Every year, The House That Soul Built heads to the London Jazz Festival — an exhilarating, citywide celebration of music across multiple venues. Whether you’re a fan of classic jazz, adventurous experimentation, or a touch of soul in the mix, this year’s festival has something for everyone. Here are our top picks for London Jazz Festival 2025!
12 November: Ayanna Witter-Johnson — The Jazz Social [TICKETS]
Ayanna Witter-Johnson is a multi-talented singer, songwriter, pianist and cellist. She has a phenomenal mastery for seamlessly crossing the boundaries of classical, jazz, reggae, soul and R&B, to imprint her unique musical signature with her virtuosic tap, strum and bow with her cello into her sound and vibe. The Jazz Social is a pop-up temporary venue for 2 weeks only, tickets are mixed seating and standing, unreserved, first come first served.
14 November: Jazz Voice Opening Gala — Royal Festival Hall [TICKETS]
The spectacular opening gala of the EFG London Jazz Festival returns to the Royal Festival Hall with an impressive line-up of soloists featuring Dee Dee Bridgewater, Tanita Tikaram, Stella Cole, Tyreek McDole, Caleb Kunle, Natalie Williams, Vula Malinga and surprise guests. They’ll be performing alongside the magnificent 44-piece orchestra conducted by Guy Barker, with guest conductor Jack Murray.
14 November: Omar — Soul Mama [TICKETS]
Since building a name for himself in the early 90s with classics such as ‘There’s Nothing Like This’, Omar has gone on to produce critically acclaimed new albums and make regular live performances including supporting the legendary Stevie Wonder at Hyde Park in 2016. The Godfather of British Neo-Soul will be performing at new London venue Soul Mama.
15 November: We Exist! The Dee Dee Bridgewater Quartet — Barbican [TICKETS]
Dee Dee Bridgewater, a Grammy and Tony Award-winning vocalist, has built a multifaceted career at the forefront of jazz and musical theatre. Renowned for reimagining standards with fearless originality, she has won three Grammys, most recently for Eleanora Fagan (1915–1959): To Billie With Love From Dee Dee. After early work with the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Big Band and collaborations with icons like Max Roach, Sonny Rollins, Dexter Gordon, and Dizzy Gillespie, she turned to producing with Keeping Tradition (1993) and later founded DDB Records, releasing acclaimed projects including the Grammy-winning Dear Ella and Dee Dee’s Feathers. Her theatre career is equally distinguished, earning a Tony for The Wiz and an Olivier nomination for Lady Day, with additional credits in Sophisticated Ladies, Cabaret, Carmen, and Black Ballad.
15 November: Vanessa Haynes — Soul Mama [TICKETS]
After cutting her teeth as backing vocalist for artists such as Van Morrison and Chaka Khan, Trinadad-born Vanessa Haynes became front woman of legendary jazz funk outfit, Incognito, in 2008, touring with the band for over 14 years. She has been a featured soloist at several BBC Proms and at the EFG London Jazz Festival’s opening Gala, Jazz Voice. Vanessa has enjoyed multiple collaborations with conductor Guy Barker both on concert hall and jazz club stages.
17 November: Natalie Duncan — Soul Mama [TICKETS]
Nottingham-raised singer/songwriter/keys player Natalie Duncan’s excellent piano playing, and expressive, lyrical voice first came to the attention of those in the know in 2009, at the age of 18, with the release of her debut EP “Natalie Alexis Duncan”. However, it was in 2011 and her involvement in the BBC programme “Goldie’s Band By Royal Appointment”, the three-part series that was the brainchild of drum and bass pioneer Goldie, that she came to wider attention. It was under Goldie’s Fallen Tree 1Hundred label that he released her sophomore album Free (2020).
21 November: Acantha Lang — Soul Mama [TICKETS]
Hailing from New Orleans but now based in London, Acantha Lang is a rising star of old-school soul and blues. Her debut album Beautiful Dreams was released in 2023, featuring heartfelt, soaring originals like the title track, her ode to her mother ‘Lois Lang’, and ‘Come Back Home’, an impassioned plea to an absentee father. Check our my interview with Acantha Lang HERE.
21 November: Deelee Dube And Tony Kofi Celebrate Nancy Wilson & Cannonball Adderley — Jazz Café POSK [TICKETS]
Two of the masters of post-war jazz, Julian ‘Cannonball’ Adderley & vocalist Nancy Wilson came together in June 1961 and dashed off a series of numbers which became immortal examples of the marriage of jazz singing and instrumental improvisation. Release in Capitol Records in 1962, Nancy Wilson/Cannonball Adderley is now an essential part of any jazz collection and is the inspiration for this show by Deelee Dube & Tony Kofi.
