Take Five is an annual talent development mentorship programme, run by Serious which works with 8 jazz musicians from across the UK and Ireland.

The programme is designed to equip artists with knowledge to help them with the next steps of their careers through online workshops, year- round mentorship and guidance from specialists in the music industry. The participants take part in an artistic residency in the Cotswolds, musically led by composer and saxophonist Jason Yarde. This year the residency featured movement sessions led by movement director Coral Messam, and musical collaboration sessions working on each other's compositions which led to a final performance at the end of the residency.

2023 cohort:

Conor McAuley
Emma Johnson
Fergus Quill
Hannabiell Sanders
Johanna Burnheart
Luca Manning
Sahra Gure
Tyrone Isaac-Stuart

Take Five Presents SAHRA, Ladies of Midnight Blue & Córas Trio

SAHRA

SAHRA can proudly call herself a vocalist, composer and arranger, an artist in the truest sense of the word. Exuberting mysticism, she is able to express her individuality through stories, commanding attention with her rich and faultless voice.

Ladies of Midnight Blue

Afro-Latin percussion & brass duet, Ladies of Midnight Blue, comprised of Hannabiell Sanders and Yilis del Carmen Suriel. They create a powerful and upbeat fusion of rhythms, weaving combinations melodic percussion, brass, vocal chants, and mbira.

"Hannabiell and Yilis’ sound is an embodiment of the women themselves; full of joy and power, their music stems from Afro-Latin rhythms and melodic percussion, brass and vocal chants. Their work is inextricably linked with their experiences as Black and LatinX women." (NARC)

Córas Trio

Córas Trio have a completely unique approach to Irish traditional music.

They sweep the lines of contemporary practice, foregrounding fiddle and guitar with transcendental electronics, suspending elements of collective free improvisation in a percussive bath of sound. They are in the vanguard of a movement reshaping the sounds of Ireland. The trio comprises of Conor McAuley on drums, Paddy McKeown on guitar and electronics, and Kevin McCullagh on fiddle and electronics. Their nascent arrival has already won the support of multiple experimental folk heavyweights, including Aidan O’Rourke, Brìghde Chaimbeul, and Úna Monaghan.