Mica Miller plays the Royal Festival Hall on November 11. Photo: Jasmine Allcockfox Photography

NEXT month sees the 30th anniversary of the EFG London Jazz Festival, which runs from November 11-20.

It is, as usual, a source of joy and pain for me. Joy because there is so much of the music I love on show across the city. Pain because I am a Libran – choice does not come easy to me and it is always torture picking one gig from the many offerings on any one night.

It is even harder this year, as it is broader than ever in its reach both geographically (from Barnes to Barking and featured music from Chicago, Egypt and Istanbul) and musically, with mainstream superstars such as Melody Gardot (RFH, Nov 19) sharing the programming with veteran avant-garde warriors Anthony Braxton and Henry Threadgill (Barbican, Nov 13) and all points in between.

Below are some of the acts I have marked out to see. Note that almost every venue has multiple gigs over the festival, so if you don’t fancy my option, do see what else they have on. I have featured only a fraction of the clubs, concert halls and theatres that are participating – there’s dozens of them (see https://efglondonjazzfestival.org.uk).

Also, tickets for all shows are available on that LJF website which is why I haven’t included venue contact details.
Let’s start locally. It is good to see the bijou Green Note in Parkway in the listings with six shows, from saxophonist Rachael Cohen’s Trio and The W – an intriguing new group that includes Cinematic Orchestra’s Heidi Vogel on wordless vocals and drummer Gene Calderazzo – on Nov 11 to alto player Nathaniel Facey with a selection of his contemporaries for an evening of original compositions and fierce improvisation on Nov 18.

Of the offerings at neighbouring Jazz Café, we have already flagged Camilla George’s launch of her excellent new album Ibio-Ibio in this column (taking place on Nov 17) but I would also encourage you to see Kurt Elling’s Superblue project (Nov 13, two shows).

I caught it here last year and the combination of Elling’s astonishing vocals, consummate stagecraft and humour, coupled with Charlie Hunter’s impossible guitar playing and the funk of the boys from Butcher Brown, is unbeatable.

Ellling, incidentally, is part of Jazz Voice, the traditional opening gala of the whole festival, which takes places at the Royal Festival Hall on Nov 11th and is a mix of singers from polished pros (Elling and Ian Shaw) to rising stars (including Mica Miller, who last week deservedly won JAZZ FM’s Soul Act of the Year) backed by an orchestra conducted by Guy Barker for a mix of jazz songs that range from standards to the singers’ own tunes, arranged for strings and big band by Barker.

I have never actually set foot in Theatro Technis in Crowndale Road, but that will all change as it has a quartet of interesting events as part of the festival, including a solo performance from the highly rated ECM-ish pianist Julie Sassoon and the inventive chamber jazz of The Casimir Collection – led by composer/saxophonist Diane McLoughlin – on Nov 15.

At the time of writing there were still tickets for nearby Koko’s sole entry into the programme – the wonderful afro-beat and Latin-driven exuberance of Nubiyan Twist, matched with Manchester’s soul-jazzers Secret Night Gang and the rapper/percussionist/griot and force of nature that is K.O.G (Kweku of Ghana) on Nov 17. Best hurry – that’s an awesome triple bill.

Heading north, the Hampstead Jazz Club’s entries include several artists we have featured here and all come recommended – the Jamie Safir Trio (Nov 13), Alex Webb’s British Standard Time featuring Carroll Thompson (Nov 16) and singer Jo Harrop and guitarist Jamie, McCredie (Nov 17).

Shifting to the east somewhat, the Collage Karamel Arts Centre N22 in Coburg Road (close to Wood Green tube) has an evening with the fresh batch of Tomorrow’s Warriors led by trumpeter Joseph Oti and his JOTI Quintet (Nov 11).

Remember TW is the unique and much-cherished music mentoring programme/charity that gave us Camilla George, Sheila Maurice Grey, Nubya Garcia, Cassie Kinoshi, Mark Kavuma, Zara McFarlane, Rosie Turton, CHERISE and more, so expect some seriously talented young guns. Many of the (slightly) older generation can be heard in full force on the new album I Am Warrior (https://tomorrowswarriors.bandcamp.com/merch). Guitarist John Etheridge and vocalist Vimala Rowe are at the same N22 location on Nov 16 and with authentic deep southern Memphis sound of Charlie Wood on Nov 19.

The Vortex was something of a pioneer when it moved east (from its original Stoke Newington location) to Dalston. Now the area is dotted with jazz venues. I am very much looking forward to seeing harpist Julie Campiche. We have noted previously that the harp is hip at the moment, in large part thanks to the Ukrainian-Polish player, performer and teacher Alina Bzhezhinska, who is rightly lauded as breathing new life into the instrument and who is playing a Jazz at The Crypt concert at St Giles’ Church in Camberwell on Nov 17.

Julie Campiche, too, creates fresh, highly processed soundscapes for the jazz harp, which are atmospheric, jagged, lyrical, fragile and confrontational in turn. I am reminded of the electronic trumpet treatments of Nils Petter Molvær or Erik Truffaz, with, of course, the harp replacing the horn. Listen to her epic (10 minute) “single” Aquarius on Spotify to get a taste. She brings her quartet to the Vortex on Nov 18.

One of the first jazz groups I ever saw was the Chris McGregor’s original Brotherhood of Breath, which featured South African exiles like the leader himself – Louis Moholo, Dudu Pukwana, Mongezi Feza and Harry Miller.

Such was the fire and raucous passion on stage, it took days for my hair to stop standing on end. I have kept an ear on South African jazz ever since and it is heartening to see it in such rude health. One of the key outfits in the current boom is The Brother Moves On, a collective that combines township jazz, rock, funk, and folk with dance, spoken word and song into something fresh, exciting and unclassifiable.

The group features the remarkable frontman Siyabonga Mthembu, who also sings with Shabaka and the Ancestors and it appears at EartH in Dalston on Nov 15 as part of a showcase for Native Rebel Recordings showcase – Shabaka Hutchings’ new label – alongside marvellous young sax player Chelsea Carmichael (winner of Jazz FM’s Breakthrough Act of the Year and now an integral part of the Guy Barker New Jazz Orchestra) and CoN & KwAkE, a duo that melds jazz with hip-hop. Or is it the other way round?

Down Kingsland Road at the relatively new venue Mu (a sibling of Brilliant Corners) the quietly talented guitarist David Preston has a dream group behind him, featuring Kit Downes on keys, Kevin Glasgow on bass and Seb Roachford on drums. They will be playing original music from a forthcoming album due next year.

There is a lot more I haven’t been able to fit in – check out the listings for Pizza Express, Ronnie Scott’s, 606 Club, Ninety One Living Room, The Spice of Life in Soho and King’s Place at King’s Cross. I’d be at the latter to see Snarky Puppy founder Bill Laurance performing a rare solo set on Nov 13, but, annoyingly, I am otherwise engaged.

lthough not part of the EFG LJF programme, that night the Dartmouth Arms on York Rise is celebrating the festival by launching a series of monthly jazz “Playback” nights highlighting its new vinyl system. The inaugural slot is the re-mastered from analogue tapes UHQR (Ultra-High Quality Records) version of Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue (probably the most famous jazz album ever) which now goes for around £200 plus on Discogs.

Is it worth that kind of money? Come and listen. Sorry, Bill, but I have to be there for that. It’s my copy they’re playing.