Sipho plays Jazz Café [Marco Grey]

IS it fair to dismiss artists as nepo babies – getting opportunities off the name of their famous relatives – or have they just inherited a talent that courses through their veins? In the case of two acts due to play Jazz Café, it’s probably a bit of both – and what’s wrong with that? On Nov 17 trio Gilsons – sons and grandsons of Brazil pop legend Gilberto Gil – combine pop, rock, samba, reggae, and Bahiano rhythms, while also alluding to the classic music Gilberto Gil. Then, on Nov 19 singer-songwriter Madison McFerrin – daughter of Don’t Worry, Be Happy singer Bobby McFerrin – brings her unique style, mixing cappella, electronic pop, jazz, and soul and dubbed soul-appella by Questlove, to the venue.

• Enjoy an early evening of music and chat with Bill Ryder-Jones at The Social on Nov 17 – note early means it starts at 6pm!

• Another one for the early birds… Annie Mac’s Before Midnight returns to the Roundhouse on Nov 17 – a night for Cinderella clubbers who enjoy cool beats and but want to be tucked up in bed before the clock strikes 12.

• Award-winning London two-piece Bob Vylan deserve their accolades. Check them out at The Forum on Nov 25 – support from Panic Shack and Kid Bookie.

• Suede founder member Bernard Butler is prolific. His recent collab with Jessie Buckley won critical praise and he mentored The Clockworks at Abbey Road Studios on their new single Mayday Mayday, released earlier this month. He plays Green Note on Nov 26.

• The Comet Line play songs of love and loss for an existential age. See them at The Hope & Anchor on Nov 27.

• Irish band Soda Blonde play The Lexington on Nov 22 following the release of new single, Boys.

• Birmingham’s Sipho takes his debut tour to Jazz Café on Nov 22 in support of his first album Prayers & Paranoia, released last month.

• If rap is more your style, NY rapper R.A. The Rugged Man and DJ Drez play Jazz Café on Nov 20, while UK rapper / grime artist D Double E is joined by collective the Steamdown Orchestra at Koko on Nov 24.

• This Is The Kit’s Kate Stables – who has the ability to bring calm through her music, is joined by Rozi Plain, Jamie Whitby-Coles, Neil Smith, Jesse Vernon, Lorenzo Prati, Pete Judge and Sam Hayler to perform a collection of her works at Barbican on Nov 25. Support from The Raincoats’ Gina Birch.

• Nineties pop singer Sophie B Hawkins, of Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover fame, performs Free Myself, her first body of work in 10 years, at The Forge on Nov 26.

• Expect a stripped-back set of songs from new album How Were We To Know, as well as old favourites at An Evening with Emeli Sandé at the Union Chapel on Nov 21, where will be joined by actress, author •nd friend Zawe Ashton for an in-depth conversation about her life and career to date.

• The latest edition of Sunday Papers Live has moved from Cecil Sharp House to Shaftesbury Avenue’s Welsh Chapel on Nov 19. As well as the usual selection of commentators including Rafael Behr talking Politics, documentary-maker Chris Atkins on Prison Breaks and Polly Toynbee unpacking her family’s history on Life & Arts, Eamonn Forde will speak on AI and the future of the music industry while music journalist Harriet Gibsone speaks on technology. There are plenty of other speakers bringing the papers to life plus walks, food and drink, live music, pub quizzes, crafting and more.

• Saint Etienne fans may be pleased to know that this month’s northern soul / mod / ska / Motown / two tone night Crawdaddy! will feature the band’s official tour DJs Kev and Linda from Recordsville joining regular DJs Gary, Lucienne and Danny playing the best beats all on vinyl at The Fiddler’s Elbow on Nov 17.

• Bring some summer vibes to the winter nights at Castanights: A Night of Flamenco Fever ft virtuoso guitarrista Ramon Ruiz, a live band and flamenco dancers at Jazz Café on Nov 21.

• Celebrated Turkish folk musician and activist Selda Bağcan – aged 74 – known for blending traditional Turkish music with psychedelic rock, plays Koko on Nov 26.

• New Zealand singer-songwriter Kylie Price brings Kylie’s Kiwi Christmas to Green Note on Nov 23, where she will be joined onstage by her friends to warm up the cold November evening.

MORE UPCOMING GIGS:

Nov 16-17 – Calibro 35, The Forge;
Nov 16-17 + 27 – The Wolf Tones, Electric Ballroom;
Nov 17 – Ten Hands High, 100 Club; Kath and the Kicks + Grace Solero + Snow In September + Jacks Got A Plan, The Dublin Castle; Eliza + Laura Groves + Kaeto, The Forum; Love Parade + Explode The TV + Glitter Kick + Love Parade, The Camden Club; Will Butler + Sister Squares, ICA; Marco Mendoza & friends + Silent Thieves, The Black Heart; Dave Stewart presents Eurythmics Songbook, Palladium; Explode The TV, The Camden Club; Soda Blonde, The Lexington; Eliza + Laura Groves + Kaeto, The Forum; His Lordship, The Garage;
Nov 18 – The Rezillos – Top of The Pops 45th Anniversary tour + The Professionals with Paul Cook, Islington Assembly Hall; Dekker, The Lexington; The Vanguards, Green Note; Gong + Ozric Tentacles + The Crazy World of Arthur Browne, The Forum; Tom McGuire & The Brassholes, The Garage; Jackson Mathod & band, The Forge;
Nov 19 – Leith Ross, Koko; My Vitriol, Scala; Death Blooms + David Joseph Roman, Camden Assembly;
Nov 20 – Joby Fox, Green Note; Tall Heights + Natalie Wildgoose Trio, The Lexington;
Nov 21 – Matthew Mole, Scala; Christopher + Natalie Shay, Islington Academy; Aqualung, Islington Assembly Hall;
Nov 22 – Divorce, The Social; Lisa Canny, The Dublin Castle; Arctic Lake, The Grace; The Cult: Death Cult 8323, Islington Assembly Hall; Hot Milk + Witch Fever + Modern Error, The Forum; Atreyu, Electric Ballroom; Visaka x ¡Bacalao!, Cafe Koko; Unknown T, Koko;
Nov 23 – Skerryvore, Islington Assembly Hall; Jake Isaac, Koko; Kylie’s Kiwi Christmas, Green Note; Cubafrobeat, Jazz Café; The Goa Express, Scala; The Lottery Winners, Electric Ballroom; The Beaches – Blame My Ex tour, HERE at Outernet;
Nov 24 – Izo Fitzroy, Ronnie Scott’s; Secret Affair + Squire, 229; The Kynd + Charley Stone + DJ Noel Malaga, The Fiddler’s Elbow; Sam Redmore & The Tropical Soundclash Allstars ft Mr Auden Allen – 8 piece live ensemble, The Forge; The Tearaways, 100 Club; Charlotte Adigery & Bolis Pupul, Lafayette; Verb T, Jazz Café; Scott Matthews, Kings Place; The Prodigy + Soft Play – Army of the Ants tour, Ally Pally; Cosmo Pyke, Scala; Bob Mould, The Garage; Stanleys, Camden Assembly;
Nov 24-25 – Stone Foundation, Islington Assembly Hall; Soft Play, Ally Pally;
Nov 25 – Philip Sayce, The Garage; Laura Veirs, Dingwalls; Troy Redfern, The Garage; Gregory Alan Asakov, Roundhouse;
Nov 26 – Nati, formerly Nati Dreddd, Camden Arts Centre; Marillion, The Roundhouse; Lambert, Jazz Café; Pixy, The Garage;
Nov 27 – The Jack Warner Trio, Water Rats;
Nov 27-28 – Babymetal, Roundhouse; BRIT award winner Ella Eyre, Jazz Café;
Nov 28 – Tom Jennkins, Islington Academy; Shay Lia + Talia Goddess. Camden Assembly; The 502s, Electric Ballroom;
Nov 29 – Tom A Smith, Camden Assembly; Kevin Davy White, Camden Assembly; Charlotte Adigery & Bolis Pupul, Heaven; Wild Youth, The Garage;
Nov 30 – As December Falls, Scala; Mica Paris, Union Chapel; Somers + Weatherman + Single Parents + Pest, The Dublin Castle; Michele Stodart album launch, St Pancras Old Church; Ashnikko, Ally Pally.