London Jazz Festival set to celebrate 20th year with first ever UK solo gig by Herbie Hancock

Herbie Hancock (pictured) and Sonny Rollins will be amongst the jazz legends but expect surprises with Imelda May lending her sassy vocals to the opening gala and this years Mercury Prize nominees Roller Trio adding some ‘thrash-jazz’ to the mix. (GETTY IMAGES)

The London Jazz Festival celebrates its 20th anniversary this year and some serious jazz hitters are coming out to play.

Herbie Hancock and Sonny Rollins will be amongst the jazz legends but expect surprises with Imelda May lending her sassy vocals to the opening gala and this years Mercury Prize nominees Roller Trio adding some ‘thrash-jazz’ to the mix.

Unbelievably it’s the first solo gig for Herbie Hancock ever in the UK. The Grammy-winning jazz institution is a major pull for the festival organisers who warned ‘people are very excited about this solo gig - the tickets will sell out in a flash’.

Tickets to Herbie Hancock may be hard to come by but there’s a ton of acts to try. ‘It’s an excellent starting point for the jazz novice as it features such a wide array of jazz acts’ said Frank of the Frank Griffith Big Band.

With 50 different venues ranging from Bethnal Green’s Working Men’s Club to the Royal Opera House, the festival takes place right across the city. With some 250 gigs the organiser’s are expecting over 100,000 people to attend ‘one of London’s biggest music festivals’.

So if Guy Fawkes Night doesn't light your fire maybe some jazz will. The London Jazz Festival takes place at venues all over the capital from 9th – 18th November.

www.londonjazzfestival.org.uk