One of the great strengths of the Pizza Express Jazz Club is the festival element of the Soho basement club. ReVoice – Georgia Mancio’s vocals festival held in the autumn – is one of these now regular festival fixtures on the club calendar. And coming up soon is the Thump festival which this year runs from 17-21 March.

Curated by Andrew Chapman and Bence Bolygo of Bolygomusic Productions the festival is organised in association with Murat Diril Cymbals. This year on Tuesday 17 March London Afrobeat Collective open the festival followed next night by the Greg Foat Group who are about to release their latest album The Door Into Summer. On Thursday 19 March it’s the turn of Norwich band Mammal Hands whose album Animalia proved a highly promising, and at times, quite moving, debut, one of the standout new band releases reviewed on Marlbank last year. The Friday show has the trombone/trumpet-playing Colman Brothers  + fusion band MTB. And Saturday is billed as a night of groovy funky soul & latin jazz with two shows led from behind the kit by Incognito drummer Pete Ray Biggin with his PB Underground plus lots of guests. More details of all the festival acts can be found on the Pizza Express Jazz Club site here
Stephen Graham

Mammal Hands, above