Norwich Jazz Festival: Ebi Soda

+ Ni Maxine + Easily Dunn (DJ)

Staunch anti-traditionalists, Ebi Soda are a group of musicians who thrive on the idea of contradiction, creating an idiosyncratic blend of jazz, hip-hop and no-wave post-punk. Seemingly more inspired by the atmosphere inside a rave – from UK-based underground genres like broken beat to drill – than the sounds heard inside a jazz club. Their only debt to typical jazz being to attempt to innovate and experiment at every opportunity. Characterised by searing trombones, erratic drum-breaks and heavy electronic multi-effect soundscapes that aid on a foundation of breakbeats and sensual basslines.

Ni Maxine

Nominated for ‘Breakthrough Act of The Year’ at The Jazz FM awards 2025 and hailed by Black Ballad as ‘a Black woman at the forefront of the UK scene,’ Ni Maxine’s songs carry the weight of lived experience and collective memory. Her music moves between past and future, blending conscious lyricism, rich storytelling, and an unshakable sense of self. Themes of home, identity, self-worth, and belonging weave through her work, creating something that feels both deeply personal and universally resonant.

We Out Here, Mostly Jazz Funk & Soul, EFG London Jazz Festival, Africa Oyé, Brick Lane Jazz Festival, the Global Soul Showcase at the Jazz Cafe – wherever she plays, she pulls people in. A string of sold-out shows in 2024 has only added to the momentum, each one a reminder of her presence on stage. Opening for Corinne Bailey Rae on the Plum Red Lipstick tour was no exception.

The industry has been paying attention. Ni Maxine took home Best Original Track at the Youth Music Awards, locked in radio play from BBC Radio 1’s Victoria Jane Future Soul, Jamz Supernova on BBC Radio 6 Music, and Selector Radio, and delivered an iconic Soho Radio session. The tastemakers are talking. They know what’s coming.

Her debut single, ‘Strange Love,’ was the first call to action. With her debut EP, ‘Mother’s Arms’ (2025), on the horizon, Ni Maxine is positioning herself as one of the most essential new voices in contemporary music. Not just an artist – a movement in motion.