Uplifting the soul with close vocal harmonies, undulating rhythms, and affirmative lyrics...

Please note, the advertised start time is when our doors will open, generally music starts one hour after doors.

Fresh Thursday is a unique regular event that showcases new music alongside a home-cooked meal. For more information about how this event works please read the info at the bottom of this event carefully. Thank you. If you have a dietary requirement you can indicate it by selecting one of the free add-ons when purchasing your ticket.

Please note we are unable to offer refunds. You can click here (https://cobaltstudios.co.uk/about-us/faqs/) to view our full refunds policy.

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Ubunye (https://www.instagram.com/ubunye_music/) is a vibrant Afro-jazz band like no other! Featuring two powerful vocalists from South Africa’s Kwa Zulu Natal region combined with a dynamic rhythm section and an array of guest artists Ubunye’s music is a unique blend of contemporary jazz, Afro-pop and traditional ‘Isigqui’ Zulu music. Their inspirational fusion of jazz, dance and afro-beat that encapsulates the soul of South Africa, is swiftly winning the band a legion of fans across the UK and beyond.

Ubunye (loosely translated as ‘Oneness’ or ‘Unity’) is the conception of keyboard player and lead songwriter David Evans, who first collaborated with baritone singer Xolani Mbatha at a festival that he was running in Leeds. Having put together a successful project for the festival, the working relationship between Evans and Mbatha flourished, eventually resulting in the recruitment of their most talented colleagues. The new exciting Ubunye line up consists of the renowned jazz drummer Steve Hanley, distinguished Leeds musicians Nik Svarc and Sam Dutton-Taylor on guitar and bass respectively, as well as singers Xolani Mbatha and Nokuthula Zondi, who as a trio (along with Evans on backing vocals) perfectly compliment each other and provide a robust sonic force that is as soulful as it is compelling.

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Look Left (https://www.instagram.com/looklefttrio/)are a Newcastle-based jazz fusion trio, taking the well worn three piece setup, and expanding into new horizons. Their original music draws influence from funk, fusion, Afro-beat, Latin, and post-bop to create their already distinctive sound as an ensemble.

More about FRESH Thursdays...

FRESH happens every Thursday during our open seasons. It is a platform to bring you fresh new music served up alongside a homecooked plant based meal, board games and candles. It can be hard to get people out to hear music that they don’t know yet & this is why we decided to offer dinner as an incentive to try something new, these gigs are cosy, communal nights and often you get to hear completely new music for the very first time. The music varies across multiple genres but it is usually fairly gentle listening type music & well suited to a relaxed Thursday night. The gigs are seated and during the sets the audience is very music focused & quiet with time to chat in between the sets and at the end when we keep the bar open.

We cook the food from scratch usually and dinner is well suited to lover of vegetables and wholesome cooking, it's usually something like a dhal, veggie chilli, tacos, roast veg or similar, our base line is vegan sometimes with veggie options. We can cater for nut/gluten free meals, but nuts & gluten are used in the kitchen so if you have serious allergies please bear that in mind.

Doors at 7pm, we aim to get dinner ready by 8pm and will bring it to you when its ready… music usually starts around 8pm, sometimes later if it’s a busy night for food (we are a tiny team) and we aim to have the music finished by 10-10.15 pm. We can only guarantee dinner with advance tickets and these days we cap dinner at 60 meals and the food tickets do often sell out.

We hope/think it's obvious that quality music and dinner for £10 is all about culture & community and that these events cost us money… If you can afford to purchase a higher level ‘Cobalt supporters‘ ticket we appreciate the additional help towards costs very much.

Description supplied by the event organiser.