Jazz Trumpeter Alexandra Ridout is from the UK and is currently based in London and New York City.

At the age of 17 Alexandra was crowned the winner of the BBC Young Musician Jazz

Award 2016, which is the most prominent jazz competition in the UK, widely promoted by

the BBC on National TV and Radio. She was catapulted into a very busy and high profile

jazz career and has been wowing audiences ever since.

Since her win, Alexandra has gone on to receive an array of awards and accolades including

the British Jazz Awards ‘Rising Star’ 2018, in 2019 being named one of ‘London’s Most

Influential People under 25’ by the Evening Standard, she was a Parliamentary Jazz

Awards nominee 2020, a winner of the highly competitive American Laurie Frink Career

Grant for trumpet 2022. She received the ‘Best Soloist’ award at the ‘Keep an Eye

International Jazz Award’ 2023, was awarded 2nd Place at the most

prestigious jazz trumpet competition in the world - the Caruso International Jazz Trumpet

Competition 2023 and most recently won the the Next Jazz Legacy award through New Music USA.

Alexandra’s career took off in the UK and beyond from 2016 onwards. She has been in great

demand as a bandleader, composer, musical collaborator, educator and featured artist,

performing in 100’s of shows in all of the UK’s top venues, including 2 appearances in the

2018 BBC Proms, which included her performance as a featured guest for ‘40 years of The

BBC Young Musician’. During this time Alexandra also had her music played on multiple

BBC Radio 3 show’s, Jazz FM and across Europe and the USA.

During these years, in addition to bandleading her own ensembles, Alexandra was highly

sought after by the UK’s top jazz musicians such as British luminary Clark Tracey, being a

member of his Hexad, Quintet and Big Band for many years, Clare Teal’s mini Big Band,

Guy Barkers Big Band (including their acclaimed Christmas show at the Royal Albert Hall),

Yazz Ahmed’s Polyhymnia, touring Europe with Matthew Herberts Brexit Big Band and

countless others.

Since being based in the UK and USA in 2021, Alexandra’s exquisite playing has been sought out by

many revered international musicians, including European touring with world renowned

Renee Rosnes’ Blue Note signed band ‘Artemis’, Orlando Le Fleming’s ‘Romantic Funk’

(including a London residency with the band), prestigious New York venues and USA

performances as a member of award winning saxophonist Dayna Stephens’ ‘Custom

Deluxe’, New York shows with world famous jazz drummer Jochen Rueckert’s quartet,

regularly performing at the famous Birdland Jazz Club and many other USA and worldwide

venues as a member of Arturo O’Farrill’s Grammy winning Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra.

Alexandra was also twice invited to be a featured artist with Pablo Held as part of his ‘Pablo

Held meets... series in Germany. She is also performing and recording regularly with ECM

artist Kit Downes and multi award winning saxophonist Alex Hitchcock.

Alexandra has performed with her new sextet at America’s premier jazz performance venue,

The Jazz Gallery in NYC and is a busy performer in NYC and further afield with her own

trio, quartet and quintet. As an in demand member of many other bands Alexandra can be

seen performing in NYC venues such as The Jazz Gallery, Dizzy’s Jazz Club, Bar Lunatico,

Nublu, The Owl, the Kennedy Centre in DC and many more.

She was a showcased performer/composer in the International Festival of New Trumpet

Music with her trio in New York in 2022. The Festival is curated by world famous jazz trumpeter Dave

Douglas, who she performed with in the FONT in 2024 and recorded an album with his new project 'alloy'

in 2025

30th April 2024 sees Alexandra as a highlighted composer and performer on International Jazz

Day, bringing her quintet to Columbus, Ohio as the main artist of the 2024 Columbus

International Jazz Series in conjunction with Jazz Appreciation month presented by leading

jazz organisation ‘A Tribe for Jazz’.

She has performed at many festivals around the world including Montreux Jazz Festival, North Sea Jazz

Festival, recently an artist in residence at the Guimarães Jazz Festival, Unity Jazz Festival at the Lincoln

Centre, London Jazz Festival, Love Supreme Jazz Festival and many more all across europe and is

reguarly touring around europe and the US with her own projects and as a side person

She released her debut EP ‘Remote Duets’ in 2020 and is set to record her debut album in 2025.

“Pretty much from the first note you know that you’re dealing with an original voice”

- Matt Penman announcing the winner of the ‘Keep an Eye International Jazz Award’

“Her incredibly sweet, subtle and well-controlled tone....absolutely owning the stage and the

room...melodic, fluent and engaging...great sound, and an emotional content to her playing,

but again with superb control even in very high register”

– Jazz Journal

“Alexandra Ridout…. showed her poise, shining tone, and instrumental command with an

unaccompanied trumpet intro .......... a sparkling duet with Simcock on Herbie Hancock’s

Sonrisa.....obviously a player of huge promise”

- London Jazz News

“Her unaccompanied intro had heads nodding and feet tapping even before the band joined

in. There was also a grooving take on Steve Wonder’s ‘Golden Lady’ to close the set in style,

with a sizzling exchange of fours with Gwilym Simcock”

– Jazzwise magazine

“Alexandra, she stood out because she connected with everybody. There’s a sense that she

really really loves the music. She gets it and I think rhythmically she was just streets ahead, in

terms of connecting with the groove of the music and trying to swing. It was beautiful.”

- Julian Joseph on ‘Jazz Line Up’, BBC Radio 3.