Beautiful Storm, midori jaeger + Tom Sheen
Jazz In The Round: September
Monday 29 September 8pm
The Cockpit
Phil Bancroft's Beautiful Storm
midori jaeger (solo)
Tom Sheen [EMERGENCE]
Phil Bancroft's Beautiful Storm @myriad_streams
A major figure on the Scottish music scene for over 30 years, Phil Bancroft emerged in the late 1980’s as saxophonist and main composer for the John Rae Collective before forging a reputation in influential Scottish bands including Celtic Feet, the award-winning Trio AAB, Colin Steele’s Stramash, and the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra. He has since performed with musicians from across the pop, jazz, classical and Celtic music scenes and currently works with the Grit Orchestra and keyboardist Paul Harrison’s Sugarwork as well as leading his own groups. He has performed with jazz luminaries Sun Ra, Kenny Wheeler, Oliver Lake, Ernst Reisinger and Joe Lovano and he has composed music and developed multi-media for his own small and large ensemble projects, including the multi-media show Small as The World. He has also worked with musicians from the Indian, African and Scottish traditions and has taught saxophone and improvisation at undergraduate and postgraduate levels at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and at Napier and Newcastle Universities. Bancroft formed The Beautiful Storm with fellow Scot, Aberdeen-born guitarist Graeme Stephen and Delhi-based percussionist Gyan Singh in 2022. The trio's first album, Finding Hope (When All Seems Lost), was released in December 2024.
Phil Bancroft, saxophones
Graeme Stephen, guitar
Gyan Singh, percussion
midori jaeger @midorijaeger (solo)
midori jaeger has toured the UK and Europe as a solo artist including at Union Chapel, Queen Elizabeth Hall and EartH Hackney, and toured the world as a collaborator including in the USA, Hong Kong, Australia and Europe and at Royal Albert Hall, Barbican Hall, Glastonbury Festival. Classically trained at the Royal Academy of Music, she eventually diverged from the rigid traditions she was schooled in. That insistence on personal expression defines her music, which refuses overcalculated precision in favour of intuitive, emotionally driven grooves. Discarding anything that might fit into genre, she retains her own sui generis sense of style by constantly finding new musical connections between cello, voice, groove, harmony and improvisation. Her songs question and confront the matrixes of her identity — her sexuality, bilinguality and mixed heritage — in novel and richly poetic fashion. Now 33, midori has all but fused with her instrument. Crafting grooves that feel elemental, she builds outward from her own sense of rhythm — always anchored in the pulse beneath the notes, like she’s tilling soil. Stay tuned as midori will begin releasing a two-part EP of new songs on the theme of uprooting and replanting from November 2025.
Tom Sheen [EMERGENCE] @_tomsheen
Tom Sheen is one of the most exciting and promising young bass players coming up on the London scene. Having gotten his start with the Julian Joseph Jazz Academy, Tomorrow's Warriors, and World Heartbeat, Tom is already playing with many of the leading voices on the UK and international scene including Rachael Cohen, Mark Kavuma, JD Allen, Ruben Fox, and Nu Civilisation Orchestra. He is currently continuing his studies at Trinity Laban, studying with Calum Gourlay, Orlando Le Fleming, and Shane Forbes, among others. He has also had the privilege of taking lessons with many legendary american musicians including Sir Ron Carter, David Wong, and Paul Sikivie.
Tom Sheen - Bass (@_tomsheen)
Donovan Haffner - Alto Saxophone (@donovan_jazz_sax)
Kezia Abuoma - Piano (@keziaabuoma)
Luke McCarthy - Drums (@_lukemc_)
**Half price tickets for full-time students and Musicians' Union members**
All acts are subject to contract and may sometimes change.
Live on Stage dates:
Monday 29th September - 8.00pm
Tickets:
£15 (incl booking fee) | Half price for students / MU members