London’s young jazz renaissance of the last several years is the result of a tight group of artists, promoters, and labels working together to create a united scene. Central to the movement’s evolution was the community of musicians that coalesced around West London event series Jazz re:freshed, which celebrated its 20th anniversary last year. Established by Adam Moses and Justin McKenzie in 2003, the Thursday night sessions became a platform for London’s emerging jazz underground—its supportive environment gave everyone from Nubya Garcia to Ashley Henry a place to hone their skills. Five years later, Jazz re:freshed has evolved to include a record label, started with a simple vision. “We wanted to change the perceptions of jazz and to build a new crowd for this music we love,” says Moses. “For us, the big question was, ‘How do you build new audiences for jazz while also keeping the music cutting edge and current?’”
Moses and McKenzie started out in the music industry as co-founders of hip-hop label Uprock Recordings with DJ Bunny Bread. There, they worked with future broken beat producer and founding member of Bugz in the Attic, Daz I Kue. “I lived just around the corner from the Bugz studio and really got into the whole new jazz, broken beat thing that they pioneered,” says Moses. “I also had a big collection of jazz LPs, and was frustrated that I didn’t have an outlet to play these records.”
Starting out as a relaxed DJ night at Mau Mau Bar on Portobello Road, Jazz re:freshed soon evolved to include live music. “One evening, Justin pointed to the small stage in the corner of the Mau Mau bar and he said, ‘Let’s try and do something—we know enough musicians.’”
From the outset, Moses and McKenzie set out to challenge what they saw as the cultural disconnect within the jazz community. “We used to see so many brilliant jazz gigs in London, but we were often the only Black guys in the crowd, and also often the only young people,” says Moses. “So we started flyering outside of reggae dances, soca events, and hip-hop nights. That was how we built our audience and community to be representative of the diversity of London.”
The Mau Mau bar was located a short walk from Goya Distribution center/studios where broken beat gestated in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s, so it was only natural that the first live music nights drew from that community. “I’d been around people from the broken beat scene like Kaidi Tatham and Mark De Clive-Lowe, so just tried to reel in some of those people we knew to play,” Moses recalls. “We put these brilliant musicians on this tiny stage to see what would happen. That was the start of it all.”
Jazz re:freshed released their first record in 2008, a compilation from players who had performed at the event during its first five years, including Kaidi Tatham and Mark De Clive-Lowe. “The whole new jazz thing clicked for me being in the Bugz studio with Kaidi and Mark,” says Moses. “They had a Wurlitzer in one corner and a bass Moog in the other with congas and a DX drum machine on the side. And I sat there for two hours with them jamming. And I was like ‘This is jazz, and it’s pushing the boundaries.’”
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Having the label built on the back of a live event was vital to the development of younger musicians. “That was one of the fortunate accidents of holding the night at this small venue, there was something really special about being so close to the musicians,” says Moses. “When you have a crowd right next to you watching you play I think that moves you creatively as an artist. The energy flows both ways.” One of those who experience this flow of energy was saxophonist Nubya Garcia who released her debut album for Jazz re:freshed as part of their series 5ive—CDs with 5 tracks that sold for for £5. It was at Jazz re:freshed that Garcia first performed with fellow rising stars of the London jazz scene: drummer Moses Boyd, pianist Joe Armon Jones, and tuba player Theon Cross, all of whom would go on to appear on her debut. “[The label] gave artists the chance to get into the music recording industry in a safe way,” says Moses. “It’s been incredible to see artists like Nubya growing, it’s been great for the scene, and the record label has really helped with that.”
Jazz re:freshed also became a space for musicians working outside of traditional bebop or post-bop—like Maisha, the London ensemble led by drummer Jake Long who fused the spiritual jazz of Pharoah Sanders with West African rhythms. Their LP was recorded live at a Thursday night session, and captured the spiritual intensity of a group of young musicians growing together with their audience. “That was an incredible show and I think on that album you can really feel the vibe and energy of that time,” says Moses
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“I’d seen [percussionist Yahael Camara Onono] play with Maisha’s band,” says Moses, “and he told me that had this idea for this big band.” Passing the folkloric music of West Africa through a West London filter that project, the Balimaya Project, released their debut Wolo-So after a series of blistering gigs for Jazz re:freshed. “We did the full 16-piece band at Jazz re:freshed, with the entire floor in front of the stage taken up,” recalls Moses. Their second album When The Dust Settles was released in 2023 in collaboration with New Soil. “This new album has taken things to a whole new level, so for us to help Yaheal bring this to life has been incredible,” says Moses.
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Last year, the label’s catalog grew to include everything from the progressive fusion of Golden Mean to the folk jazz of Sofia Grant, continuing the label’s strong support of female musicians. And this year is already off to a strong start. In January, they released HERstory, the first solo album from Tess Hirst, which was written as a “celebration of inspiring stories of the women around her.” The album featured Jazz re:freshed regulars Daniel Casimir on bass, Sarah Tandy on piano, and Richard Spaven on drums. “Even through set-backs, delays, and life-changing events, Tess has remained positive and focused, choosing to lean into her craft of songwriting to deliver an album of such quality,” says Moses.
Another highlight was April’s All Black, Everything from Amy Gadiaga. “The first time I met Amy, I caught a vibe from her,” says Moses. “She had something special. I think it was how confidently she handled her upright bass which seemed to tower over her petite frame. We have been lucky enough to support Amy in recording her music and getting it out into the world.”
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Gadiaga’s record was followed in May by A Night With INSXGHT, from a group Moses cites as leading the charge for the new generation of UK jazz. “A Night With INSXGHT was recorded in a studio with a small live audience—think Snarky Puppy vibes,” Moses says, “and it’s full of excitement, energy, and straight-up swagger.”
“We’ve always been proud of what we’ve done, but we have never been ones to shout about it,” Moses continues. “For 20 years, focusing on the music is what has been important—building a scene, and supporting the musicians within that scene.”
