corto.alto

corto.alto plays Mandela Hall on Thursday 5 November, his first show in Belfast. It's part of the Belfast International Arts Festival 2026, and the set will draw from his new album, Some Small Fortune, which came out this September on Ninja Tune.

Behind the name is Liam Shortall, a Glasgow-based multi-instrumentalist, producer, composer and performer. The name itself is a bit of a family joke: corto.alto means 'short.tall' in Spanish, a nod to his Irish-Spanish heritage. He's a prolific collaborator, too, having worked with Soweto Kinch, Nubiyan Twist and anaiis, and he's played the Montreux Jazz Festival and Glastonbury. His debut album, Bad With Names, was nominated for the 2024 Mercury Prize and won the AIM Breakthrough Artist Award.

Some Small Fortune is his second record, and Gilles Peterson of BBC 6Music has called him 'the Scottish musician redefining jazz for a new generation'. That's a fair bit of ground to cover, and this is the first time he'll be playing it live here. The show is a live performance, so you'll hear the record as he performs it rather than as a DJ set.

Mandela Hall is a QUB venue that hosts club nights, concerts and comedy, and it's located at 79 University Road, BT7 1NF. Doors open at 19:00, and tickets are £22.