room for featured artists once again, an exercise they thoroughly enjoyed on their 'Sage Secrets' EP with Blue Lab Beats and Odette Peters, which reached over 1M streams on Spotify within only 6 months, testimony that the band has become a major force in the UK "Jazz and beyond" scene.
In 2021 they released their second full album, ‘Feast’, their most daring release yet, with thirteen tracks and five features ranging from singer Renato Paris on ‘By Your Side’, to Glasgow Jazz legend Corto.Alto on ‘Stay Home’. "Feast" was recorded over five days at Peter Gabriel’s legendary studio Real World Studios.
The band is now in the process of releasing their third EP ‘Sunset Milk Tea’. This collection of tunes were recorded during the ‘Feast’ recording sessions at Real World Studios, but were not released until now. The band started releasing a single every month in autumn 2022 starting with the Halloween special ‘Spook’ on 28th October 2022 and finishing with the release of the EP on 24th March 2023. Adventurous songwriting, meticulous timing, incredibly tight horn arrangements and an obvious joy to play together are PYJÆN's hallmarks with musical influences ranging from The Headhunters to Frank Zappa with some hip-hop swagger thrown into the mix.
Support comes from Mikoudi, rising stars in the future soul/nujazz fusion scene of Leeds. Like many fine bands in the recent Leeds jazz explosion, they came together at Leeds Conservatoire and started gigging around the city in 2022 releasing their debut single towards the end of November. It had strong support from BBC Introducing West Yorkshire and that led to more gigs around Leeds. They are a jazz/electronica/nusoul/hiphop collective with musical influences that include Nubiyan Twist and Hiatus Kaiyote. Led from the back by drummer Archie Williamson and from the front by enigmatic lead vocalist India Button, Mikoudi are still relatively new on the scene but are definitely ones to watch out for in 2023 from the buzzing Leeds scene.
Opening the show are a brand new band still at Leeds Conservatoire. Yoshizawa is an exciting new UK/Leeds punk jazz band that creates mood filled atmospheric soundscapes that embrace jazz, electronica and post punk influences. Led by drummer Amelie Yoshizawa and featuring original music mainly composed by her, they push to create a raw authenticity to their art. Inspired by the likes of Soccer 96, Kamasi Washington, The Comet Is Coming and a plethora of punk and electronic music artists, expect a heavy bass and rhythm led sound awash with synths, abstract guitar sounds and spiralling sax solos. Yoshizawa are Charlie Davis (sax), Henry Skinner (guitar), Tao Kano (keys/synth) and Amelie Yoshizawa (drums).
Ben Vize saxophone, ewi / Dylan Jones trumpet / Benjamin Crane bass / Charlie Hutchinson drums / Tjoe Man Cheung guitar