Sardinian-born guitarist and composer Giorgio Serci brings his acclaimed Trio Azzurro to The Crypt for an evening of cinematic soundscapes and lyrical jazz.
Their programme, Music of the Movies and More, reimagines classic film themes alongside evocative original works — blending Mediterranean warmth, refined harmony and inspired improvisation.
Renowned for his expressive tone and creative versatility, Giorgio has performed and recorded with a wide range of international artists including Ivan Lins, Basia, Katherine Jenkins, Kenny Wheeler, Sylvain Luc, David Garrett, Paolo Fresu, Martin Taylor, Antonio Forcione among many others.
“Sardinian Guitarist Giorgio Serci’s music is utterly mesmerising.” – Phil Castang, International Guitar Foundation
Giorgio is an outstanding musician, composer and arranger who delivers emotion in his music coupled with beautiful technique, great sound and a warm and engaging personality.
Join us for an evening of cinematic jazz, heartfelt melodies and exceptional musicianship — not to be missed.
The trio are Giorgio Serci - guitars, Davide Mantovani - bass and Filippo Galli - drums.
The music of this quartet features original compositions, stylistically drawing on the European concept of jazz, where melody, space, the musicians' relationship, movement, sound, and colour play a crucial role. This music is full of expression and twists, captivating the listener from the very beginning, revealing undiscovered corners of European jazz music.
Przemysław Strączek – jazz guitarist, composer, producer and band leader. Graduate of the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice, honored with, among others, the Special Award of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage (2013) and the Award of the Marshal of the Silesian Voivodeship in the field of music (2015). For over two decades, he has consistently pursued his own artistic path, based on dialogue between cultures, styles and personalities. Searches in the sphere of music take place on many levels: in the approach to harmony, aesthetics, sound or tone colour. The sum of these new perspectives is reflected in the recordings – each subsequent album becomes a mosaic composed of different traditions that enter into relations with each other and create a dialogic musical language. His album Fig Tree gained wide recognition: the British-French portal Jazz Fuel recognised it as one of the best European jazz albums of 2020, and the vinyl edition was ranked 4th among the best-selling vinyl records in Poland (according to ZPAV)
Features: Duncan Eagles - tenor sax, Przemysław Strączek - guitar, Kuba Cywiński - double bass, and Ollie Peszynski - drums
Rowan Flack is a jazz and folk-inspired vocalist and composer whose musical roots trace from the BRIT School and Trinity Laban to Norway’s Edvard Grieg Academy, where she studied Norwegian folk and jazz on the west coast of Norway.
Her debut EP New Light Dwelling (2019) featured original vocalese set to Keith Jarrett’s ‘Belonging’ and was shaped by mountainous terrain, leaving London and the quiet unravelling of a long-term relationship. This project led to sold-out headline shows in Bergen and marked the beginning of her professional career, including a three-month jazz residency in Xiamen, China.
In the years that followed, Rowan worked with musicians across the UK and Norwegian jazz scenes and led the alternative folk-jazz group Giant Folk, before co-writing her second EP, Forest Fires (2024). This release received praise from the likes of Jazzwise, Jazz FM and Notion as well as double-headline and support shows at venues including Pizza Express Jazz Club, House of KOKO, Mr Wolf's (Bristol), and Shindig Festival.
This concert also marks the release of her latest EP ‘Nap on the Sofa’ on the independent label Pretty Decent Music.
The band comprises established musicians from London, Bristol and Ireland: Jack Lecomber (bass), Rob Dimbleby (keys), Andrew McCoubrey (drums) and Celeste Cantor-Stephens (trumpet).
Ghanaian-born musician Ed Bentley has been resident in the UK since the early 70's and has carved an illustrious career on the international jazz scene as a fine pianist and organist. His fluent "hard bop" influenced playing has been heard alongside the likes of Deniece Williams, Irene Reed (from the Count Basie Band), Percy Sledge and Bobby Watson and boasts a stellar fan base including Sir Paul McCartney, Joe Sample and Tony Bennett. With 7 albums to his name including "Magic Night" and "Bolla, Keyboard Blues" he has performed with his band at Ronnie Scott's, The Jazz Cafe and the Royal Festival Hall as well as clubs and festivals around Europe. His work with leading international artists has taken him to Australia, the Far East and Africa as well as the USA.
Tonight he brings to the club his latest project "Afro-Jazz Express" performing music he describes as "Afro Cross Rhythms with Jazz improvisations & Blues influences"
Also featuring: DAVE LEWIS, Tenor, SAM DUNN, Guitar and JACK POLLIT, Drums.
Gili Lopes is a bassist and composer embedded in New York’s contemporary jazz scene. Born in Porto Alegre, Brazil, he’s spent his life immersed in many deep musical traditions, from the folk and popular sounds of his native country to his wide-ranging musical travels around the planet to his time studying at London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the University of Fine Arts of Berlin—which he synthesises into a rich, personal language for composition and improvisation.
In 2024, Lopes released Algures, his debut as a leader. Called “slick and upbeat” by Jazzwise, this musical travelogue explores global themes with a “stellar band” (Jazziz) that includes “a redoubtable case of accompanists” (All About Jazz) featuring saxophonist John Ellis and drummer Ari Hoenig, both veteran modern-jazz masters who assist the bandleader in propelling the music to jazz’s cutting edge. Downbeat praised Lopes’ “sensibility,” which “brings the music toward the fount of each component tradition and then exceed it.” Algures has received two Global Music awards, one World Entertainment award, and was considered one of the best jazz albums of 2024 by Downbeat.
As a bandleader, as well as an in-demand bassist alongside prominent artists such as Duduka Da Fonseca, Dom Salvador, Amaro Freitas, Paquito De Rivera Toninho Horta, David Berkman, and many others, Lopes has performed on some of the world’s most prominent bandstands, including Montreal’s Théâtre Maisonneuve, New York’s Town Hall, Lincoln Center, and Rockefeller Center.
Gili Lopes - double bass, Fabio Gouvea - guitar, Sam Watts - piano, + special guest drummer
London-based musicians Alex Ho and Donovan Haffner first connected through the supportive creative community of Tomorrow’s Warriors. Their musical partnership began organically with informal duo sessions, where they quickly recognised a strong and intuitive playing chemistry.
What originated as a plan to record simple demos soon evolved into a dedicated project. Motivated by their synergy, they began composing new works and arranging existing material specifically for the duo format.
For the studio session, they deliberately kept the process pressure-free. Their aim was simply to see how much material they could complete in one day, limiting themselves to a maximum of two takes per piece, and were delighted to have captured a complete album’s worth of material. This approach resulted in a complete album of eight tracks, comprising seven original compositions and one alternative take.
The project is titled Serendipity, reflecting the fortunate sequence of events from their initial meeting to the productive studio session that brought the album to life. The recording captures the direct, conversational essence of their collaboration.
Alex Ho - piano & Donovan Haffner - sax
