Highgate Area Guide

Enjoy a vibrant evening of jazz with Alison Rayner Quintet, featuring music from their latest album Sema4 and favourites from across their discography. Much-lauded, award-winning and eclectic quintet ARQ, led by bassist and composer Alison Rayner, has spent twelve years crafting a unique sound that draws on jazz, folk, pop and Latin influences. ARQ’s new release Sema4 showcases the quintet’s “stylistic virtuosity and masterful interplay.” Sema4 was awarded Presto Music Jazz Recording of the Year and has received extensive airplay, press coverage, reviews and live radio sessions, such as Radio 3 ‘In Tune’ show. Previous releases - August (2014), A Magic Life (2016) and Short Stories (2019) - all garnered press acclaim and international radio play, with Rayner winning a coveted Ivor Novello Composer Award for ‘There is a Crack in Everything’ from Short Stories. ARQ have been winners in both the Parliamentary Jazz Awards and the British Jazz Awards. They regularly sell out London clubs such as Ronnie Scott’s and the Pizza Express Jazz Club and are well-known in regional venues across the UK as well as European jazz clubs, concert halls and international festivals. This Jazz in the House performance will feature music from all four ARQ albums, whilst emphasising their latest release. Expect richly nuanced compositions, rhythmic interplay and folk-infused melodies – music that is inventive, colourful and unfailingly melodic, possessed of a strong narrative and cinematic quality. Programmed by Blow the Fuse Performers: - Alison Rayner - bass - Buster Birch - drums - Deirdre Cartwright - guitar - Diane McLoughlin - saxophone - Steve Lodder - piano

Award-winning guitarist Rob Luft brings his acclaimed quartet to Lauderdale House for an evening of bold, contemporary jazz. Recently named Instrumentalist of the Year at the 2025 British Parliamentary Jazz Awards, Rob Luft is one of the most exciting jazz guitarists to emerge from the UK in recent years. His playing, often compared to Pat Metheny and Kurt Rosenwinkel, is known for its warmth, lyricism and distinctive voice. Rob first came to prominence performing with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra at the BBC Proms, before winning the Silver Prize at the Montreux Jazz Guitar Competition. His debut album Riser was named one of DownBeat Magazine’s best albums of the year, and his subsequent releases, including Life Is The Dancer and Dahab Days, have further established his international reputation. He is joined by three outstanding musicians from the UK jazz scene: Joe Wright on tenor saxophone, Tom McCredie on bass and Jay Davis on drums. Together, the quartet brings a dynamic and expressive sound, combining original compositions with adventurous improvisation. Programmed by Blow the Fuse Performers: - Rob Luft - guitar - Joe Wright - tenor sax - Tom McCredie - bass - Jay Davis - drums

Rooted in alt/indie-folk her shows blend lush arrangements, soaring harmonies, and a captivating on-stage presence that connects deeply with audiences. Her music has already earned spots in video games like “Watch Dogs 2” & CBC’s tv show “How to Buy a Baby”. Along with a viral videos, with her recent single “End Up Alone” being described as a “Slow-burn beauty that curls around you like a haze of cigarette smoke” (Shannon Linton, Dominionated).

“Fizzy tricks and funky escapades from a master of juggling” — The Guardian Ultra-modern pop-punk juggling! Peden is one of the world’s best jugglers and in this piece, he shares cutting-edge tricks inspired by corkscrews, adrenalin, and high-tech seatbelts. Rollercoaster is quirky, joyful, badass, and a visually stunning ride.

Our first GM Presents shows come from the luminous Way Dynamic! Hailing from Melbourne, Dylan Young’s solo project melds folk-pop, art rock and baroque pop together to create a sound that will stop you in your tracks. They’ve quietly become your favourite band’s favourite band, with tour support for the likes of Waxahatchee, MJ Lenderman, Black Country, New Road and This Is Lorelei. Over the years (almost 25!) thousands of artists have graced our GM stages - discovering & platforming rising talent from across the globe is what keeps us going year on year. It goes without saying that we’re absolutely buzzed to bring Way Dynamic to London in May and Wales this August for GM26! This show marks Way Dynamic’s first ever UK show, so catch them early, they're set for beautiful things. Oh and if you’ve not heard summer release ‘Massive Shoe’, get it on immediately... its been on repeat at GMHQ. This ticket includes a £1.20 venue levy. Presented by Green Man. This is a 14+ event. Under 18's must be accompanied by an adult.

Sonny Brazil is a Folk singer and Squeeze Box Player from the south east of England. Raised in South East London and Brighton, Sonny dwells among the Bargee Traveller Community, living and playing music as they have for centuries on the inland waterways of England. Sonny lives entrenched in the world of english folk culture, working as a crew member on Thames Sailing Barges and living on the Canals; they are one of the founding members of the folk collective Goblin Band described by Martin Carthy as “The band we’ve been waiting for”. Sonny’s style is rhythmic and raw at times giving contrast to their sweeter more pastoral repertoire of traditional songs, reminiscent of a past and a future where community, solidarity and connection with the land run strong in people’s everyday life. Sonny’s unique style of folk performance stems from the Queer folk scene in South London. They make a point of exploring different voices in these folk songs that were largely collected under the heavy colonial blanket of the Victorian era and early 20th century. In keeping folk music alive and viewing it through a queer, anti colonial, anti capitalist lens, Sonny does their bit to carry on the living tradition in a way that sparks new energy into the old songs.