On 17th March three of Tomorrow’s Warriors young Emerging Artists travelled from London to Brussels to meet their Belgian counterparts for the first time as the latest chapter of BXL x LDN Interplay began.
Now in its second year, the joint development project between Tomorrow’s Warriors and Brosella Festival brings musicians together to create original collaborative jazz compositions, build new musical and cultural bridges, and perform at venues and festivals in both Belgium and the UK.
This year London is represented by bassist Myra Brownbridge (Tony Kofi, Zara McFarlane, Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain), tenor saxophonist David Kayode (Nii Maxine, Osibisa, Moses Boyd), and drummer Cassius Cobbson (Mansur Brown).
And, completing the sextet, the Brussels contingent features Marius Rabbe on trombone, soprano saxophonist Adia Vanheerentals, and guitarist Anton Robberechts.
The musicians all arrived with their own new compositions to develop with the ensemble over three days under the mentorship of UK trumpeter Mark Kavuma and Belgian vocalist Chantal Acda.
Following the three-day development sessions with their mentors, the musicians made their debut, performing at the Brosella Spring Festival concert at La Vallée on Thursday 20th March.
Looking back at the first week of the project, Music Leader Mark Kavuma reflected “This is all about championing collaboration and teamwork which, I think, is not just a cornerstone for any successful music making, but also for life in general.
Creatively this is bringing all the participants out of their individual comfort zones, because all the compositions are so different. So, this week has already offered them whole load of fresh and new creative perspectives to encounter.”
And this was a sentiment echoed by the musicians, with Myra Brownbridge adding “This is giving me a sense of renewal and feeling refreshed, just from playing together for a week.
Being a musician in London is tough – balancing how to earn enough money but still enjoy the creative spark is so challenging. This week has given me hope and a shared motivation to work with different musicians and see what clicks with them, it’s already been really exciting and inspiring to have all the different points of view and different musical perspectives come together.”
The project continues through spring and summer of 2025 with the ensemble taking part in the Tomorrow’s Warriors Taproom Takeover at Brick Lane Jazz Festival, London, in April, a further three-day development session at the start of June, followed by a performance at the Middelheim Festival. They will be taking to the main stage at Brosella Festival on 6th July, before heading back to the UK in August to perform at Pizza Express Holborn, London, before a final performance on the Tomorrow’s Warriors Big Top stage at Gilles Peterson’s We Out Here Festival.
Cassius Cobbson sums up the journey they are on together, “As musicians we are closer than we think, in terms of what we can do, when we’re talking about both theory and technique. For an example, we can all play in different time signatures, but sometimes we might approach them in a different way.
The shared headspace we are creating is about getting it right and making the music sound sweet together in a very short space of time.
And yeah, that is reflection of how far we have come musically, and it is inspiring!”
And it seems that the other essential ingredient for creating great music is there to, and that’s the vibe, as guitarist Anton Robberechts explains, “The first week was already such a treat! It was super cool to come together and play each other’s compositions and it’s so inspiring to see the mix of people. We’ve already formed a great group, not just as musicians but also personally and friendship wise… there is a great, great vibe already and that is a perfect way to start playing as a group.”
Jazz fans can look forward to this ensemble growing in stature as their music evolves!
More about Tomorrow’s Warriors
For over 30 years, Tomorrow’s Warriors has played a vital role within its community and the wider music industry and has been credited with literally changing the face of UK jazz.
Free access to Tomorrow’s Warriors artistic programme has proved crucial in nurturing the nascent talent and early careers of so many of the most exciting UK artists currently tearing up the international jazz scene including Mercury Prize 2023 winners Ezra Collective, Moses Boyd, Nubya Garcia, Shabaka Hutchings and Sons of Kemet, ESKA, Jason Yarde, Denys Baptiste, Robert Mitchell, Soweto Kinch, Shirley Tetteh, Byron Wallen...the list goes on.
A Black-founded and Black-led organisation, Tomorrow’s Warriors offers a pioneering, comprehensive programme of FREE learning and training which champions and supports young black and female talent and those who come from challenging circumstances that would be a barrier to accessing opportunities to pursue a music career.
Since inception, in 1991, Tomorrow’s Warriors has reached over 10,000 young people aged 11-25 through its unique Talent Development Programme, providing each musician with between 1,000-5,000 hours of free jazz training and development.
More about Brosella Festival
As one of the oldest music festivals in Belgium, Brosella Festival is not only a presentation venue but also a producer. It stands for a varied and high-quality musical selection of urban ethno and jazz and the many genres in between. This combination makes it unique of its kind. It presents and produces musical projects by both established names and young talent from home and abroad. The core concepts of 'inclusiveness', 'open', 'participatory', 'diverse', 'distinctive', 'immersive', 'accessible', and 'collaborative' are integral to its mission.
Brosella Festival has a strong complementary and distinctive character compared to many other festivals. It often combines (inter)national artists of renown such as Maria Schneider, Clary Bley, Fred Hersch, Marcus Hill, Butcher Brown, Bill Frisell, Brandee Younger, Bill Laurance… with unknown but talented new names who are often appearing in Belgium for the first time or who only really break through later. The fact that musicians from outside Belgium are paired with home-grown musicians also makes for a clearly complementary and distinctive character.
But it is mainly by listening to the many artistic dreams and wishes of musicians and actively participating in these artistic plans that Brosella Festival plays a supported, essential, and necessary role.
