Academy Jazz Festival - Academy Jazz Ensemble with Dave Okumu

Dave Okumu guitar

Academy Jazz Ensemble:

Ife Ogunjobi trumpet
Tom Waters alto saxophone
Matt Cook tenor saxophone
Dan Higham trombone
Matthew Carter piano
Rosie Taylor guitar
Matthew Reed acoustic bass
Seth Tackaberry electric bass
Luca Caruso drums

Born in Vienna to Kenyan parents and ultimately settling in London via Edinburgh and Paris, Dave Okumu grew up surrounded by music enthusiasts. Mixtapes from siblings and friends would sow the seeds for dynamic and diverse creative expression taking the forms of songwriter, producer and performing musician.

Best known for fronting his critically acclaimed band The Invisible, whose eponymous debut was nominated for a Mercury Prize (2009) and was also selected by iTunes UK editorial team as 'iTunes Album of the Year', he has also collaborated, performed or recorded with artists including Amy Winehouse, St Vincent, Jane Birkin, Sara Creative Partners, Brigitte Fontaine, Theo Parrish, Tony Allen, King Sunny Ade, Omar, Matthew Herbert, Dani Siciliano, Toddla T, Bilal, Jack DeJohnette and Anna Calvi.

In 2010 Dave met Jessie Ware and the pair began to write and record her debut album Devotion – named after the opening track, which he co-wrote. Devotion led to his second Mercury nod, this time as producer and co-writer.

Dave continues to work with a number of artists as producer and/or writer. He has his own studio at The Laundry, London Fields.