Sultan Stevenson at the Leeds Jazz Festival 2025

We are really pleased to announce the appearance at Seven Arts of rising star piano player Sultan Stevenson and his Trio at Seven Arts on Friday 23 May as part of Leeds Jazz Festival 2025

Sultan Stevenson is one of the most exciting young jazz musicians in the UK today. He is a product of both the Julian Joseph Jazz Academy and Tomorrow’s Warriors, from a young age under the tuition of renowned jazz musicians such as Julian Joseph, Gary Crosby, Simon Purcell and Robert Mitchell. He has graduated from The Guildhall School of Music, where he studied jazz piano up until 2023.

In 2020 Sultan emerged onto the scene with a rapidly developing artistic voice. He started playing his own music alongside regular bandmates Jacob Gryn and Joel Waters. Jazz Re:freshed, The Jazz Cafe, The Vortex and The EFG London Jazz Festival are just some of the numerous places in which Sultan has wowed audiences. Sultan cites McCoy Tyner, Kenny Kirkland, Geri Allen and Ahmad Jamal as some of his biggest inspirations.

In 2022 Stevenson recorded his debut album with his trio (Jacob Gryn and Joel Waters) the album also features Josh Short (trumpet) and his mentor Denys Baptiste (tenor saxophone) The album, tipped for success, earned Sultan a signing from Whirlwind Recordings. It was released on March 24th and has received much critical acclaim. In March 2023, Sultan went on to win the Parliamentary Jazz Media Award for ‘Best Newcomer’ and is considered one of the brightest stars of his generation. In March 2024 he released his second recor “El Roi” Edition records. His trio has Jacob Gryn (double bass), Joel Waters (drums)

“Sultan is a natural communicator and storyteller. His music has a captivating throughline that is both accessible and deeply thought-provoking

The Leeds Jazz Festival is a co operative affair between all the various venues and promoters in the city putting on concerts, this year the dates are  22 and 27 May 2025. JazzLeeds will be promoting several concerts at Seven Arts Leedsas well as running the Jazz Festival stage at Cookridge Street on Bank Holiday Monday 26 May and (hopefully!) putting on a few concerts in some more unusual places in the City. Watch this space for more announcements!