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Rob Luft (born November 1993) is an English jazz guitarist and composer from London, United Kingdom. He has released three albums, Riser, Life Is The Dancer & Dahab Days, as a solo artist on British label Edition Records. His playing has also been documented on several albums released by the German jazz label ECM Records, most notably on John Surman's 2024 release Words Unspoken.
His debut album as a bandleader was released in 2017 and was warmly received with four star reviews in The Guardian,Fordham, John (27 July 2017), "Guitar virtuoso makes enticingly vivacious debut", The Guardian. The Irish Times,Larkin, Cormac (July 27, 2017), "Rob Luft - An original guitarist to be prized", Irish Times. Jazzwise and Downbeat Magazine, who described it as "the most fully-realised and rewarding debut album from a guitarist-composer since Julian Lage's 2009 outing". He released his second album on Edition Records, Life Is The Dancer, in April 2020, which was received with critical acclaim. All About Jazz describing it as "balm for the soul" as well as stating that "every aspect of the album is sublime".
He has also performed as a sideman with many of the world's leading modern jazz artists & groups, including Django Bates, John Surman, Manu Katché, Arve Henriksen, Avishai Cohen (trumpeter), Ben Wendel and The Cinematic Orchestra. Luft was the recipient of the Peter Whittingham Award in 2015 as part of the co-led big band Patchwork Jazz Orchestra, and in 2018 he was nominated as the "Breakthrough Act of the Year" in the Jazz FM Awards "Jazz FM Awards 2018, Nominees Announced", News, Jazz FM Awards, 27 February 2018. and as the "Jazz Instrumentalist of the Year" in the Parliamentary Jazz Awards. "Parliamentary Jazz Awards 2018 Nominees Announced", Jazzwise Magazine. He was selected as a BBC New Generation Jazz Artist 2019-2022 & in November 2023 he performed his self-penned concerto for electric guitar & symphony orchestra at the Queen Elizabeth Hall with the BBC Concert Orchestra as part of the London Jazz Festival.
He has collaborated with Swiss-Albanian singer Elina Duni, releasing two albums on ECM Records, Lost Ships & A Time To Remember, the latter of which was awarded "Jazz Album Of The Month" in The Guardian newspaper upon release in June 2023. Duni & Luft often appear in a pared-back duo format of guitar & voice, and the pair have toured throughout Europe, the Americas & the Far East, having given sold-out shows in New York at Le Poisson Rouge (formerly The Village Gate), Montreux Jazz Festival & Cairo Jazz Festival, Egypt.
| as Deco Ensemble; with Bartosz Głowacki (accordion), Sabina Rakcheyeva (violin), Ricardo Gosalbo (piano), Elena Marigómez (bass) | |||
| as Big Bad Wolf; with Owen Dawson (trombone, synthesiser), Michael De Souza (Fender Bass VI), Jay Davis (drums) | |||
| with Joe Wright (sax), Joe Webb (keyboards), Tom McCredie (bass), Corrie Dick (drums) | |||
| with Dave O'Higgins (tenor sax), Scott Flanigan (organ), Rod Youngs (drums) | |||
| with Joe Wright (sax), Byron Wallen (trumpet), Luna Cohen (backing vocals), Joe Webb (keyboards), Tom McCredie (bass), Corrie Dick (drums) | |||
| with Elina Duni (voc), Matthieu Michel (flugelhorn), Fred Thomas (piano; drums) | |||
| with Elina Duni (voc), Matthieu Michel (flugelhorn), Fred Thomas (piano; drums; viola da gamba) | |||
| 2023 | Dahab Days | Edition Records | with Joe Wright (sax), Joe Webb (keyboards), Tom McCredie (bass), Corrie Dick (drums), Alice Zawadzki (vocals), Byron Wallen (trumpet), Steve Buckley (saxophone, whistle) |
As sideman
| Self-release | |||
| Self-release | |||
| UR Records | |||
| Whirlwind Recordings | |||
| Linn Records | |||
| Temps Record | |||
| Edition Records | |||
| Pumpkin Records | |||
| 33 Jazz Records | |||
| F-IRE Collective | |||
| UR Records | |||
| 33 Jazz Records | |||
| Spartacus Records | |||
| 2019 | Laura Jurd | Stepping Back, Jumping In | Edition Records |
| Ropeadope | |||
| 2022 | Corrie Dick | Sun Swells | Ubuntu |
| 2024 | John Surman | Words Unspoken | ECM Records |
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