As the year draws to a close – and what a year – we want to start by saying a few big thank yous.
Firstly, heartfelt thanks to everyone who bought a ticket to one or more of our shows this year. It was really special, being back in a room full of people listening to live music again.
Thank you to the artists who performed and had us alternatively uplifted, spellbound and up on our feet dancing. We enjoyed incredible performances from The Kate Peters Band, The Broken Orchestra & special guests, Snake Davis & Gareth Moulton, Apphia Campbell, Wendy Kirkland Trio & Dennis Rollins, Matt Holborn Quartet, Emily Render & Tom Kay, Vicky Foster, Ruth Scott & James Wood, The Kitsch Co. UV Ball, Courtney Pine & Zoe Rahman, Mark Slater, The Dime Notes and Vimala Rowe with a stellar band led by Alex Webb. Thank you all!
And thank you to the teams at Hull Truck Theatre and Social, for making us so welcome and putting in so much work to welcoming audiences and artists back safely.
As well as putting on our first live shows in 20 months, another 2021 highlight was the launch of our Kickstarter Commissions. October and November saw the premieres of new music from The Dyr Sister, Matt Holborn, Dustin Kitsch and Paul Sargeson & Chris Sykes. Stay tuned next year for more new music from Camille Maalawy, James Rushworth, the Vulliamy-Murray-Bennett Trio, Late Night Marauders and The Broken Orchestra.
Albums of the Year
We’ve pulled together some of the album of the year lists – great to see some of our favourites making the lists, including Emma-Jean Thackray’s Yellow (tickets for Emma-Jean’s show at Social in February are on sale now), Nubiyan Twist’s Freedom Fables and Pharoah Saunders & Floating Points’ Promises.
Emma-Jean Thackray – Yellow
So if you’re after inspiration for Christmas pressies for the music lovers in your life or just on the look-out for listening recommendations, check out the links below. We’ve added a few more of our favourites from this year too.
Jazzwise – The 20 Best Jazz Albums of 2021
Jazz FM – Jazz Albums you need to know about in 2021
Guardian – The 10 best jazz albums of 2021
Pitchfork – Best Jazz and Experimental Albums of 2021
Album of the Year – The Best Jazz Albums of 2021
Other albums that have been on fairly heavy rotation for us this year include:
Chelsea Carmichael – The River Doesn’t Like Strangers
Archipelago – Echoes to the Sky
Work, Money, Death – The Space In Which The Uncontrollable Unknown Resides, Can Be The Place From Which Creation Arises
Daniel Casimir – Boxed In
Theon Cross – Intra-I