Unsigned South London guitarist and songwriter Oscar Jerome has today announced that he’ll be supporting spiritual jazz virtuoso Kamasi Washington on a run of UK dates this May. The news arrives fresh off the back of his latest single ‘Misty Head / Sunny Street’, the latest addition to a back-catalogue that’s marked him out as a mainstay of the London jazz scene; not least from studying at Trinity Laban, playing in afrobeat troupe Kokoroko and collaborating with his peers, including Sons of Kemet, Moses Boyd and Ezra Collective. The tour-dates (on sale now from here) can be found below and you can stream ‘Misty Head / Sunny Street’ – supported by 6 Music, Radio 1 & 1Xtra – here.
Where Oscar’s studio recordings deal in a sound that takes cues from jazz, funk and hip-hop – latest single ‘Misty Head…’ being a case in point – it’s in a live setting where his conservatoire training comes to the fore and the songs take on a whole new life; his tracks often spiralling into wild guitar wig-outs that channel the spirit ofWes Montgomery, George Benson and Shuggie Otis.
The tour announcement arrives following a run of European dates that included a sold-out show at EartH (where Oscar was joined on stage by Joe Armon-Jones and Lianne La Havas), his biggest headliner to date following a consistent run of sell-outs at Village Underground, Corsica Studies and Ghost Notes. He also, just last month, made his third trip across the Atlantic for a run of buzz-building performances at SXSW; playing showcases for Jazz Re:Freshed, Clash Magazine and Majestic Casual and sharing bills with Ezra Collective and Novelist.
TOUR-DATES W/ KAMASI WASHINGTON
18/05 – Birmingham @ O2 Institute Birmingham
22/05 – Glasgow @ Barrowlands
23/05 – Bristol @ O2 Academy Bristol
24/05 – Manchester @ Manchester Academy 1
(TICKETS NOW ON SALE HERE)