Xhosa Cole

Winner of the 2018 BBC Young Jazz Musician of the year and of the 2020 Jazz FM’s Breakthrough Act of the Year, Xhosa Cole is an embodiment of the success of numerous community arts programmes in Birmingham. Having grown up in Handsworth and first played the Tenor at Andy Hamilton’s Ladywood Community Music School, he’s now among a long legacy of Birmingham Saxophonists including Soweto Kinch and Shabaka Hutchings. Over the course of the past 12 Months Xhosa has performed twice at the BBC Proms, Composed music for the Ripieno Players, a Birmingham Based String Orchestra, recorded saxophone for Mahalia’s debut album ‘Love and Compromise’, completed a 22 date UK tour, all along side his studies as a scholar at Trinity Laban Conservatoire. Xhosa Also received the Parliamentary Jazz Award for ‘Best Newcomer’ in 2019.