• Story: Stephen Graham.

In the YouTube video watch a version of title track 'El Roi' recorded at Dublin Lower Leeson Street venue The Sugar Club last year during a tour of Ireland and featuring Faithful One guest tenorist Denys Baptiste. The piece we can reveal is the title track of Sultan Stevenson's next album which is to feature UK jazz saxophone icon, Soweto Kinch. One of the biggest breakthrough organic jazz act successes to have moved up and through the grassroots London jazz club scene to tour more widely, release an acclaimed debut and showcase at the mammoth Eurojazz expo Jazzahead in Germany, is to release this follow-up album next year.

Soweto Kinch, above, an El Roi guest

Featuring saxophone star guest Soweto Kinch - known for his acclaimed recordings that have included the 5-star Boris Johnson satire White Juju recorded live with the London Symphony Orchestra, pianist Stevenson has signed with British jazz indie Edition, turning down - we understand - an offer to sign with a leading German jazz outfit.

Debut Faithful One was released by Whirlwind in 2023 - the year Stevenson was named newcomer of the year at the Parliamentary Jazz Awards.

Entitled El Roi - meaning ''God Saw Me'' [Genesis, 16:13] - compositions are by the pianist leader and the formidable Stevenson trio of bassist Jacob Gryn and drummer Joel Waters return as does trumpeter and flugel player Josh Short on 3 of the 8 tracks who guested on Stevenson debut Faithful One.

Kinch plays tenor sax - a switch from his customary alto - also on three tracks of the 30-minute long album whose track titles are: 'Unspeakable Happiness'; 'A Region in my Mind'; 'Arise'; 'My Unbelief'; 'Purpose; 'Wisdom'; 'I Believe' and 'El Roi.'

The Sultan Stevenson trio, l-r: Joel Waters, Jacob Gryn, Sultan Stevenson, above - photo: marlbank - playing Leytonstone jazz club the East Side in December 2022

''This album,'' Sultan tells marlbank, ''is my way of expressing thoughts and emotions that I have about two very important concepts: Faith and identity. 'El Roi' is one of the many names for God in the bible. It means 'God of Sight'. The title binds together these two themes well. 'God' referring to faith and 'sight' referring to how one is seen and how you perceive the world around you.''

Stevenson - who was trained by the Julian Joseph Jazz Academy and Tomorrow’s Warriors and taught by Julian ''The Language of Truth'' Joseph, Gary Crosby, Simon Purcell and Robert Mitchell and is a graduate of the City of London's Guildhall School of Music & Drama - adds that ''the idea of 'faith' was firstly tackled in my debut album Faithful One and is inspired by faith-based experiences like: prayer and giving thanks.''

Themes

He explains that ''tracks 3 through till 7 are all part of a suite I wrote for piano trio back in 2022 entitled 'Those Who Believe' - the idea is to take the listener on a journey from a place where there is no hope/belief and transform them to a place of total faith. This journey takes place through 5 tunes and is explored through improvisation and the variety of recurring motifs and themes embedded in the 5 compositions.''

''Identity is primarily explored through the remaining three compositions on the record which feature tenor saxophone and trumpet. 'Unspeakable Happiness' is a phrase taken from 12 Years a Slave in which the enslaved protagonist describes freedom as 'Unspeakable Happiness'. This was his - [Solomon Northup's] - attempt to redefine his identity which is a subject I wanted to portray in this piece, one’s ability to redefine who they are, how identity is an ever-changing thing often. 'Region in my Mind' focuses on the inner self and how that may be the only constant thing – the spirit. The record concludes with 'El Roi,' which is a kind of summary and way to explore the intersection between the two themes. I wrote El Roi to be a sequel with similar themes but explored in a deeper and more concise way. Like the debut album there’s a big nod to gospel music in the titles and the musical stylings.''

Stevenson - with his colourful bucket hats already something of a sartorial signature look - does something to move what he knows into something that he owns and frames it in his own cosmos, dominated by the church and by his rapport with his trio out there gigging in London jazz clubs and increasingly beyond.

McCoy Tyner's sound was at the heart of what John Coltrane did with his classic quartet and is certainly a factor in the young Londoner's sound. We approached Edition for comment. An official press release is expected soon.