Gogo Penguin Tour 2016

2016 is already shaping up to be a busy year for Manchester trio Gogo Penguin, with the release of their Blue Note debut Man Made Object and extensive touring in the UK and internationally.

The group have been invited to perform at Coachella Festival in California, as well as some NYC shows and they are scheduled to make their debut at the Blue Note in Tokyo - all of this before June!

Those closer to home will be able to see the band as they tour the UK in February with dates in Leeds, Manchester, Cardiff, Glasgow, Aberdeen and London amongst others. Following this, the band head to Europe for a further 20+ dates.

See below for their full tour dates and head to the Gogo Penguin website to find out more and pre-order the new album.

NJ Advent Calendar - Gogo Penguin (December 13th)

 Manchester trio Gogo Penguin have enjoyed a rise to fame in recent years, picking up numerous awards along the way. 2015 saw them selected to perform at Rochester Jazz Festival, receive a nomination for an Urban Music Award and a signing to Blue Note Records for their upcoming album (released on Feb 5th 2016). Behind door number 13 is a video of their tune, One Percent.

Richard Havers talks Blue Note in York

The York Festival of Ideas runs this year from 9th-21st June with a theme of Secrets & Discoveries. This varied festival hosts performance, discussions and exhibitions which broadly interpret the main theme. One such event may interest jazz listeners as Richard Havers discusses 75 years of Blue Note on June 16th.

Jazz historian and author Richard Havers is well known in the field of jazz writing and most recently, he has published his book Uncompromising Expression, an encyclopedic look at the Blue Note record label over the past 75 years. Havers will use the book as the basis for his talk which will also feature musical examples.

The event takes place on Tuesday 16th June from 6.30pm until 7.30pm and is free to attend, although sign-up is required. You can reserve your place on the Festival of Ideas website.

Gogo Penguin Sign to Blue Note Records

Gogo Penguin have this week announced that they have been signed to Blue Note Records, one of the world's most recognised music labels. The group will release their first album for the label in 2016.

Speaking to Jazzwise magazine, the band said

We are blown away by their passion for our music and we're looking forward to working with them to help get our sounds out to as many people as possible.

A live show is scheduled for June 12 at KOKO in London, where new material will be played ahead of the new album. For more information, see Gogo Penguin's website.

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.