Nimbus Sextet Reimagines Massive Attack

Nuovi Fratelli presents a bold jazz reimagining of the classic genre-defying debut album 'Blue Lines', released by Massive Attack in April, 1991. The Concert is hosted by the renowned Jazz outfit, Nimbus Sextet.

Bandleader Joe Nichols has written brand new arrangements for the show which present an expanded vision delving further into the samples used of classic jazz and soul recordings from Isaac Hayes, Billy Cobham, Tom Scott, Mahavishnu Orchestra and others.

The performance will also feature guest singers Lissappear, Ant Thomaz, Ariane Mamon and Fraser McMillan in a unique show that celebrates a classic album in a very special way.

One of the most innovative groups in UK jazz, Nimbus Sextet approach their music with a unique freedom, bringing jazz, rare groove, hip hop, electronic and world influences into their sound. Led by the quiet genius of keyboardist and composer/arranger Joe Nichols and featuring top level musicians throughout their line-up, the band have amassed an ever-growing following through two acclaimed albums for the legendary Acid Jazz label, DREAMS FULFILLED (2020) and FORWARD THINKER (2022), featuring luminaries such as Jackson Mathod and Nathaniel Cross on their tracks.

In 2024, they unexpectedly dropped a simmering new cover of Roy Ayers’ ‘SEARCHING’ in collaboration with Nuovi Fratelli, a staple track of the year which hit the Jazz FM ‘A’ list with support from Gilles Peterson, Craig Charles and many more. They have recorded live sessions with Radio France Internationale (RFI), Jazz FM and BBC Radio Scotland. Live, the band have played sold-out gigs at Ronnie Scott’s, PizzaExpress Live Soho, New Morning in Paris, and gave a frenzied performance closing this year's Edinburgh Jazz Festival.

As Joe explains: "Jazz for me is the spirit of improvisation. I grew up with Faithless and Horace Silver as well as Tinariwen and War, so it has always been important for me to express the different sides of my musical upbringing in my compositions. I don't want to put up boundaries around jazz, or write in one style or 'box.' I let all the sounds in. That is a big part of what I'm doing with Nimbus Sextet, and I tie it together with melodies that stand out from the canvas, that you will remember and sing."

Now, for 2026, the band shifts gears again, opening the year with their first ever headline performance for the world renowned Celtic Connections festival at Glasgow’s Oran Mor, then following with a brilliant new upcoming album, FATE. Featuring vocalists including Russell Stewart, lissappear and Ariane Mamon, the tracks take Nimbus Sextet into new and adventurous musical territory. The two-part, joyous ‘Faith’ is the album’s uplifting centrepiece, a hymn to letting go and trusting fate led by the beautiful vocal harmonies of Russell Stewart and James Emmanuel. Sâo Paolo’s Zé Leônidas and one of the UK’s finest spiritual jazz artists Chip Wickham (Gondwana Records) feature on the delicate bossa of ‘Epifania’, and master kora and balafon player Sefo Kanuteh shines on the real life birdsong infused ‘The Augur’. Elsewhere, the band kicks hard on the driving, infectious 4/4 album opener ‘Liberator’. Debuted earlier this year, this album marks a bright new era for Nimbus Sextet.