Mangorata

Leeds jazz/global beats promoter DJ Lubi (Lubi Jovanovic) has been championing the Leeds DIY jazz scene for decades and giving a platform for young emerging bands to step up to the next level with live shows in Leeds, often at the Brudenell. Tonight he presents his first show of 2023 which features a band who made their venue debut in summer 2021 and have appeared as support on a few big headline shows. Now Mangorata are back for their first ever headline show at the venue promoting their debut EP and take it to the next level in 2023. 

Mangorata are one of the best of Leeds' next generation rising jazz stars. A 6-piece jazz fusion collective, they combine original tunes and improvisation, creating high energy with lively rhythms inspired by legends like Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Wayne Shorter, and more recent artists such as Nubiyan Twist and Nubya Garcia. The band met at Leeds Conservatoire where they are students and have combined their love for jazz, funk and Latin music to create a vibrant dancefloor friendly sound that can rock clubs and festivals and not just the standard jazz club seated style venues. 

Driven from the back by fiery drummer Miles Pillinger, they also feature another young virtuoso in trumpeter Olivia Cuttill, just 20 years old and already blowing people away with her incredibly mature soloing/playing. She released her own debut solo album "Three's A Crowd" in 2022. With fellow boss horn player James Absalom by her side on tenor sax, they make a formidable brass section. Miles also has heavy company in the rhythm section from pianist Liam Mason, percussionist JJ Petrie (Plantfood) and double bass player Chris Williams. They play mainly original music, like their first three singles "Bad Apple", "Woolly Mammoth" and "Chaos In Chadwell" (the track in the video), with occasional tasty covers like "Sweetie Pie" by Stone Alliance. "Chaos In Chadwell" had great radio support with plays on Jazz FM, Worldwide FM, Totally Wired Radio, JazzSoulFunk Radio, Soul Power Radio and Jazz 91.9fm in Atlanta Georgia, USA! Three singles released and having played all the main Leeds jazz clubs/gigs several times over already, they are now stepping it up with gigs outside Leeds and the release of this debut EP. All this and still only final year music students in their early twenties, this band has so much more to offer the jazz world in the next few years. Get down to see what all the fuss is about.

If Mangorata are the next Leeds jazz breakout band, then support band Afrodesia are the next generation of Leeds' rising jazz stars emerging from Leeds Conservatoire. They are a 9 piece afrobeat/afro-jazz ensemble led by alto saxophonist Reece Fogg. They've only played a handful of shows so far in Leeds but those have been firing sessions as their blend of classic afrobeat, highlife, contemporary jazz and Latin rhythms packed the dancefloor, most recently at the Plantfood show in November at Brudenell. With an average age of around 20, this band has so much potential for the future. Come and see them at the start of their music career journey.

Another great DJ Lubi/Brudenell show celebrating all that's good and great about the current vibrant Leeds alt-jazz scene and especially the next generation of musicians coming through in 2023.