Brand Nu Dolla play Abdullah Ibrahim

Kyle Osborne – piano

Dillon Woods – sax

Magnus Hawker-French – trombone

Elizabeth ‘Eli’ Saville – flute

Chris Chikanwah – drums

Aiyana Rennie – double-bass

Brand Nu Dolla return to the East Side after their superb sold out show last year

The band was formed by putting together a specific blend of musicians to perform the music of Abdullah Ibrahim – South Africa’s greatest musician and composer who died earlier this year

They have put together a set list from Abdullah Ibrahim's vast catalogue of his compositions from African Sun , through Cherry and  Mannenberg to Whoza Mtwana

This should be a very special and exciting night

Chris Chikwanah was born in Harare, Zimbabwe. His dad is a minister and a bassist, which led to Chris being immersed into an Afro Jazz upbringing, as well as being the ‘son of a preacher man’.Brought up from a young age with the music of Abdullah Ibrahim, other early influences included Jimmy Dludlu and Hugh Masekela.

Chris has played in church for over 18 years which exposed him to gospel music and other sounds that have shaped him into an all-round musician, allowing him to create pockets of ‘fusion’ that mix the afro-jazz sound that he loves with other characteristics of music that he has developed. Chris has worked with Mom & the Rebels, Lemfreck, and was first spotted as a potential rhythm leader for Brand Nu Dolla when performing with Lisa Canny in Ireland on the same bill as harmonica legend Adam Glasser, who was playing Abdullah Ibrahim that evening.

Kyle Osborne:Armed with a 1st from the Trinity Laban School of Music,Kyle is a pianist, composer and educator. He has been playing gigs and delivering masterclasses all over the country, from Gurnsey to Barrow-in-Furness for several yearswith ‘Tomorrows Warriors’, a staple in the music education landscape and a cornerstone of the London jazz scene.

Kyle has performed all over from New York to the Albert Hall, Ronnie Scott’s, the Vortex, parliament and No.10 Downing St. He has also been commissioned to have his orchestral and choral compositions played at the Albert Hall.

Aiyana Rennieis a scholar at the Royal College of Music, studying under Rodrigo Moro Martìn (LSO Principal) and Enno Senft (Chamber Orchestra of Europe). Her music training has included the Yehudi Menuhin School andChetham School of Music and the National Symphony Orchestra Summer Music Institute in Washington, DC.Aiyana also won 2nd Prizein the Radda Rise International String Competition and won the Principal position at the 2024 Miami Beach Classical Music Festival.

In addition to her performances with the Black Lives in Music program,Aiyana has performed with theChineke! Orchestra, the National Youth Orchestra, at the BBC Proms, the Lucerne Festival, NYJO, NYJC, Bob Marley’s Exodus Reimagined, Windrush 75 at the Royal Albert Hall. Aiyana has also performed with Alicia Keys,and at the BRIT Awards with Stormzy.

Elizabeth ‘Eli’ Saville is a flute player studying classical performance at Trinity Laban conservatoire of Music and Dance. She is currently being tutored by Margaret Campbell. Elizabeth enjoys performing on a range of flutes (baroque, piccolo, alto and bass) as well as on the saxophone and clarinet.

Already with a fast-growing portfolio of performance experience, Eli has played at the Birmingham Flute festival with the Hampshire Flute Choir and toured in Spain with Hampshire Youth Wind Ensem-ble. Eli has also played reed one in major musicals, including ‘West Side Story’ and ‘A Chorus Line’.

Magnus Hawker-French burst into the band with a bundle of talent, armed with a mean trombone, and still at a tender age, he is already gaining notice with performances at top jazz venues such as Ronnie Scott’s, the Vortex, and Pizza Express Live.

Magnus has worked with major artists including Chaka Khan, Laura Mvula, and the Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Orchestra.Described as one of the UK’s most exciting emerging jazz talents, he has also been hailed as “the future of jazz trombone” by Dennis Rollins.

Dillon Woods was born and brought up in South Africa’s Eastern Cape with a mother who taught piano and a father who composed classical African music, so his formative years were immersed in the music of Abdullah Ibrahim as well as a diverse range of musical cultures from African music to African-American spirituals, Fats Waller, George Gershwin, Franz Liszt and Bruce Springsteen!

Dillon’s early musical experiences include playing the piano, clarinet and the bagpipes. Tenor sax was a much later experience, which now includes over a hundred performances across Scotland, Wales, England, the Netherlands, Germany and Sweden. Creating ‘Brand Nu Dolla’ and playing the music of Abdullah Ibrahim is a true passion project.