Kyoto Jazz Massive will bring its distinctive blend of jazz, funk, broken beat, and electronic music to Islington Assembly Hall this November. Led by brothers Shuya and Yoshihiro Okino, the genre-defying Japanese project returns to London with Echoes of a New Dawn Orchestra for a special performance at the EFG London Jazz Festival 2026.
The concert will take place on Sunday, 22 November 2026, the closing night of the festival, with new material and a ten piece live line-up.
Kyoto Jazz Massive with a live band
Japanese club jazz from ten musicians on the EFG London Jazz Festival’s closing night- Address
- Islington Assembly Hall, Upper St, London N1 2UD
- Admission
- £33.54 including booking fee
- Starts
- November 22, 2026, 7:30 PM
- Ends
- November 22, 2026 10:30 PM
More about the event
- 16 and over only
- Islington Assembly Hall and its ticket seller DICE both list this as a 16+ event.
- Shuya Okino runs a Shibuya club
- He opened The Room in Tokyo’s Shibuya district in 1993 and still runs it, while his brother Yoshihiro runs the label Especial Records.
- 19 years between albums
- Spirit of the Sun came out in 2002. The follow up, Message From A New Dawn, arrived in December 2021, with the vibraphonist Roy Ayers guesting on the track Get Up.
- The orchestra is a Paris band
- Echoes of a New Dawn Orchestra is a Parisian ensemble. Its first record with Kyoto Jazz Massive, the six track KJM EOANDO, came out in June 2024 under the subtitle KJM 30th Anniversary Edition.
- A Blue Note side project
- Shuya Okino also leads Kyoto Jazz Sextet, whose albums Mission (2015) and Unity (2017) were released by Blue Note Japan.
Kyoto Jazz Massive at London Jazz Festival
Kyoto Jazz Massive is one of Japan’s best-known contributions to the international jazz and club-music scene. Founded by Kyoto-born brothers Shuya and Yoshihiro Okino, the project gained wider recognition after being championed by British DJ and broadcaster Gilles Peterson. Their self titled debut album arrived in 1994, and they marked thirty years since it with the compilation KJM COVERS in December 2024.
The group’s music is rooted in jazz but reaches far beyond a single genre. Jazz-funk, broken beat, soulful house, cosmic grooves, and electronic production combine to create a sound that works well on the dance floor and in a concert setting.
Kyoto Jazz Massive toured the UK with this orchestra in March 2024, with dates including Band on the Wall in Manchester and Peggy’s Skylight in Nottingham, and played the Jazz Cafe in Camden in September 2025. The London date brings new music and the full live ensemble to one of the capital’s most important jazz events.
Shuya Okino, Vanessa Freeman and Echoes of a New Dawn Orchestra
For this EFG London Jazz Festival appearance, Kyoto Jazz Massive will perform with Echoes of a New Dawn Orchestra, also known as Jéroboam. The orchestra joins the project both on stage and in the studio, adding a larger ensemble sound to Kyoto Jazz Massive’s rhythm-led compositions.
The performance will be led by Shuya Okino, who will also appear on vocals. The announced line-up includes:
- Shuya Okino: band leader and vocals.
- Vanessa Freeman: lead vocals.
- Indy Eka: vocals.
- Agyei Osei: vocals.
- Carel Cleril: bass.
- Jean-Baptiste Palies: drums.
- Eli Frot: keys.
- Kevin Le Bellec: guitar.
- Roman Reidid: trumpet.
- Sebastian Betancur: percussion.
With multiple vocalists, a rhythm section, keys, guitar, trumpet and percussion, the concert is set to present Kyoto Jazz Massive as a full live ensemble.
Tickets, doors and the EFG London Jazz Festival 2026 programme
The EFG London Jazz Festival takes place from 13 to 22 November 2026. The festival programme includes emerging artists and collaborations that explore jazz’s influence across genres and cultures. Other Japanese shows in the same programme include Yasuaki Shimizu at Milton Court on 15 November and Haruki Murakami’s Jazz at Peter Cat at the Barbican on 21 November.
Alongside performances at major London concert venues, the programme creates space for artists whose music moves between jazz, electronic music, soul and contemporary club culture.
The doors open at 7:00 pm, with the performance scheduled to begin at 7:30 pm. Islington Assembly Hall lists tickets at £33.54 including the booking fee, and applies a venue levy of £1.50 plus VAT to all its shows.
Islington Assembly Hall
From a Kyoto DJ project to a ten piece band
Since its formation, the project has connected Japanese jazz culture with international club sounds, drawing on the Okino brothers’ interest in jazz history, dance music, and global musical exchange. Much of that work has reached listeners through records, remixes and DJ sets.
The current line-up changes the shape of it. Long-standing collaborators sit alongside newer performers, so the London set can revisit established material and introduce new work with a full ensemble behind it.
For fans of Japanese jazz, the performance is the only chance to see Kyoto Jazz Massive with the full ten piece line-up at this year’s festival.
For tickets and further information, visit the Islington Assembly Hall event page.
