EFG London Jazz Festival takes over the capital once again!
Experience ten days of live performances, special collaborations, fresh discoveries, and exclusive new commissions.
Ayanna Witter-Johnson will be performing at 93 Feet East.
Returning with her first solo album in three years, acclaimed singer-songwriter, cellist, composer and MOBO-nominee Ayanna Witter-Johnson is excited to announce the release of New Roots, out on her Hill and Gully Records imprint on Friday 18 September.
Listeners are welcomed into an intimate world born in solitude, but shaped by lineage, memory and deep listening. Cementing Ayannas status as a musical polymath and world-builder, the record delves into her Caribbean heritage and spiritual practice, imbuing her exploratory, soul-leaning sound with the colour of jazz and groundedness of folk story-telling.
Sitting somewhere between the unique intimacy of British soul acts like Lianne La Havas and Ego Ella May, but with nods to the instrument-rooted jazz & vocal crossover pioneered by the likes of Esperanza Spalding and Meshell Ndegeocello, Ayannas compositional approach is centred around her relationship with the cello. The instrument functions as both rhythmic anchor and emotional compass, often used as a bass-like, percussive force that grounds the songs in the body as much as the spirit.
An acclaimed and celebrated performer, Ayanna has collaborated with many stellar artists, including Anoushka Shankar, Nitin Sawhney, Andrea Bocelli and Jools Holland. She has also toured extensively across the UK, Europe and the US, and her most recent world tour was with the renowned Peter Gabriel. Ayanna is a performer of extraordinary versatility, due to her musical prowess, mesmerising vocals, uncompromising lyrics, and ability to deftly reinterpret songs on the cello. Her must-see live shows are intimate journeys that chronicle her experience as a female artist in the 21st century.
“Cellist and singer Ayanna Witter-Johnson has to be heard to be believed. Her self-assured style blends a honey-sweet vocal delivery with bewitching cello-playing.”Time Out
With Support frim
TINA EDWARDS (DJ)
“Edwards is out there extensively researching scenes, genres and artists, cutting through the convenientlistening of your latest ‘Made For You’ playlist and helping us remember what true discovery should be” – Dazedand Confused“Edwards is deeply plugged into what’s next for global record culture” – Cue BURN, vinyl alliance“Essential jazz into dance selections every time – Gilles PetersonAn internationally-acclaimed DJ, Tina Edwards encourages dancers to ignore the booth and stay presenton the dance floor. Tina began DJing shortly before the pandemic; since, her demand behind the deckshas taken her and her red box of 45s around the world, performing in Australia, Japan, Singapore, LA,Chicago and across Europe. She’s played Glastonbury, Montreux Jazz, North Sea and headline sets forthe likes of BAFTAs Official After Party (2025, 2026), film premieres, Netflix and Ray Ban.Tina’s sets are wildly eclectic and full of wild cards—but her grounding comes from the language of jazz;the Londoner is recognised as one of the few DJs of her generation to uphold jazz dance floor culture.She does this with her Internationally-renowned night Love Is Everywhere, with some of the mostestablished jazz dancers from across Europe and Asia making a point of performing. Wherever she plays,her sets avoid predictable arcs; Latin jazz, cumbia, off-beat disco, Afro-diasporic grooves, psychedeliaand obscure 45s from her travels all contribute to her playful, intoxicating sets.Elsewhere, Tina’s reputation for sharing and breaking new artists is upheld on her Internationallyrevered radio showBandcamp Selects, Bandcamp fan clubJazz-ish Jazz Club, and through live eventstoo, namely with LGBTQIA+ community-oriented platformQueer Jazzandre:sonate; the latter of whichaims to democratise information in the music industry through events, discussions and editorial.Tina Edwards is one ofWorldwide FM’s longest serving residents (2017-2022), and she hosted andproducedNext Big ThingforBritish Airwaysfor seven years, reaching millions of listeners. In 2022 shepresented the TV documentaryJAZZ UK: Spitting Fire(BBC One, BBC Four).She’s also regularly heard onBBC Radio 3(Jazz Fix, ‘Round Midnight), and has written forDownbeat, The Guardian, Monocle,WeJazzand many more well-respected platforms. She was Editor of limited editionListen ZineforKEFSpeakers.
