The concert, taking place at Kings Place on the 25th June, will honour the Windrush generation.
Kings Place has announced the live premiere of The Windrush Suite & Echo in the Bones, a multi-sensory performance of music, storytelling, visuals and recordings of the pioneering voices of the Windrush Generation.
Inspired by Ivor Novello recipient, Platinum-selling composer and songwriter Renell Shaw’s Caribbean roots, the concert will bring together 12 musicians blending Jazz, Classical
and Contemporary music, led by Shaw.
The ensemble will also include: Orphy Robinson MBE; renowned classical crossover cellist
Ayanna Witter-Johnson; Rudimental trumpeter Mark Crown, Trombonist Nathaniel Cross;
Charlie Laffer who plays for Maverick Sabre, on guitar; Jorga Smith bassist Mutale Chashi; Olivier-award winning composer Romarna Campbell (Sleepova) on drums, award-winning
pianist Zoe Alexandria and not least, Grammy-award-winning and legendary tenor
saxophonist Jean Toussaint.
Vocalists include the powerhouse voice of Afronaut Zu (lead singer of Afro-punk band
Steam Down), OFFIE Award-winner Rochelle Rose (Best Performance in musical Black Power
Desk) and the modern soulfulness of artist Nandi (on ITV’s The Voice 2018).
The Windrush Suite pays homage not only to Shaw’s grandparents’ journey from the
Caribbean to Britain telling their stories of love, pain, struggle, and triumph through a fusion
of jazz, spoken word and Caribbean traditions but it is also a heartfelt tribute to all of the
trailblazers who arrived in Britain in 1948 building lives, community and culture against the
odds. Echo in the Bones explores what it means to be Black British through the eyes of the
Windrush generation’s children – weaving music, history, and storytelling into a moving
portrait of resistance, legacy, and belonging.
Talking about the news Renell Shaw said: “Staging The Windrush Suite and
Echo in the Bones at Kings Place right now feels deeply significant to me because these
works are about memory, inheritance and the stories that continue to shape who we are.
They honour lives, histories and emotional truths that deserve to be heard in full. I hope
audiences leave feeling moved, expanded and more connected to the human depth
within these works. Through this journey I have learnt that my role is not just to compose, but to hold space for memory, truth and transformation through music.”
To book tickets visit: https://www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/jazz/renell-shaw-the-windrush-suite-echo-in-the-bones/