As a melting pot par excellence where styles and influences meld together as one, the British scene has brought us the restless corto.alto, who stops at nothing in his quest for inventive and polished jazz, as well as the elegant trio Mammal Hands, who hand craft hypnotic and moving music.

1/ corto.alto

Heads up – this young genius does it all! A revelation from the effervescent Glasgow jazz scene, corto.alto is the project from multi-instrumentalist Liam Shortall, who dexterously juggles bass, guitar, effects, and trombone – the instrument which won him his spurs with the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra. Despite his classical training, he was simply itching to explore the widest variety of genres – hip-hop, dub, soul, electronica – to fuel his fluid and agile jazz, and with corto.alto, he is also a Stakhanovite of composition. Following his highly acclaimed first album, Bad With Names, in 2023, the young musician set himself the lofty challenge of releasing thirty singles in thirty days in spring 2024. A good way to clean up his hard drive in style while preparing the next project: “WHODIS”, recorded with American rapper Mick Jenkins and released in late March 2026, which is a perfect stylistic step that ensures a harmonious tomorrow.

2/ Mammal Hands

Meditative and dense, Mammal Hands brings music which is bound to send listeners into soft euphoria, with a particularly striking effect on stage. Since coming together in 2012, the English trio have become masters of the delicate art of blending in: at their fingertips, the lines between jazz, contemporary music, folk, electro, and minimalism simply melt away, leaving behind vast musical landscapes where melodies have the space to twist and turn into long and hypnotic ribbons. Nine years after their first and formerly only time at Jazz à la Villette, Mammal Hands is finally back to take over the stage of the Cité de la musique for their sixth and sumptuous album – the first one recorded with Rob Turner, their new drummer previously seen with GoGo Penguin. Released in February 2026, Circadia is a testament to a group which has found the perfect midpoint between emotion and experimentation, overlaid over different rhythms and timbres. Inspired by the idea of cycles and transformation, the album is a meditation on rebirth and the beauty of change. QED.