Sabina Desir: Freedom Road Re-Imagined at House of Sisters Grimm for EFG London Jazz Festival 2026

As one of “UK Jazz’s best kept secrets”, Sabina Desir is a vocalist, producer and multidisciplinary artist whose work reaches far beyond the conventions of a traditional jazz performance. Drawing upon jazz, blues, soul, reggae and the wider traditions of Black music, she combines live performance with storytelling, history and visual art to create work rooted in memory, identity and cultural experience. Her acclaimed projects include Freedom Road, which explored the Black civil rights movements in Britain and the United States through music and photography.

Central to Freedom Road Re-Imagined is Desir’s collaboration with three distinctive artistic voices. Pianist, keyboard player and composer Jessica Lauren, Desir’s long-standing collaborator, serves as Musical Director and co-creator, shaping the live musical language of the work alongside her. The production also draws upon the extraordinary photography of Vanley Burke and Charlie Phillips OBE, whose images have documented Black British communities, culture and social change across generations. At House of Sisters Grimm, their photographs become an integral part of the performance’s visual world, bringing past and present into conversation with Desir and Lauren’s live music to create an immersive portrait of Black experience, resilience and collective memory.

At the heart of Desir’s work is a belief in music as both a deeply personal experience and a way of telling stories that might otherwise remain unheard. Her performances move between celebration and reflection, bringing the histories and emotional language of Black music into conversation with contemporary audiences.

Her arrival at House of Sisters Grimm also marks a natural meeting of artistic worlds.

Located on Eastcastle Street in London’s West End, House of Sisters Grimm is a cultural destination where live performance, music, visual art and hospitality come together under one roof. Home to the Grammy-nominated South African production INALA, the House also encompasses an immersive art gallery and iGOLI, its dedicated South African fine-wine bar, alongside an evolving programme of live music and special cultural events.

With intimacy and cultural exchange at the heart of the venue, the House offers a unique setting in which to experience Desir’s artistry: up close, surrounded by an audience gathered not simply for a concert, but for an evening of music, storytelling and connection.