Guildhall Jazz Festival x EFG London Jazz Festival: Helena Kay

James Leaver-Whitfield double bass
Luke Brueck-Seeley drums
Valentine Cheesbrough electric guitar
Daniel Fawcett-Tuke electric guitar

Arran are a modern jazz quartet that blend tight and swinging straight-ahead jazz with a wide range of influences such as avant-garde and ambient music, Americana, psychedelic rock, folk and fusion. With a lineup featuring two guitarists, double bass and drums, they aim to bring a fresh soundscape to the world of jazz while staying deeply embedded in the tradition.

Jemima Whyte alto saxophone
Hyokyung Jung guitar
Diarra Walcott-Ivanhoe keys
Luke Brueck Seeley drums
Louis Gascoyne bass
Angel Wong voice

Led by Angel Wong, the Jasmine Sextet is a group that focuses on performing original repertoire and a stylistic range of music by the likes of Wayne Shorter, Pat Metheny, Chick Corea and more, with a creative ethos that is informed by an emphasis on freedom, interplay and collective expression.

Daria Blyzniuk voice
Owen Eastwood piano
John Alcock saxophone
Natan Kedzierski drums
Eliot Whitehouse bass

Daria is a Ukrainian jazz singer. She is one of a few Ukrainian artists representing Ukraine on the UK jazz scene. Daria studied singing in Ukraine, Amsterdam, Berlin and now she is a Master’s student at Guildhall School of Music and Drama. With her quintet she performs arrangements of Great American Songbook repertoire, post-bop, fusion and modal jazz. She draws inspiration in Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock’s music. Daria explores improvisation and interpretation, captivating the listener with heart-felt and emotional performance.

Hyokyung Jung is a South Korean guitarist/composer and band leader who has various musical loves from across the spectrum, which includes jazz, rock, funk and fusion, producing unique playing styles and tones.

Hyo’s music is a blend of jazz and Korean traditional music with exciting groove and rhythms. 

Her compositions has already made waves in the music scene with the remarkable releases. One of her band Hyowa Project’s single ‘Dido Chil Chae’ earned her a coveted spot on the shortlist for the Nova Jazz 2022 in Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland and Peter Whittingham Jazz Award 2023. 

With her brand-new 7tet with a stella lineup, she presents various musical spectrum with her original compositions and covers inspired by Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Cedar Walton, Geri Allen with eclentic timbres from Korean traditional music and 70/80’s bands like Genesis, Casiopea, T-Square.

She graduated in 2021 from Leeds Conservatoire with a first class in jazz guitar performance, and has received only non-classical music award in South Korea, ‘CJ Music Scholarship’ to study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama for the postgraduate jazz course.

Since 2016, Nestor has performed at numerous jazz clubs, concert halls, and festivals, in Greece and internationally such as the United Nations New York 2018 Jazz Democracy Forum, Centre of Hellenic Studies Harvard University DC 2018 Eurobeat Festival, Jazzy Colors Festival Paris 2019, Home House London 2018, Mirabello Jazz Festival Crete 2016, Rhodes & South Aegean International Jazz Festival 2018/19/21, Bodrum Jazz Festival 2019, Onassis Cultural Centre 2019, Athens Concert Hall 2017, Herodion Theatre 2017, Greek Parliament 2016, National Greek Radio3 2018 and he has played with some of the best Greek and international jazz musicians and educators. He has attended workshops and has played with experienced teachers and legendary players like David Liebman, Gilad Atzmon, Andy Sheppard, and Craig Bailey.

During 2023/2024 he played at numerous clubs and festivals, notably at the Vortex Jazz Club with pianist Rick Simpson’s trio 26/03/2023, at the London Jazz Festival as part of Guildhall School of Music & Drama events, and at the Nublu Jazz Festival in New York 24/10/2023, alongside his father and top international jazz players such as Dave Kikoski, Essiet Essiet, Craig Bailey and Martin Valihora. He also participated in the Rhodes and South Aegean and the Bodrum jazz festivals alongside George Kontrafouris’s baby trio concept band in June 2024. This tour is supported by the European Festival Association under the EFFEA fund for emerging artists, co-funded by the European Union.

The Nestor Vasilakis Quintet project wants to realize Nestor’s unique take on the contemporary mainstream jazz New York sound bearing all its intensity, ferocity, and passion to the listener through original compositions and beloved jazz standards often played in the New York scene.

'Nestor is a very serious, mature, and extremely resourceful artist'  Craig Bailey (Ray Charles)

'Nestor is a very talented and promising musician who listens to the jazz tradition' David Liebman

Anmol is a drummer/tabla player and composer originally from Nepal but based in London. He has received two national awards: 'UK Young Drummer of The Year' (2017) and 'Yamaha Future Beat' (2018).

In 2023, Anmol graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with a first class in jazz percussion. He has worked with a variety of musicians. To name a few; Nicolas Meier, Antoine Fafard, Phil Meadows, and Gareth Lockrane.
 
Anmol’s music is deeply rooted to his homeland and has elements of traditional Nepali music,  jazz & other groove-based genres. Influenced by renowned artists such as; Karim Ziad, Trilok Gurtu, Oumou Sangare, Nitin Sawhney, Sergio Mendes, A.R. Rahman and Nana Vasconcelos.

Award-winning tenor saxophonist Helena Kay is quickly becoming renowned as one of the UK’s most creative and virtuosic jazz artists, with two critically acclaimed albums, four UK tours and performances at the UK’s most esteemed jazz venues such as Ronnie Scott’s, The Royal Albert Hall and The Vortex.

Their latest album, Golden Sands (2022), was released on Kay’s own label, Sulis Records, in October 2022. The album received high praise from the jazz media, showcasing original compositions that are reflective of Kay’s experiences in their homeland of Scotland, and their time spent living in London and New York City.

Kay’s well-received debut album, Moon Palace (Ubuntu 2018), followed their Peter Whittingham Jazz Award win in 2017, which also funded the project.

In addition to being an avid composer, Kay is a prolific and self-managing performer, having booked four of their own tours in the UK with support from Help Musicians, Creative Scotland and Arts Council England. They have also featured in a wide variety of other bands and alongside some of the UK’s finest jazz talents, including Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, EuroRadio Jazz Orchestra, Ryan Quigley, Zoe Rahman, Yazz Ahmed, Sean Gibbs and Seonaid Aitken.

‘A formidable saxophonist and composer… Quite simply, outstanding!’ Nick Lea, Jazz Views