Warriors RISE Showcase / Leeds Jazz Festival / David Kayode + Yamikani + Miles Hardy Quartet

Each year since Leeds Jazz Festival began in 2022, jazz promoter Lubi Jovanovic (DJ Lubi) promotes one show at Brudenell Social Club. Usually, they feature up-and-coming UK jazz artists, both local and national. For 2026, he has partnered up with London talent development/artist mentoring organisation Tomorrow’s Warriors to present a “Warriors Rise” showcase featuring one of their top emerging new artists, alongside two Leeds young breakout artists ready to step up to the next level. That showcase will be on Sunday 24th May, with Tomorrow’s Warriors alumni David Kayode headlining, supported by Yamikani and the Miles Hardy Quarte.

David Kayode is a London-born saxophonist, composer and bandleader whose music sits at the meeting point of Yoruba tradition, Afro-diasporic rhythm and contemporary jazz. Raised between community spaces, jam sessions and cultural hubs across the city, he developed a sound that is both deeply rooted and forward- looking, built on groove, improvisation and storytelling. A graduate of Tomorrow’s Warriors, David grew inside a lineage that values community as much as virtuosity. Mentorship, collaboration and musical honesty sit at the core of his practice. His playing carries the warmth of highlife, the intensity of spiritual jazz and the dance energy of carnival, all shaped through a distinctly London lens.

Alongside leading his own projects, David has worked across stages, studio sessions and touring bands, collaborating with artists connected to the evolving UK jazz and diasporic scenes. He is also the founder of Purple Collective, a platform dedicated to creating spaces where musicians, dancers and audiences can gather, learn and celebrate together.

In recent years, David has stepped back from constant gigging to focus on composing and recording his debut project, Ade Kayode, arriving in 2026. The album explores ancestry, resilience and collective healing through rhythm, improvisation and large-ensemble writing, inviting listeners into music that moves the body as much as it speaks to spirit and memory.

Conguero Yamikani Soko and his orchestra are a new and exciting Afro-Diasporic jazz fusion ensemble in Leeds. This is the new project led by Reece Soko, bandleader/saxophonist of the popular afrojazz band Afrodesia, who play a repertoire of original music in the tradition of CuBop, Rumba, Calypso and Spiritual Jazz, alongside compositions of Chano Pozo, Max Roach and Mongo Santamaria. Yamikani not only respects the traditions to come out of the Afro-Diaspora, but also infuses the music with Yamikani Soko’s own Malawian heritage and Be-Bop background, creating an energetic blend of rhythmic and vibrant music. Absolute dancefloor jazz vibes guaranteed 100%.

Miles Hardy is a young jazz drummer in his second year at Leeds Conservatoire who’s already made an impact on the local jazz scene. Not yet 20, he leads his own trio and quartet, plays with Reece Soko-Fogg’s quartet, and is a regular at the weekly/monthly jazz sessions around town at places like Hyde park Jazz Club and SEla Bar, both as a headliner and and a jam session musician. His quartet play no holds barred post-bop/modal jazz in the classic tradition of Joe Henderson, Cedar Walton, Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock. Perfect for the opening set. Get down early to catch this future UK jazz star at the start of his musical career.

DJ Lubi will be hosting the night and playing dancefloor jazz records before, between and after live sets.