From blockbuster scores to jazz basements and bold new exhibitions, London bursts into life with music this spring, writes Lisa Hylton.
This spring, east London comes alive with music as V&A East Museum opens in Stratford with a blockbuster exhibition, The Music is Black: A British Story (from 18 Apr). Spanning 125 years, it celebrates the voices, talent and stories that have shaped Black British music and the country’s cultural heartbeat. With more than 200 objects on display – from fashion and photographs to song sheets and sculpture – it’s a powerful across four continents.
A Journey In Four Acts
The exhibition begins with Act 1: Origins of Music, tracing Black music to its African roots and the creativity that endured through centuries of enslavement to Britain. Act 2: ‘Great’ Britain: 1900-1969 explores how music thrived during migration, war and rapid technological change. Act 3: British-Born Black Music celebrates the rise of uniquely Black British genres, from lovers rock to grime. The journey ends with Act 4: The British Sound of.…looking at both today’s and tomorrow’s groundbreaking sounds, from pop, drill and jazz to dubstep, gospel and afrobeats.
New Notes, First Glimpses
More than 60 new acquisitions on show include Seal’s outfit from his 1991 debut album, Joan Armatrading’s childhood guitar and rapper-actor NoLay’s Top Boy jacket. Visitors can also see Jme’s Super Nintendo Mario Paint game, used for early music experiments in the 1990s before he co-founded his record label Boy Better Know with Skepta.
Fashion also takes centre stage, from Dame Shirley Bassey’s glamorous 2013 Academy Awards gown to Little Simz’s 2023 Dazed ensemble and Skin’s (Skunk Anansie) striking green suit and spiked headpiece.
Historic artefacts, meanwhile, sit alongside contemporary art. You’ll see Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s early 20th-century conducting batons and Winifred Atwell’s piano, plus works from Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Big Mama Thornton that reflect transatlantic influences. Art by Dame Sonia Boyce, Sokar Douglas Camp CBE and Zak Ove appear alongside newly commissioned pieces by Sir Frank Bowling and LR Vandy.
Curator Jacqueline Springer explains: “Music reflects and feeds emotions… this exhibition speaks to modernity and long, deep histories’.
Multitudes of Music at Southbank Centre
While The Music is Black explores decades of creativity, the wonderful Southbank Centre celebrates the city’s living pulse with Multitudes (16-30 Apr). Across the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall and other venyes at the site, classical, jazz, electronic and experimental sounds meet visual art, dance and spoken word.
Highlights include the Aurora Orchestra’s The Rite by Heart (16 Apr), the Philharmonia Orchestra’s Forged in Sound: Heavy Metal Orchestrated (22 Apr) and the London Contemporary Orchestra’s Unnatural Harmony: Sounds of Lee Alexander McQueen (29-30 Apr). Multitudes reimagines orchestral sound as something to see, feel and experience – for all the senses.
The City’s Underground in Full Swing
For something more grassroots, the Brick Lane Jazz Festival (24-26 Apr) returns to the Truman Brewery for its fifth year, spotlighting
emerging talent and London’s thriving underground scene. Jazz, hip-hop, neo-soul, R&B, broken beat and electronic music fill 12 venues around Brick Lane in the East End.
Tomorrow’s Warriors showcase rising UK jazz at the Brick Lane Tap Room, Rough Trade East pairslive music with record-store heritage and Café 1001 keeps the dancefloor moving with vinyl-led sets. Ninety One Living Room offers a relaxed pub setting, while 93 Feet East
blends club culture with alt-R&B and hip-hop.
Rich Mix hosts boundary-pushing European artists, and Village Underground’s red-brick warehouse provides the festival’s Main Stage. With venues just minutes apart, the celebrations showcase some of London’s most exciting new sounds.
Screen sounds
Film, TV and gaming fans will love the London Soundtrack Festival (9-12 Apr), celebrating the music behind our favourite screen moments. Over four days, venues including the Barbican, Cadogan Hall and Central Hall Westminster host screenings, concerts, talks and masterclasses. On opening night, Homegrown Heroes promises to be an unmissable celebration of British film and TV music at the Barbican, while the grand finale features music friom Academy Award-winning composer Rachel Portman at Cadogan Hall.
An Intimate Stage in Soho
For a more intimate experience, head to Upstairs at Ronnie Scott’s on Soho’s Frith Street. With 140 seats, cabaret-style tables and superb acoustics, it’s one of the capital’s most atmospheric live music spaces.
April features midweek Vocal Jazz Jam nights, including performances from Natalie Williams and the Jamie Safir Trio revisiting Broadway faves (15 & 29 Apr). Singer-songwriter Sumuda Jayatilaka, meanwhile, pays tribute to the legends who inspired her (16 Apr). With its intimate atmosphere, Upstairs at Ronnie’s is a brilliant way to experience live jazz in the city this spring.
