Don’t Call It Trip Hop: The UK Downtempo Story

**We’re celebrating three decades of the pioneering sound at the heart of contemporary UK music culture, journeying through the evolution of downtempo from the hazy Bristol days to the international stage.**

“Chill-out”, “downtempo”, “lounge”, “nu jazz” or “trip hop” - it doesn’t matter what you call it… or maybe it does.

30 years ago, a new sound was emerging out of the smokey residences of the Bristol underground with the likes of Massive Attack, Tricky and Portishead at the forefront of this new movement – weaving together influences from reggae and hip hop to jazz and psychedelia.

With their early contributions leading MixMag to first coin the term trip hop as the catch-all label for this new sound, many of those behind it were also the most vocal in opposing such pigeon-holing.

Regardless of the name, the initial breakthrough sound went on to become an international phenomenon with continued sonic influence to this day as a new generation of British artists look backwards to move forwards.

Expect tracks from Portishead, Massive Attack, FC Kahuna and more.

Presented by The Jazz Cafe.

This is an 18+ event