Amira Kheir – EFG London Jazz Festival 2023

About Amira Kheir

Amira Kheir is a unique artist whose music is the merging point of diverse cultural, artistic, stylistic and historical streams, creating a new identity for her sound. To date, she has released three albums to great critical acclaim ‘View From Somewhere’ (2011), ‘Alsahraa’ (2014), and ‘Mystic Dance’ (2018), released by historic African Music label Sterns Music. Her latest release ‘Mystic Dance’ is a powerful statement reflecting the artist’s identity; “a tour de force that builds and expands on the rich promise of her 2014 release Alsahraa” (Songlines). Amira has also performed at some of the world’s biggest festivals and stages, including Africa Festival Wurzburg (Germany), Womad Festival (UK), Festival Au Desert (Mali), WOW – Women of the World Festival (UK), London Jazz Festival, London African Music Festival, and the London International Festival for Exploratory Music, as well as touring the Netherlands as part of the ‘World Sessions’ Tour by World Connections and touring internationally with her band.

Among her milestones, in 2022 she was nominated to participate in the Royal Opera House’ Engender Festival – an artistic collaboration between artists in different parts of the world, exploring themes of gender and identity. She was commissioned to write and perform an improvised live score for Ernst Lubitsch’s seminal 1920s silent film ‘Sumurun’ by the Bird’s Eye View Film Festival two years in a row, performed at the London British Film Institute and the Bristol Watershed.

She was nominated for ‘Best Artist’ at the 2019 Songlines Music Awards, as well as being nominated as one of “6 Amazing Jazz Artists from the Middle East and North Africa not to be missed” by Mideast Tunes, and selected as one of “13 African Artists that will mark the next Decade” by Rede Angola. As a singer, songwriter and producer, she is repeatedly featured on world renowned magazines including Songlines, fRoots, the Evening Standard, as well as Radio France Internationale, Fip, Radio Popolare, Rai Radio 3, BBC World News, BBC World Service, BBC Radio 3, BBC Arabic and BBC Persia.

DJ Basma

Basma is the host of Khartoum Arrivals on NTS Radio and the co-host of a radio show and record label Hear, Sense and Feel. She plays music inspired by the long road, drawing from the wedding anthems and eclectic folk of Sudan, the Sahel, the Horn and beyond.

London Jazz Festival

The EFG London Jazz Festival is the capital’s biggest pan-city music festival, taking place annually in November, and long acclaimed for showcasing a heady mix of talent from around the globe. Widely acknowledged for delivering world-class artists and emerging stars, the Festival continues to take jazz to a massive audience, in one of UK’s landmark music events. The festival is produced by Serious, one of the UK’s leading producers and curators of live jazz, international and new music.

Date: 10 November 2023

Start Time: 20:00

Doors: 19:30

Bar:  Open from 19:30. We serve a selection of craft beer, wine, soft drinks and snacks.

Length: approx. 2 hours

Tickets: £16 + bf

We recommend pre-booking tickets to guarantee entry. Booking on the door will result in an additional fee of £1.

Venue: Grand Junction at St Mary Magdalene’s Church, Rowington Close, London W2 5TF

Closest Stations: Royal Oak (Circle and Hammersmith & City line) 0.3 miles

Warwick Avenue (Bakerloo line) 0.4 miles

Paddington Station (National Rail services and Circle, District, Bakerloo, Hammersmith & City line) 0.9 miles