Cambridge four-piece band SAFFRA are new to the UK jazz landscape but are already beginning to make a mark with their vibrant and inventive take on neo-soul/rnb.

The band features vocalist Anna Bickerton, keyboardist Ben Nobuto, bassist Tai Kirby and drummer Josh Dawson. The band first formed in early 2018, when Kirby and Dawson (who were previously bandmates) joined Nobuto and Bickerton, a duo that spun off a student big band.

Each member contributes a unique set of musical experiences and influences to the band’s sound ranging from hip-hop to breakbeat, techno to jazz, soul to contemporary classical. These diverse sounds are blended seamlessly, bound together by the band’s love for fun, danceable grooves which still push the envelope of modern jazz/rnb music.

After spending the last two years developing and performing their live set of original music (including shows at the Cambridge Junction, 93 Feet East and a headline show at The Spice of Life), the band is now working on their debut studio album.