About the Workshop (Interactive Session)
Led by bandleader Jude Lane, this interactive workshop explores Jude’s original compositions and the wide range of influences behind them. Participants will journey through jazz history and its impact on music today, connecting the dots between classical music, traditional/contemporary jazz, and the rhythmic energy of UK dance music that informs the band’s distinctive sound.
The band will demonstrate ideas using live musical examples—sometimes as a full ensemble, sometimes in smaller combinations or using digital recordings—showing how jazz continues to evolve and shape the sound of modern culture.
The session will finish with an open jam, welcoming anyone who wants to participate.
There will also be time to meet the band, ask questions, and connect in a relaxed and inspiring atmosphere after the workshop.
Live Performance: Mentalism
A short break after the workshop and Beyond the Blue return for a special live set showcasing their highly anticipated debut album Mentalism (released 18 February 2026).
Mentalism is a powerful meditation on the psychological noise of modern life – capturing the fragmented inner world of growing up in an era shaped by constant stimulation, uncertainty, and crisis. Both personal and socially responsive, the album documents a six-year journey from youthful experimentation to the emergence of a bold and distinctive new voice in UK jazz.
About the band: Beyond the Blue’s compelling fusion has already built a strong following through sell-out shows and major performances across the UK, sharing stages with artists including Moses Yoofee Trio, Blue Lab Beats, Rosie Frater-Taylor, and British soul icon Omar. Following appearances at EFG London Jazz Festival and Matt & Phreds (Manchester), the band will embark on their UK album release tour in February 2026, and we are delighted that their tour includes Northern Ireland .
Formed in 2019, Beyond the Blue are one of the most exciting contemporary jazz projects emerging from the UK scene. After self-releasing two EPs, they performed at major festivals including Love Supreme, EFG London Jazz Festival and Cheltenham Jazz Festival, earning a reputation for forward-thinking music and fearless improvisation. Led by pianist and composer Jude Lane, the band blends influence from classical music, jazz and UK dance music, brought together through a distinctive instrumentation of cello, guitar, alto and tenor saxophones, piano, bass and drums.
They were also part of the inaugural Soultrane Festival (2024), where they completely blew the audience away with a breathtaking display of musical skill, energy, and originality.
Members of the band have performed alongside leading voices in British jazz, including Jean Toussaint, Mark Lockheart, Emma Rawicz, Poppy Daniels, and Connor Albert.
The project is also shaped by Lane’s growing reputation as a sought-after arranger and orchestrator. His recent work includes a major multidisciplinary collaboration alongside former Wild Beasts frontman Hayden Thorpe, award-winning writer Robert Macfarlane, and Radiohead artist Stanley Donwood. In 2024, Lane was commissioned by BBC Northern Ireland to co-write and orchestrate a new work with singer-songwriter Siobhán Brown (Director of Soultrane), performed and recorded at Belfast Waterfront Hall with the Ulster Orchestra for the televised Century of Stories BBC event.
With praise from jazz pianist Barry Green as “fresh and intelligent,” and described by Paul Hartnoll (Orbital) as “the future of improvised music,” Beyond the Blue are a must-see live act – cinematic, powerful, and fully alive in the moment.
About Soultrane: Soultrane is Northern Ireland’s dedicated soul music festival and movement, celebrating music of Black origin through soul, jazz, funk and beyond. Rooted in community, culture and connection, Soultrane delivers live events, workshops that bring people & communities together and amplify authentic voices.
Age 18+.
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