Geordie jazz trailblazers Knats share new single ‘Bowling Ball’ ft. artwork by Jim Moir (Vic Reeves)
Knats L-R: Ferg Kilsby, Stan Woodward, King David-Ike Elechi | Photo Credit: Ellie Slorick
“It’s moments like this where Knats excel not only as individual players but as a collective whose compositions reach beyond the purview of UK jazz.”- Pitchfork
“a big compositional leap, boldly examining poverty, prison and crime via action-packed sonic fizz bombs”- MOJO
“jazz that is sprawling and eclectic, with gritty, menacing percussion one moment, and bright, groove-led horns the next.”- The Guardian
“Newcastle collective Knats are transcending nostalgia to ask what it really means to trudge through inherited violence and working-class masculinity without a clean way out” - The Line Of Best Fit
“‘A Great Day In Newcastle’ is the best thing to come out of the North East since Andy Carroll. This is an album to get lost in. Lost in the killer melodies, time signatures and rhythms. Lost in the stories but most importantly a place to lose yourself from the grind of work.” - CLASH
“they bring a gust of fresh air straight off the River Tyne”- Observer (One To Watch)
“jaw-dropping brilliance”- Jazzwise
“a triumphant celebration of regional identity; a soaring reminder that even in the shadow of industrial ghosts, new, restless, and beautiful rhythms can still emerge” - Far Out
“like Jason Williamson fronting National Health had they been steeped in bebop and breakbeat culture” - The Wire
“For Knats, it feels like this is just the opening act of something bigger.”- All About Jazz
“You will be hearing more from Knats.” - The Arts Desk
Today, Geordie jazz trailblazers Knats return with a powerful and politically charged new single titled ‘Bowling Ball’. The track was premiered yesterday on BBC Radio 6 Music by Lauren Laverne and follows their recent video for ‘7 Bridges To Burn‘.
The track comes as the band find themselves on an undeniable ascent. A key face in the next generation of jazz artists coming through, they signed to legendary label Fontana (UK home to AURORA, Jordan Rakei, Jacob Collier, Jon Batiste, Madison Cunningham and more) just two weeks before their latest Geordie Greep produced album “A Great Day In Newcastle” came out, landing a #2 position in the Official Jazz & Blues Chart. Last month they also delivered an incendiary performance of their recent single ‘Never Gonna Be A Boxer’ on Later… with Jools Holland, which was also recently playlisted on BBC Radio 6 Music’s b-list.
Written by lifelong friends from Newcastle - led by Stan Woodward (bass), King David-Ike Elechi (drums), and Ferg Kilsby (Trumpet; Flugelhorn) - ‘A Great Day In Newcastle’ landed in May as an unflinching love letter to working class Tyneside, community, resilience, and lived experience tackled with the wit and warmth of classic Northern optimism. With poet Cooper Robson adding raw lyrical weight, and artwork evoking Art Kane's iconic Harlem photograph, the album is history alive in the present.
Recorded, mixed, and mastered at London’s inimitable Metropolis studios, the new single is full of the same fire and vim that has captivated so many fans new and old alike. Thematically, the track was written “in response to the disgusting rise of the far right across the UK,” says Woodward. “It was written a few days after attending the counter protest against the EDL on the West Road, in the west end of Newcastle.” Poetry here is delivered by Robson to avant-rock inflected jazz, which builds in intensity and power along with his dismay and frustration.
Stream/share ‘Bowling Ball’ here
Alongside the single, the band have also shared a short documentary about the making of the track, the themes running across it and more.
Watch here.
The track's artwork has been created by legendary comedian and painter Jim Moir (Vic Reeves), who recently hailed them as “fantastic”, going to describe their sound as “bits of Mingus, Brand X, Parker, poetry, synth rock, chucked into a bucket and presented in a beautiful Geordie jazz cake.”
Credit: Jim Moir
Alongside the new single, Knats have also recently announced an extensive UK headline tour for autumn 2026. The dates include two London MOTH Club shows, with a second added due to high demand after the first one sold out more than four months in advance. Ahead of the tour the band will also embark on packed out summer of festival appearances including their first performance at Montreux Jazz Festival, a return to BBC Proms with Nadine Shah, and a show alongside fellow Tyneside stoner metal band Pigs X7. Dates are as follows:
24 Jul – BBC Proms, UK (w/ Nadine Shah)
15 Aug – For The Love Of Jazz, UK
21 Aug – We Out Here, UK
29 Aug – Anarchy Brew Co, UK (supporting Pigs X7)
23 Oct – King Street Social, North Shields
24 Oct – Durham Jazz Festival, Durham
25 Oct – The Crescent, York
26 Oct – Yellow Arch, Sheffield
27 Oct – Exchange, Bristol
28 Oct – Moth Club, London (second date added)
30 Oct – Moth Club, London (Sold Out)
2 Nov – Heartbreakers, Southampton
4 Nov – Cornish Bank, Falmouth
5 Nov – St Peters Church, Poole
18 Nov – Bodega, Nottingham
20 Nov – Amped, Huddersfield
21 Nov – Future Yard, Birkenhead
Guestlist available upon request
It’s easy to forget that little over 12-months ago Knats were yet to even release a debut album. In that time the band have been on a whiplash journey that includes a critically acclaimed S/T album on Gearbox Records, a Parliamentary Jazz Award nomination, packed out headline tour dates up and down the country (as well EU/UK stints as the live band for both Geordie Greep and low-key RnB legend Eddie Chacon), and their US debut at SXSW.
Mixed by the legendary Hugh Padgham and executive produced and mastered by the world-renowned Gearbox Studios, ‘A Great Day In Newcastle’s’ incendiary and captivating blood rush of high-energy and genre-bending, danceable grooves has been fervently devoured by fans and media alike. Not least because of their compelling approach to chronicling the milieu of the North East’s working-class. As the next generation of UK jazz artists start to break through, there is something quintessentially vital about this album coming from this region. From a band who’ve persevered for years with what they recently described to The Guardian as “Geordie optimism” and “hard graft”, pushing through regional disparities that have seen musicians faced with dwindling arts programmes, funding, and inequal opportunities. From Woodward learning to play on a “Tesco guitar” and the band being told they weren’t good enough to cover Arctic Monkeys as kids, to later performing at The Proms in 2024 and Later… with Jools Holland in 2026, there’s a diligence and resolve here that is emblematic of their home region.
‘A Great Day In Newcastle’ is out now via Gearbox/Fontana
Order here / Stream here
Tracklisting:
1 Intro
2 Gainsborough Grove
3 Wor Jackie
4 Messy ln
5 Azure Blues
6 Big Market
7 Carpet Doctor ft. Geordie Greep
8 Never Gonna Be A Boxer
9 Farewell Johnny Miner
