British jazz vocalist and musician Marvin Muoneké joins the North East’s Strictly Smokin’ Big Band for one of the headline performances of the inaugural Durham Jazz Festival.
A vocalist, songwriter, arranger and trumpeter, Muoneké has developed a reputation for combining the warmth and style of classic jazz singing with a contemporary stage presence.
His introduction to jazz came at an unusually early age after hearing Louis Jordan’s Is You Is Or Is You Ain’t My Baby. As a teenager, he immersed himself in musicians including Jelly Roll Morton and Don Redman before joining the National Youth Jazz Orchestra in 2014. He has since appeared on The Voice and Britain’s Got Talent and has been nominated for Jazz Vocalist of the Year at the 2026 Jazz FM Awards.
For this Durham performance he is joined by Strictly Smokin’ Big Band, a North East ensemble whose repertoire moves between classic swing and contemporary big-band arrangements.
That combination makes the concert a natural opportunity to explore jazz during Black History Month.
Jazz developed from African American musical traditions in the southern United States, drawing upon Black musical practices that would ultimately influence popular music around the world. The Smithsonian describes jazz as rooted in Southern African American music and part of a broader African American musical history.
From Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington to Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis and countless later artists, Black musicians repeatedly transformed the possibilities of the genre.
Muoneké and Strictly Smokin’ approach that heritage as living music rather than something preserved in the past.
With powerful vocals, full big-band brass and classic swing alongside newer material, this Durham Jazz Festival concert promises an energetic celebration of a musical tradition with deep roots in Black history.
More Durham Listings MORE
Ballet Black at 25
Ballet Black celebrates its 25th anniversary with a landmark double bill at Gala Durham, opening October with an…
Marvin Muoneké & The Strictly Smokin’ Big Band
British jazz vocalist and musician Marvin Muoneké joins the North East’s Strictly Smokin’ Big Band for one of…