Newcastle Festival of Jazz and Improvised Music presents…
Alex Hitchcock Quartet
Alex Hitchcock – Saxophone
Will Barry – Piano
Mats Sandahl -Bass
Ananda Brandão – Drums
Following sold-out album launches in New York and London the internationally acclaimed Alex Hitchcock Quartet come to The Globe for Newcastle Festival of Jazz and Improvised Music 2026.
Described as a “virtuoso” by The Guardian, saxophonist and Ivor Novello-nominated composer Alex Hitchcock is a leading voice on the international jazz stage. Emerging from London’s fertile jazz scene and shaped by inventive collaborations across Europe, the US, and further afield, he has built an international reputation for music that balances real-world urgency with formal and
stylistic exploration.
Following sold-out album launches in New York and London, Hitchcock tours a cutting-edge quartet performing music from his acclaimed new release, Letters From Afar, a sonic correspondence across emotional, geographic, and artistic distances. The group’s sound draws as much from film and visual art as from music itself: shimmering bitonal harmonies that bloom and fracture; layered textures of colour, density, and rhythmic asymmetry; loops and motifs that build, collide, and dissolve.
Hitchcock has carved out a distinctive space in contemporary jazz – at times intense and chaotic, at others disarmingly sparse and direct. Beneath the surface of the quartet’s notated forms lies a deep commitment to free improvisation, creating music both tightly sculpted and thrillingly fluid.
This is music for curious, open-minded listeners drawn to art at the edge of beauty and disruption. Fans of Caroline Davis, Tyshawn Sorey, or Peter Evans will find familiar terrain though this is a group never content to stay in one place for long.
Alex Hitchcock
Alex Hitchcock is a London born saxophonist, composer, arranger, and producer based in New York. He draws inspiration politically as much as musically from artists in the radical tradition of Black American music, including Archie Shepp, Cecil Taylor, Hazel Scott, Ma Rainey, and Max Roach. His work reckons with the politics embedded in both the history and form of this music and the struggle, resistance, and reinvention that have shaped it.
Since emerging as a leader, Hitchcock has released four solo albums to widespread critical acclaim. The Guardian described him as a “virtuoso” saxophonist, while BBC Jazz World hailed him as “leading the charge in terms of new jazz music being created in the UK.” His work has been featured on the BBC, France Musique, WDR, JazzFM, Worldwide FM, and in leading publications such as Downbeat, MOJO, Jazzwise, Musica Jazz, Stereogum, and Uncut.
He tours globally with his own quartet, performing at major venues and festivals including North Sea Jazz Festival, Umbria Jazz Festival, Jazz à Vienne, Love Supreme Jazz Festival, Rochester International Jazz Festival, Ronnie Scott’s, Bimhuis, the Barbican, Royal Albert Hall, and Glastonbury. Most recently, he has appeared in the working quartet of Detroit piano legend (and Dexter Gordon side musician) Kirk Lightsey, touring across the UK, France, Germany, and Switzerland ‘An incredible saxophonist, with something very unique and original to say’
– Walter Smith III
‘Intrepid tenor saxophonist corrals an astonishing array of UK & EU jazz talent’
– Uncut Magazine
‘An absolutely fascinating musician as a composer, leader and soloist’
– France Musique
‘One of the most interesting and innovative European saxophonists’
– Musica Jazz Magazine
Presented by Newcastle Festival of Jazz and Improvised Music alongside Jazz North East
AGE RESTRICTIONS Children and young people under 16 years old may attend events accompanied by an adult (age over 18). They are not allowed to enter the premises after 9pm and they must leave the premises by midnight. Under 16s are not allowed to purchase soft drinks, but they may consume soft drinks bought for them by their accompanying adult. 16 and 17 year olds are allowed to attend events unaccompanied by an adult and they may purchase soft drinks. They must leave the premises by midnight.
Sep 27 – Alex Hitchcock Quartet
Sunday 27 September, 8pm (7pm doors)
Tickets £14 +bf Advance / £16 OTD HERE
Description
Newcastle Festival of Jazz and Improvised Music presents…
Alex Hitchcock Quartet
Alex Hitchcock – Saxophone
Will Barry – Piano
Mats Sandahl -Bass
Ananda Brandão – Drums
Following sold-out album launches in New York and London the internationally acclaimed Alex Hitchcock Quartet come to The Globe for Newcastle Festival of Jazz and Improvised Music 2026.
Described as a “virtuoso” by The Guardian, saxophonist and Ivor Novello-nominated composer Alex Hitchcock is a leading voice on the international jazz stage. Emerging from London’s fertile jazz scene and shaped by inventive collaborations across Europe, the US, and further afield, he has built an international reputation for music that balances real-world urgency with formal and
stylistic exploration.
Following sold-out album launches in New York and London, Hitchcock tours a cutting-edge quartet performing music from his acclaimed new release, Letters From Afar, a sonic correspondence across emotional, geographic, and artistic distances. The group’s sound draws as much from film and visual art as from music itself: shimmering bitonal harmonies that bloom and fracture; layered textures of colour, density, and rhythmic asymmetry; loops and motifs that build, collide, and dissolve.
Hitchcock has carved out a distinctive space in contemporary jazz – at times intense and chaotic, at others disarmingly sparse and direct. Beneath the surface of the quartet’s notated forms lies a deep commitment to free improvisation, creating music both tightly sculpted and thrillingly fluid.
This is music for curious, open-minded listeners drawn to art at the edge of beauty and disruption. Fans of Caroline Davis, Tyshawn Sorey, or Peter Evans will find familiar terrain though this is a group never content to stay in one place for long.
Alex Hitchcock
Alex Hitchcock is a London born saxophonist, composer, arranger, and producer based in New York. He draws inspiration politically as much as musically from artists in the radical tradition of Black American music, including Archie Shepp, Cecil Taylor, Hazel Scott, Ma Rainey, and Max Roach. His work reckons with the politics embedded in both the history and form of this music and the struggle, resistance, and reinvention that have shaped it.
Since emerging as a leader, Hitchcock has released four solo albums to widespread critical acclaim. The Guardian described him as a “virtuoso” saxophonist, while BBC Jazz World hailed him as “leading the charge in terms of new jazz music being created in the UK.” His work has been featured on the BBC, France Musique, WDR, JazzFM, Worldwide FM, and in leading publications such as Downbeat, MOJO, Jazzwise, Musica Jazz, Stereogum, and Uncut.
He tours globally with his own quartet, performing at major venues and festivals including North Sea Jazz Festival, Umbria Jazz Festival, Jazz à Vienne, Love Supreme Jazz Festival, Rochester International Jazz Festival, Ronnie Scott’s, Bimhuis, the Barbican, Royal Albert Hall, and Glastonbury. Most recently, he has appeared in the working quartet of Detroit piano legend (and Dexter Gordon side musician) Kirk Lightsey, touring across the UK, France, Germany, and Switzerland ‘An incredible saxophonist, with something very unique and original to say’
– Walter Smith III
‘Intrepid tenor saxophonist corrals an astonishing array of UK & EU jazz talent’
– Uncut Magazine
‘An absolutely fascinating musician as a composer, leader and soloist’
– France Musique
‘One of the most interesting and innovative European saxophonists’
– Musica Jazz Magazine
www.alexhitchcock.com
www.newcastlefestivalofjazzandimprovisedmusic.co.uk
Presented by Newcastle Festival of Jazz and Improvised Music alongside Jazz North East
AGE RESTRICTIONS
Children and young people under 16 years old may attend events accompanied by an adult (age over 18). They are not allowed to enter the premises after 9pm and they must leave the premises by midnight. Under 16s are not allowed to purchase soft drinks, but they may consume soft drinks bought for them by their accompanying adult.
16 and 17 year olds are allowed to attend events unaccompanied by an adult and they may purchase soft drinks. They must leave the premises by midnight.
Related products
Aug 30 – Tango Jazz Quartet
Jul 11 – Hoodoo Blues – dance class and social
Jul 12 – Bridge Quartet