Originally brought together via a student-run Michael Jackson tribute gig, their common appreciation for legendary artists such as Stevie Wonder, D’Angelo and The Red Hot Chili Peppers sparked an unmatchable union and a weekly ritual of cramming into tiny practice rooms. They soon made a home at Edinburgh’s infamous Jazz Bar, where they regularly pulled in loyal followers from all corners of the UK with their funk-infused dancefloor fillers and clandestine post-gig lock-ins.
This will be The Foo Birds first gig at PizzaExpress, and they’ll be bringing a lot of fresh, new material for you to dig in to ahead of a recording in January 2024. Music for the body, music for the soul.
With support of Sofia Grant
Sofia Grant is a vocalist, composer and arranger from London. She has worked as a session musician and vocalist for UK Jazz talents like Poppy Ajudha, PYJAEN and Donna Thompson, performing at venues such as Royal Albert Hall for the BBC Proms, Alexandra Palace for Later… with Jools Holland, Ronnie Scotts and Village Underground. She lived in Barcelona for three years and was active on the improvised music scene there before returning to her hometown of London to launch her project.
Her record 'Extinction', released earlier this year, has received radio plays from Jamz Supernova and Gilles Peterson on BBC 6 Music, Jamie Cullum on BBC Radio 2, J to Z on BBC Radio 3 and China Moses on Jazz FM. It was featured on Selector Radio and the Jazz UK playlist on Spotify with an interview feature published in WONDERLAND. It is a reckoning with the themes of climate collapse and the decline of nature. It places vocal harmony at its core alongside rich percussion and thoughtful lyricism - and offers an emotional response to the destruction of the natural world as we know it.
