Xhosa Cole (UK) - Bray Jazz Festival 2025

About this event

Saxophonist Xhosa Cole has been blazing a trail since he first emerged on the UK jazz scene as the winner of the BBC Young Jazz Musician of the Year award, in 2018.

A year later he collected the ‘best newcomer’ prize at the prestigious Parliamentary Jazz Awards, and was named Breakthrough Act of the Year by Jazz FM in the UK.

Now aged 28, Xhosa Cole is from Handsworth, and follows in the illustrious footsteps of such great contemporary saxophonists from Birmingham, including Soweto Kinch and Sons of Kemit frontman, Shabaka Hutchings.

His recently released third album ‘On a Modern Genius Vol. 1’, which explores and collages the compositions of pianist Thelonious Monk compositions, breathing new life into tmeless tunes, was named ‘Album of the Month’ by The Guardian, in February of this year. It was also ‘Editor’s Choice’ of the UK’s leading jazz magazine, Jazzwise, a month later.

Xhosa has performed twice at the BBC Proms, Composed music for the Ripieno Players, a Birmingham Based String Orchestra, recorded saxophone for Mahalia’s debut album Love and Compromise, completed a 22 date UK tour, all while he studied at the the UK’s Trinity Laban Conservatoire.

“An erudite young sax master who catches Monk’s wild spirit… and will surprise even the most devout buffs, and hook the most unsuspecting of jazz newbies too.” – The Guardian