Corey Mwamba, well-known to Derby Jazz audiences and now a rising star of British Jazz, and his fifteen piece ensemble explore the life of Ignatius Sancho through original compositions, arrangements of Sancho's songs, improvisation and narration.
Born on a slave ship in 1729, and a contemporary of Joseph Wright of Derby, Sancho was patronised and exploited by a series of aristocratic owners before becoming the first reported African to vote in Britain and an erudite writer against the wrongs of slavery. But what was his true place in British society; was he truly seen as a noble, proud, and intelligent writer, or just as a current fancy?
This performance is part of Derby's Black History Season.