Olie Brice Quintet Tour, May/June 2016

Double bassist Olie Brice is an in-demand musician. In the last year, he has released a number of albums - Immune to Clockwork featured his quintet and was his first album as a leader, released by polish label Multikulti Project. Somersaults saw him record in a trio setting with Mark Sanders and Tobias Delius and was released by Two Rivers Records. Finally, Blood Moon is a duo record which features and Tom Challenger. That kind of output is telling of Brice's creative appetite and also of his reputation amongst his peers.

Brice makes the entire body of his bass sing. He has the ability to deliver a fractal line that is as purposeful as any by the great jazz bassists, but to do so within an entirely abstract setting – Brian Morton, Point of Departure

Now, Olie is about to embark on a UK tour with the quintet which features George Crowley, Alex Bonney, Mike Fletcher and Jeff Williams. Luckily for us in the North, there are a number of opportunities to catch this incredible band in May and June -

24/05/16 – The Spotted Dog, Birmingham
25/05/26 – Dempsey’s, Cardiff
26/05/16 – Soundcellar, Poole
27/05/16 – Fusebox, Leeds
29/05/16 – Future Inns, Bristol (afternoon gig)
30/05/16 – The Wonder Inn, Manchester
31/05/16 – Jazz Café, Newcastle
01/06/16 – The Lescar, Sheffield
02/06/16 – The Vortex, London

For more information, visit Olie's website.

Jazz Line-Up explores UK hotspots for jazz talent

                                                                      Reuben Fowler

Aside from the cities home to jazz degree courses, there are many small towns and cities that can boast large numbers of their residents (or former residents) becoming professional jazz musicians. This can often be traced back to the passion of a single music teacher or the work of a youth jazz initiative to encourage enthusiasm for the art-form in seemingly unlikely places (including the North's very own Wakefield!)

BBC Radio asked Sebastian Scotney to explore four of these hotspots for a segment on their weekly Jazz Line-Up show which airs this Saturday 6th February at 5pm.  

 Two musicians from each of the four locations were interviewed and invited to discuss their reflections on jazz education. The segment will be interspersed with music from each participant.

Reuben Fowler and Matt Robinson represent Wakefield and are joined by Alton's Laura Jurd and Gwyneth Herbert, Norwich's George Crowley and Kit Downes and Dunfermline's Calum Gourlay and Kim Macari.

You can find the programme on the BBC website and it will be available live and for a time on Catch-Up.