Klara Devlin Quartet, Music Spoken Here, The Marr’s Bar, Worcester, 08/10 2026.

Klara Devlin – trumpet, Chris Outhwaite – keyboard, Tom Sheen – double bass, Emmanuel Ampong – drums

MSH’s latest event featured a young London based quartet led by the twenty year old trumpeter and composer Klara Devlin.

Devlin may be a relatively new name on the UK jazz scene but this was already her third visit to Worcester after performing for MSH as a member of drummer Miranda Radford’s quartet in February 2025 and as part of the all female octet Ankora in February 2026. Both of these shows are reviewed elsewhere on this site.

Devlin began playing trumpet at the age of five, initially inspired by Peppa Pig! At the age of eight a new teacher introduced her to jazz, initially via the Nat Adderley composition “Work Song”. She also played with a local brass band and undertook the appropriate grade exams.

Devlin’s love of jazz was further nurtured when she joined National Youth Jazz Orchestra’s academy at the age of nine. She also attended the regular jazz jams at the Rich Mix venue in east London run by Gary Crosby and the Tomorrow’s Warriors association.

Devlin joined the Tomorrow’s Warriors Female Collective before progressing into the Tomorrow’s Warriors Female Frontline, with whom she made her first public performances. The Frontline, which also included Radford and fellow trumpeter Hannah Clifton, eventually morphed into the still ongoing Ankora octet.

In 2024 Devlin was a finalist in the BBC Young Jazz Musician of the Year Competition, the actual award going to bassist and composer Ursula Harrison, also a previous MSH visitor when she appeared as a member of pianist Eddie Gripper’s trio.

Although she didn’t win the first prize the BBC competition proved immensely beneficial to Devlin. It afforded her valuable exposure on national TV and made gigs far easier to come by, in addition to boosting her confidence as a composer and encouraging her to write more.

Devlin’s current quartet includes fellow Tomorrow’s Warriors alumni Tom Sheen (bass) and Emmanuel Ampong (drums), plus keyboard player Chris Outhwaite, who Devlin met via NYJO. Devlin and Ampong are currently studying together at the Royal Academy of Music in London in addition to working as performing jazz musicians.

On a personal level I first saw an eleven year old Devlin play way back in 2017 at a NYJO Jazz Jam at the performance space at Foyle’s Bookshop on Charing Cross Road. Hosted by saxophonist Phil Meadows it was an event that formed part of that year’s EFG London Jazz Festival. The NYJO line up also included drummer Finn Genockey and vocalist Kasia Kawalek (Konstance), two other young musicians who have gone on to bigger things.

In August 2025 I caught Devlin’s forty five minute set on the Bishop’s Garden outdoor stage at that year’s Brecon Jazz Festival. Her quartet on that occasion included Outhwaite, Ampong and bassist Freddie Canton. That performance is reviewed as part of my Festival coverage and included several pieces that were performed again tonight.

As a jazz musician Devlin names fellow trumpeters Freddie Hubbard, Lee Morgan and Roy Hargrove as sources of inspiration. Other influences include Ella Fitzgerald, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Ornette Coleman and Wayne Shorter. Her own playing has been endorsed by the great UK saxophonist and composer Tony Kofi.

Tonight’s performance commenced with a new Devlin composition, as yet to be officially named but presented under the working title “New Tune Bluesy”. This proved to be a good introduction to the instrumental voices of the band with its subtly funky grooves framing solos from the leader on trumpet and Outhwaite at MSH’s own Nord Stage 4 keyboard, favouring an electric piano or ‘Rhodes’  sound, a sound he adopted throughout the set. Both soloists displayed admirable levels of fluency and inventiveness. Meanwhile bassist Sheen, who had also been part of the Radford quartet, and drummer Ampong also enjoyed individual features.

Next we heard “Reaching Out” and “Saltwater” two Devlin originals that had also been performed as a segue at Brecon. As before the performance was introduced by an extended passage of unaccompanied trumpeting, an impressive demonstration of Devlin’s already highly accomplished technique. The addition of bass, keyboard and drums led into a more conventional jazz trumpet solo, with Outhwaite eventually taking over at the keyboard. Both solos were underpinned by the loose limbed, polyrhythmic flow of Ampong’s drumming. Everyone that I spoke to during the interval or after the show was hugely impressed by Ampong’s playing and by his contribution to the success of the performance as a whole. He’s certainly a young musician to keep an eye on in the future.
The same could be said about Sheen, whose unaccompanied double bass passage provided the link into the second half of this lengthy but absorbing, and often thrilling, sequence. “Saltwater”, saw the quartet adopt an even more of a freewheeling approach with the composer’s opening solo developing into a vigorous and exciting trumpet and drum dialogue. The eventual return of bass and keyboards provided the springboard for another imaginative electric piano solo from Outhwaite before Devlin rounded things off with a final trumpet excursion.

The Devlin composed ballad “Blue Spire” was another of the tunes that had been performed at Brecon and saw Ampong deploying brushes for the first time. Devlin stated the theme on trumpet and delivered the first solo, followed by the excellent Sheen with a melodic statement on double bass. Although ostensibly a ballad the music occasionally took something of an intriguing left turn into a kind of subtle funkiness.

The quartet concluded an excellent first set by having a bit of fun with the Thelonious Monk tune “Think of One”. This saw them capturing something of Monk’s celebrated quirkiness via concise solos from Outhwaite and Devlin plus a series of keyboard and drum exchanges that evolved into an inventive and innately musical drum feature from the consistently impressive Ampong.

Set two commenced with the second segue of the evening as compositions by two great saxophonists were conjoined, with Gary Bartz’s “Libra” linked to Wayne Shorter’s “Mr. Jin”.
Ushered in by Ampong at the drums “Libra” featured solos from both Devlin and Outhwaite.
Ampong then provided the bridge into “Mr. Jin” with a superbly constructed and highly inventive solo drum passage that made effective use of both his hands and his feet. Shorter’s tune included a further solo from Devlin, but essentially this sequence was all about the brilliance of Ampong, who also rounded things off at the kit.

Next we heard another new Devlin original with a working title. “The E Tune”, which may yet become a permanent moniker, was named after the key it was written in and was introduced by an extended passage of unaccompanied double bass from the talented Sheen. He was subsequently joined by Devlin for an engaging bass / trumpet duet, occasionally punctuated by Ampong’s drum commentary. The eventual addition of keys led to a more conventional trumpet solo from Devlin, a technical tour de force distinguished by the fast fluttering of the valves. Sheen was briefly featured with the bow towards the close.

The second set concluded with “Multitudes”, a Devlin composition that had featured at Brecon. This was ushered in by a combination of keyboard and bass, the eventual addition of drums providing the spark for an inventive electric piano solo from Outhwaite that sometimes reminded me of the great Herbie Hancock. Leader Devlin was also featured as a soloist, with Ampong closing the evening with a final drum feature.

However it wasn’t quite the end, with promoter Dave Fuller persuading the quartet to play a quick encore before they caught the train back to London. This proved to be a version of the Ornette Coleman tune “Blues Connotation”, introduced by Ampong and featuring spellbinding solos from Devlin and Outhwaite plus a final feature from the charismatic drummer.

As at Brecon I was hugely impressed by the playing of all four musicians and also by the quality of Devlin’s original writing. The next step for her is to make her debut recording, something that is very much in the planning but which is also subject to financial considerations. Let’s just hope she can get her music documented on disc.

The audience at The Marr’s Bar really got behind this excellent young band and were rewarded with a performance that combined intelligent original writing with some excellent playing, the musicians visibly growing in confidence as the evening progressed and playing with skill, imagination and verve, really pushing the envelope at times in front of a knowledgeable and supportive crowd. Dave Fuller seemed happy enough with the audience turnout, especially with Jazz Sabbath playing just up the road at Huntingdon Hall. Two jazz events in Worcester on the same evening? How often does that happen?

My thanks to Klara for speaking with me after the show and for verifying details of the set list and all the best to her in her future musical endeavours.

 

 

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