Headfirst Editor's Pick
"Dive into the jazz-leaning queer cosmos with two of the best to do it. A former beatboxing champion, Wol’s expressive vocal dexterity melds with a resonant multi-instrumental tapestry, whilst t l k creates spellbinding audio collages blending downtempo electronica, musique concrète and cinematic melodicism. "
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A gig held at The Jam Jar on Wednesday 9th July. The event starts at 20:30.
Queer Jazz have put together a beautiful line-up of LGBTQI+ artists to celebrate Pride 2025, with Wolwolwol and t l k headlining. This event welcomes all orientations including allies.
Wol
There are multifaceted artists, and then there’s Wol (formerly Bellatrix). A spellbinding singer and instinctively expressive songwriter, a multi-instrumentalist, a versatile performer and former world beatboxing champion, Wol complements artistic wholeness with an inventive, all-encompassing and hands-on creative vision that can’t help but resonate.
Starting out as the first professional female beatboxer in the UK, Wol- who now identifies as non-binary - has been a trailblazer in their field and is a fierce advocate for those who are under-represented in their communities.
Wol has since made their name as both a solo artist and a highly sought after collaborator, touring internationally and performing at many of the top festivals and venues across the world.
t l k
t l k is a Bristol-based artist, vocalist and producer. Their practice centres the voice-as-instrument, in live, recorded (Ableton) and hybrid contexts, with palettes formed from found rhythms, analog synths and vocal layers. Their roots are in choral polyphony, blended with soundscape composition, electronics and audio collage. At the core is a deep commitment to the act of noticing and iterating.
Fluid in genre and form, with a leaning towards cinematic ambient, downtempo electronic, skewed pop, neo-classical and musique concrète sensibilities, their works evolve from memory, dialogue, dreams and ongoing explorations into loss, selfhood, human behaviour and its coalescence and tensions with the non-human.
About Queer Jazz
Queer Jazz's mission is to showcase and celebrate queer jazz artists and to nurture the emerging queer jazz scene. Founded by international DJ, broadcaster, curator and music journalist Tina Edwards and award-winning jazz musician Arowah (bandleader of Jelly Cleaver, B.H.A.M., All Day Breakfast Cafe, Musical Meditation), they launched for Pride 2023 with a series at Woolwich Works. They have since partnered with the likes of London Jazz Festival and Brick Lane Jazz Festival, and The Barbican. Their innovative approach has led to supportive coverage by Clash Magazine, Jazzwise and Jazz FM. Community is at the heart of what Queer Jazz does and they create a safe space for queer artists to be seen and celebrated as well as for queer audiences to see themselves represented in jazz. They aim to be a global advocate for LGBTQIA+ jazz musicians around the world, and have already welcomed international artists from Australia to Switzerland.
Entry requirements: 18+
Wol
There are multifaceted artists, and then there’s Wol (formerly Bellatrix). A spellbinding singer and instinctively expressive songwriter, a multi-instrumentalist, a versatile performer and former world beatboxing champion, Wol complements artistic wholeness with an inventive, all-encompassing and hands-on creative vision that can’t help but resonate.
Starting out as the first professional female beatboxer in the UK, Wol- who now identifies as non-binary - has been a trailblazer in their field and is a fierce advocate for those who are under-represented in their communities.
Wol has since made their name as both a solo artist and a highly sought after collaborator, touring internationally and performing at many of the top festivals and venues across the world.
t l k
t l k is a Bristol-based artist, vocalist and producer. Their practice centres the voice-as-instrument, in live, recorded (Ableton) and hybrid contexts, with palettes formed from found rhythms, analog synths and vocal layers. Their roots are in choral polyphony, blended with soundscape composition, electronics and audio collage. At the core is a deep commitment to the act of noticing and iterating.
Fluid in genre and form, with a leaning towards cinematic ambient, downtempo electronic, skewed pop, neo-classical and musique concrète sensibilities, their works evolve from memory, dialogue, dreams and ongoing explorations into loss, selfhood, human behaviour and its coalescence and tensions with the non-human.
About Queer Jazz
Queer Jazz's mission is to showcase and celebrate queer jazz artists and to nurture the emerging queer jazz scene. Founded by international DJ, broadcaster, curator and music journalist Tina Edwards and award-winning jazz musician Arowah (bandleader of Jelly Cleaver, B.H.A.M., All Day Breakfast Cafe, Musical Meditation), they launched for Pride 2023 with a series at Woolwich Works. They have since partnered with the likes of London Jazz Festival and Brick Lane Jazz Festival, and The Barbican. Their innovative approach has led to supportive coverage by Clash Magazine, Jazzwise and Jazz FM. Community is at the heart of what Queer Jazz does and they create a safe space for queer artists to be seen and celebrated as well as for queer audiences to see themselves represented in jazz. They aim to be a global advocate for LGBTQIA+ jazz musicians around the world, and have already welcomed international artists from Australia to Switzerland.
Entry requirements: 18+
Other jazz gigs
— Bristol Beacon
jazz
indie rock
singer-songwriter
experimental pop
indie folk
— The Trinity Centre
jazz
world
dub
samba
disco
