Gwyn Jay Allen ‘I Love Louis’

Gwyn Jay Allen and Alex Wilson bring I Love Louis to PizzaExpress Live Soho - jazz, rhythm, storytelling and New Orleans spirit, fresh from Festival da Jazz in St Moritz.

More than a tribute, I Love Louis looks at the man behind the famous smile and draws out the parallels with Allen and Wilson's shared Sierra Leone Creole heritage. Together they weave their family stories into jazz's extraordinary journey - from its African roots to New Orleans and back across the Atlantic.

Vocalist Shireen Francis joins the company, bringing another dimension to Armstrong's story through Ella Fitzgerald and the women who shared Louis's life.

Collaborators since the 1990s, Gwyn Jay Allen guided Romesh Ranganathan through Sierra Leone in the BAFTA-nominated The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan (BBC), has portrayed Armstrong with the BBC Concert Orchestra and BBC Big Band at The London Palladium, and performed at the Louis Armstrong House Museum in New York.

Alex Wilson is a pianist, composer and LUKAS Award winner, named European Jazz Artist of the Year. They are joined by Byron Wallen (trumpet), Larry Bartley (bass) and Kenrick Rowe (drums).

Expect deep grooves, powerful storytelling and the sheer joy of Louis Armstrong.