The Friday Interview: Caroline Boaden

Drummer Caroline Boaden is a graduate of LCoM and since leaving has toured internationally countless groups and become a strong voice in the Northern jazz scene. She has recently completed a tour with the Mike Walker/Iain Dixon quintet (review of Wakefield Jazz gig)

Theo Jackson & Nathaniel Facey at Dean Clough, May 30th

 

THEO JACKSON & NATHANIEL FACEY

Thursday, May 30th 2013 at 8.00pm

Dean Clough, Halifax HX3 5AX

Tickets £14.00

Booking and directions on: www.deanclough.com

Season ticket and phone bookings: 01422 255266

 

"One of Britain’s finest jazz musicians and singers"  (Jazz FM)

 

Theo Jackson - piano and vocals • Nathaniel Facey - saxophone

 

This new combination of piano, vocals and sax sees two young jazz musicians relying on their ears and a mutual trust. Each firmly established in their own field, this duo project from Theo Jackson and Nathaniel Facey allows them to improvise freely. The skeleton structure of the songs can move and occasionally completely disappears. Their performance at the 2012 Oxford Jazz Festival held the audience captive as they introduced their interpretation of standards, together with with their own original compositions.

 

Gig Review: Tom Harrell at Ronnie Scotts, May 27th

                                With quintet, Mantova 2011 (photo - Angela Harrell)


Tom Harrell's two nights at Ronnie Scotts this week has been long anticipated. As pianist Tom Cawley said in his introduction on Monday night (Tom's trio were the support band for Harrell), it's been over a decade since Tom last played in the UK. Those who follow Harrell on facebook or twitter will recall him posting this on March 2nd, 2013:

Tom Harrell: I'm thinking about adding a date in London in late May. I sort of have to be back in NY but I guess I could extend my stay in Europe for another day.

 

A few weeks later, the Ronnies dates were confirmed and it was so. 

JATP Jazz Programme Change - July 5th

Martin Powell from JATP Jazz in Bradford have got in touch to spread the word about a change of plans for their gig on July 5th.

Gogo Penguin were set to perform, but due to a festival appearance the night before, they are unable to be at JATP.

July 5th will now feature Jamil Sheriff Trio featuring Dave Walsh and Pete Turner.

Gogo Penguin will perform at JATP on 17 January 2014.

The Music Place Jazz Summer School 2013

 

The Music Place, a music education centre run by Lucy Howells and Jo McCallum, are running a jazz summer school between 5th and 9th August. The course costs £325 and features tuition from some of the most exciting jazz musicians in the UK - Mike Walker, Les Chisnall, Phil Bancroft, Gary Culshaw and Caroline Boaden.

"Deepening our understanding of the simple things improves our general musicianship, which provides a stronger, more centred base. From here we can enjoy and be part of a more satisfying musical experience. Playing simple things, really well, is a challenge - we practise so things become simple - when they become simple they become most useful - complexity lives within simplicity and progress can be achieved through a deeper understanding of fundamentals."

Mike Walker, Les Chisnall & Iain Dixon 2011

For more information, see the Music Place website.

Jazz North's Northern Line Showcase, Leeds June 10th

                                         Martin Smith (Weave)

On the evening of Monday 10th June Jazz North is offering the opportunity to come and listen to four very different examples of contemporary UK jazz at the Howard Assembly Room, Leeds. The four bands have been chosen from Jazz North’s northern line rostra of artists. 

Artists: Djangologie, Microscopic, Stuart McCallum + Strings and The Weave (leader Martin Smith pictured)

The evening is being filmed and recorded by Jazz North.

Date: Monday 10 June


Times: Doors open 6:30pm, First band at 7:15pm, 10pm finish


Venue: Howard Assembly Room, 46 New Briggate, Leeds, LS1 6NU


Tickets: £5 on the door or 50 complimentary tickets available to Jazz Yorkshire subscribers

Subscribe to the Newsletter to find out how to receive the complimentary ticket!

The Friday Interview: Dave Smyth

                                                Photo by Martin Scheuregger.

Born in the Midlands, drummer and composer Dave Smyth moved to Yorkshire to study music at York University. As well as working as a jazz musician around Yorkshire, he studied with Martin France Julian Arguelles and Martin France and after graduating, moved to London to study his postgraduate degree at the Royal Academy of Music.  
He is about to embark on a UK tour in June with his octet, Timecraft (which featured saxophonist Iain Ballamy on their debut gig).

17th - Sela Bar, Leeds

18th - ParrJazz, Liverpool

19th - The Lescar, Sheffield

25th - Charlie Wright's, London

26th - Dempsey's, Cardiff

27th - The Blue Boar, Poole

NYJO & Jamie Cullum at St Pancras Station

Singer and pianist Jamie Cullum enlisted the help of NYJO to help promote his new album, Momentum, with a gig in St Pancras Station in London on Tuesday.

The North was well represented, with 3 LCoM graduates in the sax section - Riley Stone-Lonergan, Nadim Teimoori and Phil Meadows.

Seb Scotney was in attendance and has some footage of the gig HERE.

Django Bates Comes to Holmfirth

Pianist Django Bates will end his UK tour at Holmfirth Arts Festival on June 16th.

From Press Release...


Django plays at the Picturedrome following five star Guardian reviews and ahead of the recently announced summer date at the Proms with his ‘Belovèd’ trio. In addition to the performance at 8pm, there will be a pre-concert talk at 7pm, where you can catch Django in conversation with Professor Tony Whyton of the University of Salford.


Festival Director Fiona Goh is delighted to have attracted such an iconic instrumentalist:


“If you’ve never seen Django live, grab a ticket,” said Fiona. “He’s a true British eccentric and a breathtakingly original musician and performer. Belovèd will be playing a mixture of the Bird and Confirmation albums, which have wowed the jazz press and audiences alike with their unique takes on the music and influence of Charlie Parker.” 

Tickets for the Django Bates Belovèd concert are £15 (£12 concessions) and the pre concert talk is free to ticket holders.

Holmfirth Arts Festival Programme 2013

Edinburgh Jazz Festival 2013

The full programme for this year's Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival was announced today. It will run from July 19th to July 28th at venues across the city.

As always, there's a varied programme featuring many Scottish musicians (Brian Kellock, Cathie Rae, Konrad Wiszniewski and Euan Stevenson) some international visitors (Fred Wesley, Tia Fuller and Pharoah Sanders) and this year, jazz musicians from the North are featured a number of times in the programme (Submotion Orchestra, LCM alumni Malcolm MacFarlane and LOCUS, featuring Kim Macari, Riley Stone-Lonergan, Tom Wheatley and Jay Davis).

To see the full line-up and book tickets - Edinburgh Jazz Festival 2013

Burton Agnes Jazz & Blues Festival 5th-7th July

'With classic swing from Octopus, Blues powerhouse meets hillbilly boogie with Cherry-Lee Mewis, Latin soul party band Cadenas Vivaz, infectious rhythms and lots of toe tapping plus some great Yorkshire humour from the Harri Watts Band, one of the most creative and striking performers currently working on the UK scene Gwyneth Herbert, a celebration of Kenny Ball, performed by his Jazzmen and son Keith Ball, Irelands former Young Guitarist of the Year Simon McBride (who is now ranked among the best blues-rock players anywhere in the world), accomplished piano player  Rob Law Quartet with guitarist Thom Whitworth, one of the country's most polished singers Trudy Kerr and her quartet, 'The UK's most exciting and original Blues band' 24 Pesos and finally closing the festival, Ben Beattie's Jazz Essentials with Hall owner and saxophonist Simon Cunliffe-Lister.'

 Discounted Early Bird tickets for the Burton Agnes Jazz and Blues Festival are selling fast, so if you're thinking about going, get in there quick and take advantage of these tickets. You have until 31st May to sign up for Early Bird tickets.

Trudy Kerr Steps into the breach at Wakefield Jazz, May 24th

Owing to a bereavement overseas, Georgia Mancio is unable to appear at Wakefield Jazz this Friday, May 24th.

At very short notice, experienced performer Trudy Kerr will visit to sing in her place. The same band will support her led by pianist Tim Lapthorn with Julie Walkington on bass and Dave Ohm on dru

The Friday Interview: Laura Cole

                                Laura with band Metamorphic (photo by Alex Bonney)

A graduate of Middlesex University's jazz degree, pianist and composer Laura Cole is now based in the North. Her work with Metamorphic is recognised nationally, with the group releasing albums on F-IRE label and touring throughout the UK. As well as Metamorphic, Laura also co-leads a large ensemble with bassist Seth Bennett and is the pianist with Martin Archer's Engine Room Favourites, one of the 12 bands selected to take part in Jazz North's Northern Line scheme.

Jazz Does Crowdfunding - UPDATE

                                 Led Bib


Following up from our recent interview with guitarist Alex Roth, today he announced that his Sponsume campaign has raised £1,310.97 to go toward his UK tour with band Otriad. Congratulations to Alex, who has put in a lot of hard work to promote the tour, so head to see a gig if you can.

Led Bib are also going down the crowdfunding route and have started a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for a new studio album and live vinyl to mark their 10th anniversary. They've set a £10,000 goal and have until 25th May to achieve it. To see their video or to pledge, visit Led Bib Kickstarter page.

Garforth Arts Festival 2013

Garforth Arts Festival has announced their 2013 programme and it's full of big names from world music, folk and more.
Amongst many other events, guitarist Eduardo Niebla will perform as part of the festival on Sunday 30th. Their headline event, the Playground Party will take place on Saturday 6th July and feature LAU, Bellowhead, Kate Rusby, Ruby Turner and Leeds-based group Hope and Social. Tickets for this event are on-sale now - £22 full price, £18 conc and £54 for a family ticket.

More Information and Ticket Bookings

Metamorphic & Royst UK Tour

Pianist and composer Laura Cole has been in touch to spread the word about her upcoming tour with band Metamorphic and vocal trio Røyst.

Laura says 

I would just like to invite you to a very exciting series of gigs throughout the UK in June that my contemporary jazz folk sextet Metamorphic have coming up alongside the fantastic vocal trio Røyst. The tour is in support of the new Metamorphic album, Coalescence, out on the F-ire label on June 17 2013. These double bill gigs with Røyst will also feature three collaborative pieces involving both groups written specially for this tour. Special guests Seth Bennett on bass (IDST) and Oliver Dover on bass clarinet (Shatner's Bassoon) will also be joining us for the tour.

Blue Note and Artistshare Become Partners

Record label Blue Note has announced plans to form a partnership with crowd-funding platform Artistshare.

The new partnership, led by Artistshare founder Brian Carmelio, Blue Note chairman emeritus Bruce Lundvall and Don Was, Blue Note's president has been described as developing a "low-risk development arm of the label."

In essence, Blue Note will help select musicians and groups, and assist in the promotional aspects of record releases, while the crowd-funding element of Artistshare will be retained.  The musicians themselves will be still be owners of the recorded material.

This new partnership reflects the changing world of the recording and distribution of music. Artistshare has an impressive track record and has connections with world-class musicians and composers. One of their biggest successes, Maria Schneider, has won a number of awards for the music she has released through Artistshare.

Blue Note have stated that the focus of this partnership will be on finding up and coming artists and providing support to them, a focus which Blue Note has retained throughout their history.

APPJAG Awards 2013 Winners

The award ceremony for the All Party Parliamentary Jazz Apprecation Group Awards took place this week - congratulations to all the nominees and winners!

Jazz Musician of the Year - Guy Barker

Jazz Album of the Year - 'Saltash Bells' - John Surman

Jazz Ensemble of the Year - Impossible Gentlemen

Live Jazz Venue of the Year - The Vortex, London

Jazz Journalist of the Year - Rob Adams

Jazz Broadcaster of the Year - Mike Chadwick

Jazz Publication of the Year - Catherine Thackley - Benny Goodman's Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert

Jazz Education Award - Nick Smart

Services to Jazz Award - Stan Tracey OBE

APPJAG Special Award - Elaine Delmar

UK Premiere for Stuart McCallum's Ballet Score

Guitarist Stuart McCallum will be at the Hepworth Gallery in Wakefield this Saturday at 2pm for the UK premiere of his ballet score as part of artist Linder Sterling's new work, The Ultimate Form.

It was first premiered in Paris in January 2013, at the Musée d'Art Modern, as part of Linder's retrospective. As well as the work of Linder herself and Stuart McCallum, fashion designer Richard Nicoll and dancers from the Northern Ballet are also part of the work.

The piece, described as "a fusion of  dance, music, fashion, art, sculpture and landscape" will take place outdoors between 2pm and 4pm.

The Ultimate Form marks the next step in a successful partnership between artist Linder and musician Stuart McCallum. Amongst other works, Stuart collaborated on Linder's 13 hour performace piece The Darktown Cakewalk: Celebrated Live From The House of Fame, which also featured a number of jazz musicians from the North - Kim Macari, Katie Patterson, Peter Lee, Dave Walsh and Linder's son, Max Sterling.

Saturday's event is free to attend but booking is essential.

Book tickets for The Ultimate Form.

The Friday Interview: Alex Roth

  

Guitarist and composer Alex Roth is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music, and is part of a group of forward thinking UK musicians who take inspiration from visual art, dance, film and literature as well as music.He performs with groups including Blue Eyed Hawk, CHAOS orchestra and Outrenoir, but has recently been recognised through his work with his own group, Otriad and their decision to embrace crowd-funding as a way to finance their UK Tour. He joins a small but growing number of jazz musicians including Gwyneth Herbert and Reuben Fowler who have explored this source of funding. In return for pledging money which will help to fund their UK tour, Alex and the group have a number of rewards and unique experiences to offer. We spoke to Alex about the project, crowd-funding and what lies ahead for him in 2013... 

Go find out more from Alex's Sponsume page and to pledge money visit Otriad Sponsume page.