Secret Night Gang

Secret Night Gang function as a contemporary powerhouse rooted in Britain’s club-driven traditions of soul, funk, and acid jazz. Their sound centers on alternately propulsive and airy rhythms boosted by a horn section under saxophonist Callum Connell, yet the Manchester outfit also turns to tender ballads that highlight frontman Kemani Anderson. The group records for Brownswood Recordings, the independent imprint run by BBC broadcaster Gilles Peterson, who coined the term acid jazz and helped establish the original label bearing that name. Their first full-length project, the self-titled Secret Night Gang, appeared in 2021; two years later they returned with Belongs on a Place Called Earth.

At the core of the band stand Connell and Anderson, childhood football teammates who renewed their connection while studying music together in secondary school. A visit to the 2018 Love Supreme jazz festival prompted them to begin writing songs as a duo. Regular local jam sessions soon introduced them to founding bassist Stuart Whitehead, after which the lineup expanded to include longtime drummer Myke Wilson (52nd Street, Swing Out Sister, Corinne Bailey Rae), rhythm guitarist Jack Duckham, and producer-engineer-manager Yvonne Ellis (Simply Red and Swing Out Sister), along with a rotating cast of additional musicians for both recordings and live work.

Secret Night Gang issued their earliest singles, “Wanna Be with You” and “The Sun,” on their own in 2020, appeared at that year’s virtual We Out Here festival organized by Gilles Peterson, and subsequently signed with Peterson’s label. Brownswood reissued “The Sun” in early 2021 as the initial preview of the October arrival of Secret Night Gang. International exposure followed in 2022 through sets at the North Sea Jazz Festival, Montreux Jazz Festival, Bluedot, and Primavera Sound, plus support dates across the U.K. and Europe with Khruangbin. The band then recorded Belongs on a Place Called Earth, foregrounding messages of hope and optimism; the album surfaced in June 2023 alongside festival appearances at Cross the Tracks and Love Supreme.