Jazz pianist Joe Webb will return to the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama for a Cardiff Music City Festival double bill with Gwenno on Thursday 8 October.
The Neath-raised musician, whose album Hamstrings & Hurricanes was shortlisted for the 2025 Mercury Prize, will perform in the Dora Stoutzker Hall alongside Cardiff-born Gwenno, whose album Tresor earned a Mercury Prize nomination in 2022.
The show has been curated by broadcaster and long-time champion of Welsh music Bethan Elfyn. She said: “Joe’s return to the Royal Welsh College is a lovely full-circle moment. Here is an artist raised in Wales, who studied in Cardiff and has gone on to become one of the most exciting names in British jazz. Then you have Gwenno, who has become one of Wales’ most celebrated musical voices. Two very different artists but both of them creating ambitious, distinctive work with Wales at its heart.”
Earlier this year, Webb released his latest album Neath Beat, which reflects on growing up in Wales. He previously told NME that his work was “inspired by everyone from Beethoven, to Liszt, to Duke Ellington, to Oscar Peterson, to Oasis, to Welsh male voice choirs.”
Gwenno has released three albums in Welsh and Cornish. Her latest album, Utopia, is the first to be sung predominantly in English. Clash Magazine hailed it on its release as “a lush, resplendent journey into its creator’s past”.
Cardiff Music City Festival runs from 2 to 17 October and brings together Sŵn Festival, Llais, the Welsh Music Prize and a diverse programme of performances, talks, pop-ups, exhibitions and special events in venues across Cardiff. The festival is supported by Welsh Government and Cardiff Council.
Tickets are on sale at https://www.rwcmd.ac.uk/events/gwenno-plus-joe-webb-trio
