TBC introduces… Sultan Stevenson
You’re something of a favourite here at The Bear, and you played one of your first gigs outside London here back in 2023. What does it feel like to return to this venue now, a couple of years on?
Wow, a favourite, that’s nice to hear. I think this will actually be the fourth time for me; it always feels good to come back.
I must always thank the Luton audience, they always come out to support. There are a lot of people who were at the first show, and they came back and subsequently keep returning, so I hope that will happen for this concert coming up as well.
Do you feel your relationship with the audience here has evolved?
It definitely has evolved over time, for sure. I think it's also me as a communicator of the music; I really believe in speaking to the audience.
It happens so frequently at jazz concerts - the bandleader doesn't really say anything. They will just play or say a few words, maybe introduce the tunes, introduce the band, and say bye-bye, and then that's that. I always try to actually be warm and approachable and respectful of the audience, because this is something that's definitely developed over time.
Something I've realised is the investment that an audience member puts into coming. They bought the ticket, they've maybe gone for a meal before the concert, and they're going to buy a drink or two at the concert itself. They might buy a CD or a vinyl as well, and they've also given up their time. In today's economy, especially, that's not something that is to be taken for granted. So, I always try and, verbally as well as musically, make it clear that I really appreciate the effort that they put in.
2023 was a big year for you, including receiving the Parliamentary Jazz Award for Best Newcomer. How did that recognition affect you?
2023 was definitely a massive moment, a massive year. The first record came out, we had a string of dates, and we played Love Supreme Festival. I also got invited to do a tour of Ireland, which is the first kind of international tour I've ever done, the first time I've gone outside of the country to play my own music.
So yeah, 2023 was a very big, very momentous, game-changing, life-changing kind of year. It's definitely given me the confidence to keep going, to keep on pushing.
Did the award change anything in terms of opportunities, expectations, or your own artistic direction?
It definitely encouraged me to keep recording and to write new songs with the hope that they'll get pushed out. Hence, I wrote another record this year, El Roi, which came out on 28th March.
Can you tell us about the trio you’ll be performing with - how did you meet, and what makes this lineup special?
The trio is made up of Jacob Grinn on bass and Joel Waters on drums. I met Jacob when I was about thirteen or fourteen, at a regional after-school big band in Haringey, and we've been playing together ever since. I met Joel during the 2020 lockdown. I'd always heard the name, and I'd always heard people talking about him, so one day we were at a jam session, and we played, and we got along musically and got along personally.
It wasn't necessarily a thing that I had wanted to create a band, and I sat down one day and picked out these two musicians. It was more that these are two people I really get along with quite well, and I'll see where it goes.
I didn't have any expectations to win Parliamentary Awards or to tour internationally or to play gigs outside of the country or within the country, even. One thing snowballed into another - one opportunity led to another opportunity, one gig led to another gig. It really grew organically. It's only now that I've realised that this is really something quite special and is still evolving.
How does performing in a trio format shape your writing and your sound?
It's definitely something that I've grown to like. I didn't really like it in the beginning, because I just thought it was a bit exposed. There are amazing capabilities of the piano trio - they can be really, really loud, they can be really, really quiet. The drums can take solos, the bass can take solos, and the piano can obviously take solos as well.
There's a real wealth of texture, variety, and diversity that you have within such an arguably small ensemble. I guess this is why I now prefer a trio, because it's intimate. I think the great thing is the audience can really feel that intimacy, whereas with a larger ensemble, it can be hard for the audience to really feel that warmth and that intimacy coming from a band.
You’re often described as one of the most exciting young jazz musicians in London today. Who are the artists who have had the biggest impact on your playing and composing?
He's not a musician, but definitely my dad is a big, big inspiration for me. He was a jazz radio presenter back in my parents' home country of Barbados, and he used to play everyone - from the classics like Duke Ellington and Miles Davis, to more contemporary people like the Yellowjackets, Al Jarreau, Wynton Marsalis, everybody. So he definitely influenced me, and growing up in a house full of jazz definitely had a big impact on my life.
He also knew a lot of the musicians within this country - people like Tony Kofi, Byron Wallen, Julian Joseph, Trevor Watkis, Courtney Pine, Cleveland Watkiss, all these different people. I knew all of them, and I'd gone to their concerts, or I'd been introduced to them at a very young age. So growing up, seeing them was very, very impactful for me.
Your music often blends tradition with something very contemporary. How intentional is that balance?
The balance isn’t intentional; nothing that I do is intentional. I really try and write what I feel, what is organic, what is approachable and what is humble as well. I really try and include humility in my music, and I guess people resonate with that. People can associate themselves with that kind of sound and that kind of sensibility.
I guess that's maybe the reason for the success of some of the music I write, and the reason why people put these kinds of accolades on me. I think it’s because the music isn't made to be complex and like a jigsaw puzzle. It's actually made to be very sensible, very approachable, and to really serve the audience as the number one person, as opposed to my compositional likings and what I am challenged by as a musician. It's not made for that; it's just made for the listener.
What does your writing process look like - are you someone who composes at the piano, on paper, or by experimenting with the band?
It comes from a variety of different places. Sometimes it can come from something as simple as eating a good meal. It can come from anything cultural, anything that's artistic - whether that be musical or non-musical, that's where it comes from.
It can come from reading a really great history book about an interesting character, and then creating music about that character. It can come from going to an art gallery and seeing a really interesting piece of art. It really comes from any humanistic stimuli.
Do you approach live performance differently from recorded music?
I think that recording is a whole different can of worms, because it does need to be clean and it needs to be tidy and presentable, and it needs to work commercially as well. I think there are fewer restraints when you play live instead of recorded.
What can we expect at your upcoming show?
The same kind of intensity, the same kind of humanity, the same kind of warmth as my previous concerts at The Bear Club. But also some new compositions - more of the second record, which we did play in previous concerts, but we're going to be playing quite a lot of it, quite a lot of new music. There’ll be some favourites of mine as well.
It will definitely be the same kind of vibe - it's about trying to create spaces for people to experience change, to experience humanity and humility as well.
What’s next for you in 2026 - are there projects, recordings, or collaborations you’re excited about?
I hope to record another record, which would be really great. I'm still in the process of writing a lot of new music and practising myself.
We have a really nice tour schedule for 2026. We'll be off to Europe in March - across the Netherlands, Belgium, and Sweden as well. We'll return to Europe on multiple occasions within the year. There'll also be some activity in London and around England. We'll be in Scotland for the Edinburgh Jazz Festival, as well as some other really great regional and non-regional jazz festivals happening in the UK.
How do you see your sound evolving over the next few years?
Not to sound like a broken record, but getting closer to the key themes I've always been trying to write and to play about - which is the humanity in the music, the kind of higher power, spiritual element that my music possesses. The healing qualities of music, the community qualities of music as well, and music as a platform to express oneself.
I see my artistry finding ways to better communicate these ideas. That is really my goal, I think, as an artist, to get as close as I can to the complete eloquence of these different themes.
Sultan joins us with his trio on Saturday 13 December 2025