Gogo Penguin + Daudi Matsiko

GoGo Penguin, the "power trio" from Manchester whose hybrid jazz draws on classical and electronic influences, will soon celebrate 15 years of existence. Fifteen years of a path as unusual as it is brilliant, which has made them one of the standard-bearers of the current jazz revival. Their music, both immersive and energetic, rests on a 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 boldness and freedom even further, incorporating modular synthesisers, the Moog Grandmother and an electric bass into their instrumentation while retaining their identity: obsessive loops, rising tension, shifts of tempo and calmer moments of breath. The result is a very cinematic atmosphere that has also opened the doors of the seventh art to them, with the original 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, his profound lyrics and his contemporary folk melodies give his songs a rare intensity. Hushed, whispered, caressed songs... A singing like a confession, carried by the barely touched strings of a guitar.