Award-winning alto-saxophonist, composer, MC and Birmingham based poet Soweto Kinch presents White Juju at PoliNations. Written in response to the Black Lives Matter movement, Black British history and lockdown, White Juju begins with the deafening silence of quarantine in 2020, it conjures sounds such as a bird call in Central Park, and the statue of a slaver crashing into Bristol’s River Avon, interwoven with Kinch’s barbed lyrics.

For PoliNations, the show has been adapted for a jazz quartet and dancer - the piece is deliberately danceable and intentionally seeks to subvert expectations of orchestral music. 

Kinch’s music melds his distinct approach to jazz and hip hop with Classical music: drawing broad inspiration from European folklore, the African Diaspora and myth to create a contemporary tone poem.

Award winning alto-saxophonist and MC Soweto Kinch is one of the most exciting and versatile young musicians in both the British jazz and hip hop scenes. Undoubtedly, one of the few artists in either genre with a degree in Modern History from Oxford University he has amassed an impressive list of accolades and awards on both sides of the Atlantic – including a Mercury Music Prize nomination, two UMA Awards and a MOBO for best Jazz Act in 2003.

This event is part of a special programme of commissions by BBC Arts and Arts Council England’s commission!