International Jazz Day | Live Music Not To Miss
30 April 2025
Calling all hepcats: Add some groove to your night with these top-shelf jazz and funk acts coming to us live this year.
Today is International Jazz Day – so what better time to showcase some of the amazing artists performing at the Union Chapel over the coming months?
Whether you’re a savant of swampy Mississippi swing, an enthusiast for experimental grooves or a funkadelic-fusion fanatic, we’ve got something to scratch that itch. From New Orleans to Brooklyn, Japan to Hawaii, Spain to Scotland, you’ll find a full cross-continental programme of insatiably spicy percussions and eloquent compositions, with internationally acclaimed acts bringing their incredible talent to our stunning space.
Fergus McCreadie Trio + Laura Jurd | Fred Wesley & The New JB's | Jerron Paxton | John Scofield | A celebration of The Meters | Rita Payés | Takuya Kuroda | Victor Wooten & The Wooten Brothers
Sample sounds below and grab tickets today before they go!
Jerron Paxton + Martin Harley | Thursday 15 May
Blending wit with reverence, Paxton draws on the Black American traditional music that speaks to his ancestral roots, when jazz and blues were a means of both personal and cultural survival. | Book here
A celebration of The Meters | Friday 20 June
To celebrate the 55th anniversary of the third studio LP by this iconic New Orleans quartet, an all-star group featuring James Taylor (JTQ), Leigh Gracie (Speedometer), Pat Illingworth (JTQ) and Dan Drury (The Filthy Six) will perform classics and fan favourites from The Meters’ famed back catalogue. | Book here
John Scofield's Long Days Quartet | Tuesday 15 July
Named in honour of the lengthy daylight hours of July, this group with John Medeski, Vicente Archer and Ted Poor is freshly forming to debut Scofield’s recent groove compositions and revisit some classic material with modern perspectives. | Book here
Victor Wooten & The Wooten Brothers | Monday 27 October
Combining one of our foremost working bassists, a leading keyboardist and vocalist, the ‘FutureMan’ of percussion and a guitarist extraordinaire, expect a tantalising mixture of Jazz-Funk, Fusion and R&B from this incredible family group. | Book here
Takuya Kuroda | Tuesday 11 November
Widely acknowledged as one of the world’s most talented trumpeters, Takuya Kuroda is at the forefront of genre-bending jazz music with a unique blend of soul, funk, post-bop and hip-hop. | Book here
Rita Payés | Wednesday 19 November
A Spanish jazz and bossa nova trombonist and singer-songwriter, Payés is an emerging talent of the Sant Andreu Jazz Band, the nucleus for some of the most promising young musicians on the jazz scene. | Book here
Fergus McCreadie Trio + Laura Jurd | Thursday 20 November
With a unique blend of jazz and Scottish folk inspired by his country’s sublime landscapes, this eminent pianist captures the hearts and minds of audiences worldwide, with an appeal that extends far beyond the constraints of genre. | Book here
Fred Wesley & The New JB's | Monday 24 November
Fred Wesley and James Brown’s backing band deliver a timeless lesson in the history of funk. Wesley’s career has seen him collaborate with the likes of Ike and Tina Turner, Parliament-Funkadelic, and, most famously, the Godfather of funk himself. | Book here
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