Jam Session feat. Rob Luft
Jam Session feat. Rob Luft at All Saints Church, London
About the show
We’re excited to welcome Rob Luft to the Highams Park Jazz Club for the first time as guest artist at our jam session on 21st June. Recently crowned ‘Instrumentalist of the Year’ at the 2025 Parliamentary Jazz Awards, Rob is undeniably one of the most exciting jazz guitarists in Europe of his generation. Hailing from London, this award-winning virtuoso has garnered consistent comparisons to legends such as Bill Frisell, John McLaughlin and Pat Metheny.
His debut album, Riser, released in 2017 on Edition Records, made an enormous impact on the domestic and international jazz scenes, and was selected by Downbeat Magazine as one of the finest albums of 2017. Winning the prestigious Kenny Wheeler Jazz Prize at Royal Academy of Music propelled Luft’s career, and at just 23 years old, he presented a collection of originals showcasing a remarkable instrumental sound and compositional voice that reflected his individuality.
His highly-anticipated follow up album, Dahab Days, showcased continuous artistic growth and musical exploration. Released on Edition Records in October 2023, the album marked another significant milestone in his career. Around this time, Luft’s selection as a BBC New Generation Artist culminated with him being commissioned to compose a guitar concerto for performance at the EFG London Jazz Festival with the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
Recent collaborations with John Surman, Manu Katché and Elina Duni on ECM Records have further solidified his reputation and expanded his reach throughout continental Europe.
Other accolades include the Silver Prize in The 2016 Montreux Jazz Festival Guitar Competition, adjudicated by guitar great John McLaughlin, as well as winning the Presto Music “Jazz Recording of the Year” 2024 for his trio album As Time Passes with famed Norwegian bassist Arild Andersen.
Line up: Soner Ersen: piano Dave Manington: bass Eric Ford: drums
Featuring - Rob Luft
Winner of the 2016 "Kenny Wheeler Jazz Prize", awarded to one Royal Academy of Music graduate of exceptional ability each year, guitarist Rob Luft has already worked with some of the highest profile artists on the UK jazz scene. He's toured Europe with his own "Deco Ensemble" and is a member of several bands including Byron Wallen's "Four Corners", has performed with Gregory Porter, Hamish Stuart & Liane Carroll, and came in second in the 2016 Montreux Jazz Guitar competition. His debut album, “Riser”, was released in July 2017, to widespread critical acclaim from the European jazz media. John Fordham wrote in The Guardian that it’s a “very sophisticated debut, but given Luft’s old-soul achievements since his early teens, we should have heard it coming”.