Improvisers' Ensemble featuring Cleveland Watkiss MBE

Cleveland Watkiss MBE is back at Milton Court Concert Hall on Tuesday 20 October, performing with the Improvisers' Ensemble. It's his second appearance as part of a long-term residency at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he's a Guildhall Fellow. The night is billed as an exploration of Jamaican Dub and Free Improvisation, and it's built around grooves from the Black-British, African and Caribbean diasporas that Watkiss and the Ensemble have been working on in workshops leading up to the concert. He sums it up in one line: "think King Tubby meets Joe Harriott in London."

It's not just a straight-ahead gig. The performance includes visuals by Derek Richards, live re-sampling, and audience participation, so the room itself becomes part of the piece. The material comes from those workshops, meaning the music has been developed through collaboration between Watkiss and the Ensemble rather than just being a set of pre-written charts. If you're into the intersection of dub, free improv and the city's diasporic sounds, that's exactly where this sits.

Watkiss is a Hackney-born vocalist and composer with a long track record. He co-founded the Jazz Warriors Big Band, won the London Jazz Award for Best Vocalist in 2010, and was voted best vocalist for three consecutive years at the Wire/Guardian Jazz Awards. He's performed alongside a wide range of names — Wynton Marsalis, Bob Dylan, Jackie Mittoo, Keith Richards, Art Blakey, Sly & Robbie, Abdullah Ibrahim, Stevie Wonder and Nigel Kennedy. The Guardian's John Fordham described him as "arriving on the scene with a bang."

The concert starts at 19:30 at Milton Court Concert Hall, 1 Milton Street, London EC2Y 9BH, inside the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Tickets are £15, with concessions at £8.