Xhosa Cole - On a Modern Genius (Vol. 1)

2025
Acclaimed young saxophonist Xhosa Cole is to release his third album with Birmingham’s Stoney Lane Records – a dynamic live recording celebrating the work of transcendent pianist Thelonious Monk, with inventive interpretations of Monk's timeless compositions.

“A British sensation and proves that he’s here for blood with this release ... He’s got technique, talent, artistry and a burning desire that shows throughout the set.” - Downbeat

Following his much-admired debut K(no)w Them, K(no)w Us (2021), and intriguing concept recording Ibeji (2022) - featuring Cole in duets with seven percussionists from across the African diaspora, this new release captures Cole with his quartet during an extensive spring tour of the UK in 2023 playing the music of Monk. “We made the record off the back of a 38-date UK tour,” Cole explains. “It’s a snapshot from back-to-back dates in the middle of the tour playing this music - we were in a van trekking up and down the UK – St. Ives to Devon to Wales to Morecambe to Newcastle to Louth to Sheffield...!”

Thelonious Monk has always had a special place in Xhosa’s heart, who first connected with his music through saxophonist Sonny Rollins. “My route to connecting to him was through Rollins, both geniuses of modern music in their own rights. Masters of melodies, riffing and spontaneity, they are kings in a dynasty of improvised music. Monk has a strong legacy of being an influential mentor and teacher to countless young aspiring jazz musicians - Coltrane, Jackie McLean, Billy Higgins, Barry Harris and Johnny Griffin. This legacy lived on through his compositions. Through his recordings and study of his writing I've learnt so much about the infrastructure that holds melody and groove together, and through his improvising I'm learning about the intersection of authenticity, identity and expression.”

Opening with the iconic melody Trinkle-Tinkle, the album also features American tap dancer Liberty Styles on four tracks. “My early roots are in African dance and so when tap dancer Liberty Styles and I saw that she was dancing what I was hearing (and they saw that I was playing what they were feeling) we knew this was a musical connection to life. This album is a celebration of friendship, joy and improvisation - it's a snapshot into the love that you can only find on the road with friends.”

The seven tracks of On A Modern Genuis (Vol.1) weave together nine Monk tunes, with the album closing with Duke Ellington’s Come Sunday, featuring celebrated vocalist Heidi Vogel singing on a piece she and Cole played together at the BBC Proms. “Ellington has such a strong musical resonance with Monk,” notes Cole. “I wanted to honour these tunes that have given so much to this vast family tree that is music, and to celebrate their composer, a person who epitomised grace.”

In the three years since the release of his debut album K(no)w Them, K(no)w Us on Stoney Lane Records, Cole’s career has launched into the contemporary classical and free jazz communities of Europe and beyond, earning widespread praise on both sides of the Atlantic, working with internationally acclaimed artists including Hamid Drake, Elaine Mitchener, Jason Yarde, Majid Bekkas, Pat Thomas and Mark Sanders. He has numerous headline appearances from Ronnie Scott's to Pizza Express, also supporting jazz legend Cécile McLorin Salvant at Cadogan Hall for the London Jazz Festival. As a composer, he has been commissioned by the BBC, Aldeburgh Festival, Flatpack Film Festival and Symphony Hall Birmingham, and also appeared twice at the BBC Proms.

Xhosa Cole - Saxophone
Steve Saunders - Guitar
Josh Vadiveloo - Double Bass
Nathan England Jones - Drums