Cleethorpes Jazz Festival, 23-25th June

The Cleethorpes Jazz Festival will take place at the Beachcomber Centre between 23rd and 25th June. Former festival director Gill Wilde stepped down after last year's festival and for the first time, Charlotte Bowen will run the weekend event.

The programme this year is a mix of some of the North's finest talents alongside guests from across the UK. There's a strong Northern Line theme running throughout the weekend with performances by Pan Jumby, Maja Bugge and Firebird Quartet. Fans of vocal jazz are in for a treat with North East's finest Zoe Gilby bringing her quartet and the Family Jazz All Stars. London-based Georgia Mancio will also perform.

Saturday features two large ensembles to book-end the day, first with the North East Lincolnshire Jazz Orchestra and ending with the Steve Walker Big Band and their Miller to Motown show.

For full information on the weekend line-up, visit the Cleethorpes Jazz Festival website and to book tickets, see their wegottickets page. Full weekend tickets are priced £60 with day tickets ranging from £20 to £26.

We wish Charlotte all the best with her inaugural festival and here's to many more!

News from Cleethorpes Jazz Festival

After another highly successful Cleethorpes Jazz Festival, jazz wonder woman Gill Wilde has announced that she will be stepping down as Festival Director after 8 years in the role.

Both musicians and festival goers alike will attest to the dedication and boundless energy Gill has displayed and the festival has gone from strength to strength under her leadership - this year saw the first commission from the festival with Alan Barne's Fishy Tale.

Gill has handed over to Charlotte Bowen, currently the director of the Culture House in Grimsby. Gill will continue to run the year round programme of gigs at Grimsby Jazz.

Here's to many more years of the Cleethorpes Jazz Festival and congratulations to Gill on her achievements as festival director and for flying the flag for jazz in Grimsby and Cleethorpes!

Cleethorpes Jazz Festival, 24th-26th June

The jam-packed programme of this year's Cleethorpes Jazz Festival has been announced and tickets are now on sale for the 3 day festival which runs 24th to 26th June.

The festival opens with a strong international slant on Friday, with Australian vocalist and piano player Janet Seidel performing with her trio (7pm) followed by Swiss trio VEIN (8.30pm). Closing the evening, an all-star UK band led by Matt Skelton and featuring the likes of Mike Lovatt, Callum Au and Dave Newton play the music of Duke Ellington.

Festival director Gill Wilde has a keen eye for the rising stars of jazz and there a number of young musicians and ensembles performing during this year's festival - Jazz North Introduces winners Jam Experiment play on Saturday as do the North East Lincolnshire Jazz Orchestra and Sunday features music from Franklin College's Sound Departure and the renowned Doncaster Youth Jazz Orchestra.

For the first time, Cleethorpes Jazz Festival has commissioned a new work which will be premiered as part of the festival programme. Alan Barnes will lead his ensemble through the new work, A Grimsby Fish Tale, on Sunday evening.

Until June 1st, weekend tickets can be purchased for £75 (rising to £85 after that) and day tickets cost £36.

For full details on the entire line-up, all ticketing information and more, visit the Cleethorpes Jazz Festival website.

NJ Advent Calendar - Summer Jazz Festivals part 1 (December 19th)

                                                                 Cleethorpes in summer

With less than a week to go until the big day, we look behind door number 19 to some of the jazz festivals taking place in the summer in the North.

Cleethorpes Jazz Festival (late June)

Grimsby Jazz promoter Gill Wilde also runs this weekend festival in Cleethorpes each year. It runs over a weekend at the end of June and is a celebration of British Jazz. It all takes place at McCormacks Bar and the line-up for 2016 features Alan Barnes, Dave Newton and Doncaster Youth Jazz Orchestra amongst many others. Tickets go on sale on January 2nd!

Burton Agnes Jazz and Blues Festival (early July)

Set in the picturesque surroundings of Burton Agnes Hall, this is another weekend festival. You can camp out at this one and make a holiday out of it! This is another one that focuses mainly on UK artists with people like Paul Baxter, Alan Barnes and Digby Fairweather making appearances regularly.

Buxton Beer & Jazz Festival (early July)

Buxton might be pushing it a bit in terms of North of England but it's Christmas so we'll relax the rules a bit! Buxton's beer and jazz festival is a weekend of traditional and dixieland jazz and of course, beer. Last year's festival had performances from Spat Langham's Hot Fingers, The Wabash Jazzmen and the Incredible Bibbington Limeburners.

Wigan International Jazz Festival (mid July)

We recently reported on the good news that Wigan Jazz Club has taken over the running of the Wigan Jazz Festival. 2016 will be in it's 31st year and it's bound to have a good programme. There's a good focus on Big Bands with groups like Echoes of Ellington and Gerry Mulligan Concert Jazz Band making appearances last year.

Re-imagining Grimsby

Shortlist magazine has declared in its most recent issue that Grimsby is the Worst Place in the UK. Citing crime rates, lack of cinemas and culture and its out-of-the-way location, the article awards Grimsby this new title while having recently declared Manchester to be the best, a mere 112 miles away.

Of course, as with any issue like this, if you dig a little deeper you will find groups of people tirelessly working to bring culture and community spirit to Grimsby and one such person is Gill Wilde.

Gill Wilde runs both a year-round venue, Grimsby Jazz, at the Old Clee club and an annual jazz festival in Cleethorpes. A whirlwind of activity and ideas, she is constantly seeking new partnerships and collaborations to enhance the jazz scene in the area. She has led jazz education initiatives bringing jazz musicians into schools, supported pilot schemes with musicians and puppeteers in collaboration and more. She has been successful in applying for Arts Council England funding to run the 2016 Cleethorpes Jazz Festival (which takes place in June 2016).

All of this work is done on a voluntary basis.

Congratulations to Gill for keeping jazz flourishing in Grimsby and Cleethorpes and for contributing to the Northern Jazz Scene for many years. Long may it continue!

Another outcome of the recent Shortlist article is Re-Imagine Grimsby, a facebook page where people are coming together to discuss how to improve culture in the area and sharing ideas about potential projects.

You can learn more on the Re-Imagining Grimsby page and can find out about upcoming gigs on the Grimsby Jazz site.

Cleethorpes Jazz Festival, 26-28th June

                                                                      John Ellis Trio

The annual Cleethorpes Jazz Festival takes place next month, between Friday 26th and Sunday 28th of June. A celebration of British jazz, the festival features an array of groups across the weekend, programmed by the tireless festival director and year-round jazz promoter, Gill Wilde.

Opening the festival on Friday evening, vocalist Sarah Gillespie brings her Life of Bessie Smith show featuring LCoM alumnus Eddie Hick on drums. Pianist Dave Newton brings his trio with Matt Skelton and Tom Farmer to play music from the movies, also on Friday. Jazz North's Northern Line ambassadors John Ellis Trio from Manchester appear on Saturday and there's a chance to see the well-respected Doncaster Youth Swing Orchestra with guest soloist Dennis Rollins. And of course, what festival would be complete with at least one appearance by Alan Barnes and Sunday brings two; a duo with Karen Street then later with his octet.

Visit the Cleethorpes Jazz Festival website for full programme info and details on buying tickets.

Tour Preview: Sarah Gillespie

Anglo-American singer Sarah Gillespie has had an interesting life. Born to an American father and English mother, she lived in Norfolk until she was 18, when she moved alone to the USA to busk and gig. Returning to England, she gained a first class degree in Film and Lit then a Masters in Philosophy and Politics at Goldsmiths. Supporting The Blockheads at Ronnie Scotts one night, she met Gilad Atzmon and formed a close musical friendship with the saxophonist.

Since then, she has released four albums and had a baby. And now, after 4 months of maternity leave, she is ready once again to tour the UK. Speaking to LondonJazzNews about her new role as a mother, she recalls how a promoter recently pulled a gig as they felt it was too risky to book a mother (her baby might need her and she would be quick to cancel, being a mother and all...). Luckily other promoters have not been as foolish and Sarah will be touring around the country (as well as nipping over to Italy briefly) in April-July, making two stops in the North. First, she appears at Cleethorpes Jazz Festival on June 26 with her Life of Bessie Smith show. Then, on June 28, she will perform at the Dentdale Festival in Cumbria.

Humorous impressionistic lyrics oscillate between the intimate and the infinite - Independent, 2013

More information can be found on Sarah's website and a full list of gigs are listed below.