Gogo Penguin + Daudi Matsiko

GoGo Penguin, the Manchester "power trio" with their hybrid jazz, rooted in classical and electronic influences, is soon celebrating 15 years of existence. Fifteen years of a path as unusual as it is brilliant, which has made them one of the flagships of the current jazz revival.

Their music, at once immersive and energetic, rests on precise ensemble playing, between haunting piano melodies, unpredictable rhythms, powerful bass and punchy drums. With their latest album "Necessary Fictions" (Sony Music, 2025), Chris Illingworth (piano), Nick Blacka (bass) and Jon Scott (drums) push audacity and freedom even further, adding modular synthesisers, the Moog Grandmother and an electric bass to their instrumentation while keeping their identity intact: obsessive loops, rising tension, tempo shifts and calmer moments of breath. An atmosphere that is ultimately very cinematic, which has also opened the doors of the seventh art to them, with the soundtracks of "Memento Mori" (Jean Heches, 2022) and the very recent "Juste une illusion" (Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache, 2026). An essential group, then, that speaks to the body as much as to the mind!

The music of Daudi Matsiko, a British songwriter of Ugandan origin, is fragile, spiritual, disarming and strikingly honest. His debut album "The King Of Misery" (Really Good, 2024) is a poignant and luminous exploration of depression, bipolar disorder and the way hope can emerge from such experiences. His fragile yet inhabited voice, deep lyrics and contemporary folk melodies give his songs a rare intensity. Hushed, whispered, caressed songs... A singing like a confession, carried by guitar strings barely touched.