"Effra" 2025 tour roundup and new duo album out this month

Looking back on 2025 I'm extremely grateful to the many musicians who joined me on my "Effra" album launch tour. It's been so wonderful to make music with you all and to watch the band evolve over the year in many ways. We now have 4 albums' worth of music in the pad and it's been incredible seeing how despite the lineup of the band changing on pretty much every gig the gigs have only improved. Thank you all immensely and I'm so looking forward to playing more this year.

The MMA Group 2025: Liam Dunachie, Tom Smith, Scott Chapman, George Crowley, James Davison, Adam Chatterton, Sam Rapley, Billy Pod, Riley Stone-Lonergan, Jay Davis, Miguel Gorodi & Rachael Cohen

Scroll down for photos from the tour, from appearing on BBC Radio 3's In Tune to some highlights from the stage, train journeys and post-gig celebrations.

Moving on to another upcoming release, I'm so happy to be finally releasing a trumpet & bass duo album with James Davison well over 2 years since we recorded it in my parents' basement. It's called "Moon Beans" and it's out this week on Fri 9th January. Having played together in many different bands for about 20 years (including my own sextet) this is our first collaborative thing. The music on the album is a reflection of how many different types of music we each come across in our lives, and features our arrangements of some jazz standards, Brazilian tunes, a Beatles song thrown in, and a couple of our own originals.

The album is being released digitally and we've also pressed 100 vinyls so get in there and grab one if that's your thing as they're going quickly. We're doing a launch gig for the album at The Vortex Jazz Club on Tues 20th January so get a ticket now if you're in London.

Back to last year, here are those pics from the "Effra" tour: