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!

Vula Viel, Liane Carroll, SK2 and more set for Scarborough Jazz Festival

The 2016 Scarborough Jazz Festival takes place between 23rd and 25th September and the programme is as varied and exciting as ever.

Fans of vocal jazz will not be disappointed as there will be performances from Liane Carroll (7pm, Sunday) and Georgia Mancio's new project with Alan Broadbent (8.45pm, Friday). If it's world music you prefer, you'll be in for a treat with the joyous Vula Viel (12.30pm, Sunday), Pan Jumby (4pm, Friday) and Adam Glasser's South Africa & Beyond (2.15pm, Sunday). Brit jazz fanatics will be delighted to be see Brandon Allen (Sunday 8.45pm, Sunday), Alan Barnes & Dave O'Higgins (2.15pm, Saturday) and Gareth Williams & Trish Clowes (7pm, Friday).

All of this only scratches the surface of course, and you can find details on the entire programme can be found on the Scarborough Jazz Festival website.

Ian Shaw and Georgia Mancio help refugees in Calais

The world's media has been rocked in recent weeks by the shocking footage of the refugee crisis. The Calais Jungle, a sprawling camp in the North of France, is the largest gathering of refugees and there has been growing campaigns on social media to encourage people to donate clothing, food, shelters and volunteer time.

Two of the country's best loved jazz vocalists, Ian Shaw and Georgia Mancio, have spent a huge amount of time on the ground in Calais providing vital support. Using their reach on social media, they have spread the word about drop-offs they have made, trips with cars loaded with supplies. They have documented their time there, exposing the dire conditions and providing updates on the groups of ordinary people who have dropped everything to help people in need.

The team at NJN would like to congratulations to both Ian and Georgia, as well as all other volunteers, for their efforts so far. You can keep up to date with their work on their facebook page.