Jazz musicians are successful now because there is a general frustration about music that’s come off a conveyor belt and been focus-grouped. It just leaves people cold. Traditionally, pop celebrities have recruited jazz players for recording sessions and their backing bands to give them musical authenticity and a seal of approval – and we’ve been in the background. But now, with the music industry in crisis, with record chains closing and celebrities unable to support live touring units, we’re coming out of the woodwork and getting noticed – hence the arrival of artists such as Polar Bear, Jade Foxx and the David Okumu Trio.

The trumpeter Guy Barker was at the British Jazz Awards earlier this week and he said that it was the fourth jazz award ceremony in this country he’d been to this year, so it’s becoming impossible to ignore that something exciting is afoot.

It’s true that the younger artists don’t sound like the older bebop players – that they mix in hip-hop or rock – but you need to be saying something that’s relevant to your time. What must underpin it is an appreciation of the jazz heritage. I’m with Wynton Marsalis on this. If you can’t swing you’re not a jazz musician.

ESKA MTUNGWAZI

Quite simply, she is the most exciting female British vocalist today. She marries phenomenal technical ability with heaps of charisma. She really is in a league all of her own. Imagine Ella Fitzgerald crossed with Jill Scott and . . . Paganini. Born in Zimbabwe and raised in South London, she has worked with everyone from Courtney Pine and the Roots to Tony Allen and Nitin Sawhney and myself. It’s impossible to categorise her, she traverses so many styles – jazz, broken beat, acoustic, pop, soul – to me, her fearless approach signifies what’s healthiest about the British music scene.

Try this Good Nyooz, Soweto Kinch (featuring Eska)

MC TY

Ty has been around for a couple of years and is criminally undersupported. He has a broad approach to hip-hop which makes him difficult to market. Labels always shy away from an artist when they are unsure who the audience is. It’s much easier to put all their weight behind a US counterpart who may be less innovative but has had more money spent on production. Ty signifies everything that is unique about UK hip-hop. There’s nothing formulaic about it, you hear jazz, broken beat and, most interestingly for me, different eras of hip-hop rather then just what they call the “Bacardi” beats of today.

Ty would probably be called an “intelligent” hip-hop artist, alongside people such as Kanye West and Lupe Fiasco, but I think that whole scene is ridiculous; you wouldn’t have an “intelligent grunge” scene. It’s bizarre to market a new movement where suddenly rappers actually think about what they are singing. Ty does all of that instinctively, as all good artists have always done.

Try this L.O.V.E - No Matter What, Ty (featuring Vula)

FEMI TEMOWO

Temowo is an immensly influential guitarist and composer. He was Amy Winehouse’s musical director and the backbone of her operation for a long time. He reminds you that without a vibrant British jazz scene someone like Winehouse couldn’t exist. He recently released his first solo album, Quiet Storm. I really believe that in years to come people will look back and see how important a work it is. It mixes up worship music with soul, spoken word, afro-beat, jazz.

He was born in Lagos, Nigeria and moved to London when he was 10, so you can hear his West African roots. But really, stylistically, it’s all over the place. His musical palette is so wide, ranging from Kuti to Hendrix to George Benson. It’s amazing.

A lot of great musicians convince themselves that the safest option is to be a session musician, and Temewo has been the anchor for so many great mainstream bands. But he’s quit that and is forging his own path.

Try this Wood and Strings Femi Temowo (featuring Zena Edwards)

JASON YARDE

Alto-saxophonist and composer, Yarde is a huge name. He was the backbone of the Dune record label, the stable that produced lots of artists who went on to be influential. Abram Wilson and myself, both Mobo Jazz shortlisters, are on Dune. Most recently Yarde has been working on large commisions such as writing a companion piece for Simon Schama’s Rough Crossings, which was performed at the City of London Festival. He has also been pioneering a project called Urban Classic, which must be the first attempt to try to take grime beyond its parochial sites and into an orchestral setting.

Try this Footprints, Jazz Jamaica, from the album Massive. Jason arranged this song for the big band

DAVID OKUMU

I used to play with Okumu every Sunday at the Jazz Café. He has an incredibly strong personality and style. I love him because he is a complete maverick, as influenced by Hendrix and Prince as he is by hip-hop or straight jazz such as John Scofield. Okumu has done that thing that we’ve all done, of making other artists look great – people such as Terri Walker and Amy Winehouse – but he is reaching out on his own.

If you needed a comparison, in his eclectic musical approach at least, he is like Miles Davis, though you are as likely to hear Radiohead as jazz in his music. It’s never overbearing though, or complicated for complexity’s sake. You will hear something challenging and traditional all in the same breath.

Try this Solo (www.myspace.com/jadefoxx-music), from Jade Foxx Take Me Back

JULIA BIEL

What I respect about Biel is that she’s very enterprising. She’s a good example of how, if you keep plugging away, you’ll find your own audience. And how fame doesn’t equal success. As with all these artists, you might not see her on TV or hear her on the radio, but she is hugely succesful, and deservedly so.

Try this Rhythm of the Treetops, Julia Biel

Soweto Kinch’s A Life in the Day of B19: Tales of the Towerblock is out now on Dune.
He plays Midnight Hop, Birmingham Town Hall, on Oct 13. www.myspace.com/sowetokinch

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