This event is part of:
Monday 27 July 8pm
The Cockpit
Luke Bainbridge's PETSTEP
Alex Hitchcock (solo)
Jamie Harms' CLIO
Luke Bainbridge's PETSTEP - @lukebainbridgemusic
Alex Hitchcock @abhitchcock (solo)
Luke Bainbridge’s second album PETSTEP weaves avant chamber jazz and improv into a palindromic, emotionally charged cycle shaped by grief and growth. Following the critically acclaimed Surface Tension, the lineup of Huw V Williams (bass), Ralph Wyld (vibraphone), Kieran McLeod (trombone) and Luke Bainbridge (drums) returns to double down on the quartet's “distinct and identifiable voice” (Jazz Views). In this new set of compositions, Bainbridge reflects on the difficult first steps of adulthood, following the loss of a family pet. With influences ranging from MF DOOM to Olivier Messiaen, PETSTEP channels experimental composition, hip-hop energy and virtuosic contemporary jazz interplay into a bold and inventive album.
Alex Hitchcock @abhitchcock (solo)
Alex Hitchcock is a London-born saxophonist, composer, arranger, and producer based in New York. He draws inspiration politically as much as musically from artists in the radical tradition of Black American music, including Archie Shepp, Cecil Taylor, Hazel Scott, Ma Rainey, and Max Roach. His work reckons with the politics embedded in both the history and form of this music—and the struggle, resistance, and reinvention that have shaped it. Since emerging as a leader, Hitchcock has released four solo albums to widespread critical acclaim. The Guardian described him as a “virtuoso” saxophonist, while BBC Jazz World hailed him as “leading the charge in terms of new jazz music being created in the UK.” His work has been featured on the BBC, France Musique, WDR, JazzFM, Worldwide FM, and in leading publications such as Downbeat, MOJO, Jazzwise, Musica Jazz, Stereogum, and Uncut.
Hitchcock is a two-time Ivor Novello Composer Award nominee (2020, 2022), Parliamentary Jazz Awards nominee for Best Album (2023), winner of the Peter Whittingham Award (2018), and recipient of a major prize at the 2019 Umbria Jazz Festival. His writing foregrounds musical form as a site of both freedom and resistance, rejecting the co-opting of jazz as a neat synthesis of difference. He says: “I don’t want compositions to be containers that the band just fills up—we can explode the container.” Dissonance and difference exist less to be resolved than to be explored, honouring the music’s historical role as a vehicle for dissent—always inviting the listener into that negotiation.
He tours globally with his own quartet, performing at major venues and festivals including Ronnie Scott’s, the Barbican, Royal Albert Hall, Glastonbury, Bimhuis, North Sea Jazz Festival, Jazz à Vienne, Umbria Jazz Festival, Rochester International Jazz Festival, and Love Supreme. He is co-founder of LVDF, described by Soweto Kinch on BBC Radio 3 as “shifting gears and inverting time signatures on a hairpin, with so much soul and synergy.” His SAME MOON project with guitarist Ant Law was described by Jazzwise as “world-class original music making”.
Jamie Harms' CLIO - @clio_clio_clio_music / @111jamieharms
A cure for isolation, CLIO is the latest project from saxophonist and composer Jamie Harms. A fluid group of some of the best young players in the capital, CLIO seeks to bring people together, both on the stage, and in the audience. Set up by Jamie initially as a way to connect with his friends through music, the group has since crystallised a new sound drawing on the depth of the UK's music scene.Playing original tunes and reinterpretations of other songs, inspired by a variety of artists including Kenny Wheeler, Porij, John Zorn, and Laura Marling.
Sliding-scale ticket options:
To help make our shows accessible while ensuring we can continue to pay our artists properly, we’ve introduced new sliding scale options for our ticket prices. These prices include our usual £15 tickets, plus 'Pay It Forward' options for those who are in a position to pay slightly more, as well as our half price tickets for musicians and students.
Please note: ALL ticket prices are for general admission, with all seats unreserved and first-come-first-served.
High note: £25.00
Cool cat: £20.00
Standard jam: £15.00
Students & MU members: £7.50 [ID required]
As always, carers go free, call the box office to book: 020 7258 2925
All acts are subject to contract and may sometimes change.
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