Gogo Penguin and Beats & Pieces head to Rotterdam

North Sea Jazz Festival is one of the most well-known jazz festivals in the World. For three days in July, musicians from across the world perform to thousands of audience members. This year, there are three UK jazz musicians/ensembles taking part and two of these are from Manchester!

Beats & Pieces Big Band perform on July 10th on the Mississippi stage. The band have already had some European dates this year, touring in Poland, Germany, Czech Republic and Austria back in March.

Also on the 10th, Gogo Penguin perform on the Darling stage. The Manchester piano trio have had a great few years, recently being signed to Blue Note and embarking on an extensive tour across the world. As well as their performance, they will also take part in a Q & A session in the Jazz Cafe area.

Also flying the flag for jazz in the UK, multi-instrumentalist wunderkind Jacob Collier performs on Saturday 9th July.

For the full festival line-up, visit the North Sea Jazz Festival website.

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.

GoGo Penguin Nominated for Urban Music Award

The North has been well represented once again as the seemingly unstoppable Gogo Penguin receive another award nomination, this time for Best Jazz Act at the Urban Music Awards.

Shortlists were announced this week and voting began today at 1pm. The awards now into their 13th year and previous jazz winners have included Soweto Kinch, Courtney Pine and YolanDa Brown.

Votes can be cast by visiting the Urban Music Awards site. A full list of the jazz nominees is listed below.

Good luck to Gogo Penguin and all the other nominees!

UMA Best Jazz Act

Yolanda Brown
Binker and Moses
Dianne Reeves
Julia Biel
Zara McFarlane
Courtney Pine
David Lyttle
Polar Bear
GoGo Penguin
Sons of Kemet
Polar Bear
Gregory Porter

JazzFM Award Winners Announced

                                                   Zara McFarlane - winner of Vocalist of the Year

The winners of the 2015 JazzFM Awards were announced at Vinopolis in London last night, including categories voted on by the public and those decided by a judging panel. Congratulations to all the winners, especially to Manchester's Gogo Penguin who scooped the UK Jazz Act of the Year.

Winners:

Instrumentalist of the Year - Shabaka Hutchings
Vocalist of the Year - Zara McFarlane
Breakthrough Act - Bill Laurance
Jazz Innovation - Jason Moran
International Jazz Act - Gregory Porter
Blues Artist - Dr John
Soul Artist - Jarrod Lawson
Lifetime Achievement Award - Hugh Masekela
UK Jazz Act of the Year - Gogo Penguin (PUBLIC VOTE)
Live Experience of the Year - Loose Tubes at Cheltenham Jazz Festival (PUBLIC VOTE)
Album of the Year - Dianne Reeves 'Beautiful Life' (PUBLIC VOTE)

JazzFM Awards Shortlist Announced

The complete shortlist of JazzFM Award nominations has been announced ahead of the June 10th winners ceremony at Vinopolis in London.

Manchester's Go-Go Penguin are up for UK Jazz Act of the year and Breakthrough Act, continuing their reign of jazz celebrity while LCoM alumnus Pete Wareham also appears in the UK Jazz Act category with Polar Bear.

The awards, produced by Serious, featured three categories open to public vote and the rest decided by a panel.

For more information, see JazzFM Awards website.

Album of the Year (Public vote): Ambrose Akinmusire The Imagined Savior is Far Easier to Paint; D'Angelo Black Messiah; Dianne Reeves Beautiful Life; Chris Potter Underground Orchestra Imaginary Cities; Polar Bear In Each and Every One; Troyka Ornithophobia

Live Experience of the Year (Public Vote): Loose Tubes at Cheltenham Jazz Festival, Blue Note 75th Birthday at EFG London Jazz Festival, Jamie Cullum at Love Supreme Jazz Festival

UK Jazz Act of the Year (Public Vote): GoGo Penguin, Polar Bear, Sons of Kemet

Breakthrough Act: Bill Laurance, GoGo Penguin, Peter Edwards

Instrumentalist: Alex Hawkins, Laura Jurd, Shabaka Hutchings

Vocalist: Alice Zawadzki, Lauren Kinsella, Zara McFarlane

Jazz Innovation: Henry Threadgill, Jason Moran, Theo Croker

International Jazz Artist: Antonio Sanchez, Gregory Porter, Snarky Puppy

Blues Artist: Dr John, Otis Taylor, Valerie June

Soul Artist: D’Angelo, Jarrod Lawson, Lalah Hathaway

Lifetime Achievement Award: Hugh Masekela

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.

GoGo Penguin selected for Rochester Jazz Festival

GoGo Penguin have been selected to take part in this year's Made in the UK showcase as part of the Rochester Jazz Festival in New York.

The festival runs from 19th-27th June this year and the programme includes acts like Antonio Sanchez, Fred Hersch, Diana Krall and the Yellowjackets alongside their annual UK showcase.

Congratulations to Gogo Penguin and the other groups selected!

Full List of Made in the UK artists -

Anthony Strong Trio
Andrew McCormack Trio
Tom Bancroft's Trio Red
Brian Mollet Quartet
Cloudmakers Trio
Troyka
Julia Biel
Denys Baptiste Triumvirate
GoGo Penguin

Northern Bands at Love Supreme Festival

The line-up for the 3rd Love Supreme Festival at the Glynde in Brighton has been announced and the North is well represented within the packed programme of national and international acts.

Submotion Orchestra (pictured above) from Leeds, Manchester's Gogo Penguin and North East group Shiver will all perform over the course of the weekend and they join a roster which includes Hiatus Kaiyote, Joshua Redman & the Bad Plus, Terence Blanchard E-Collective and Ambrose Akinmusire.

Full details of the festival can be found on the Love Supreme website.

Go-Go Penguin shortlisted for Mercury Prize 2014

Manchester trio Go-Go Penguin have been announced as one of the shortlisted groups for this year's Mercury Prize for their album v2.0.

The shortlist is significant this year for the world of improvised music as it contains not only Go-Go Penguin but also Polar Bear's In Each and Every One. (And Nick Mulvey's First Mind, which is not a jazz/improvisation based album in itself but Nick was previously shortlisted for the prize with Portico Quartet.)

The winner will receive a £20,000 prize.

For more information on the other nominees, see the Mercury Prize website.

Roller Trio/Gogo Penguin Double Header Tour

Two of the most exciting groups in the Northern Jazz scene are joining up to embark on a double header tour.

The five date tour which commences on October 1st is part of the Band on The Wall and Root Music's Strategic Touring Project, a project which has previously showcased the music of The Unthanks, Hot 8 and Marius Neset.

Both Gogo Penguin (Pete Turner, Nick Blacka and Chris Illingworth) and Roller Trio (James Mainwaring, Luke Wynters and Luke Reddin-Williams) have enjoyed critical acclaim for their music over the part year, with Roller Trio garnering a Mercury Prize nomination.

Tour Dates

1st Oct - Band on the Wall, Manchester (www.bandonthewall.org 0161 834 1786)

2nd Oct - The Grand, Clitheroe (www.thegrandvenue.co.uk 01200 421599)

3rd Oct - The Forum, Barrow in Furness (www.theforumbarrow.co.uk 01229 820000)

4th Oct - The Arc, Stockton (www.thearconline.co.uk 01642 525199)

5th Oct - Ropery Hall, Barton upon Humber (www.roperyhall.co.uk 01652 660380)