Gig Preview: Ivo Neame Quintet at Capstone Theatre, October 20th

The Capstone Theatre in Liverpool has risen to prominence as a jazz venue in recent years, thanks to the hard work of promoter Neil Campbell. As well as running an annual jazz festival in February (more on that soon, keep an eye out for news of the 2017 programme coming soon), Neil also programmes gigs throughout the year. On October 20th, pianist Ivo Neame performs with his quintet.

Featuring some of the UK's best loved improvisers Tori Freestone, Jim Hart, Huw Williams and Dave Hamblett, the quintet will play music from their most recent album, Strata (released on Whirlwind Records in 2015).

Ivo Neame is a forward thinking and innovative pianist, composer and multi-instrumentalist. As a musician of exceptional ability, Neame is developing a reputation as one of the most exciting and original pianists to emerge in some time. Well known as the pianist with Phronesis and with Norwegian saxophonist Marius Neset, his most recent release Strata saw him reach new heights as a composer leading a quintet in a set of exuberant and creative originals. With an abundance of ideas, his career is travelling on new trajectory set to emulate the profile achieved by the likes of Django Bates.

"Neame has a restless imagination as an improviser." - 4 Stars Recommended, Marlbank

Tickets cost £11.50 and the gig starts at 7.30pm. 

The following day, Ivo and the band will also run a masterclass at Leeds College of Music. 

For information, visit Ivo Neame's website and the Capstone Theatre website. 

Tour Preview: Julian Arguelle's Tetra UK Tour July 2016

Saxophonist Julian Arguelles is widely recognised as one of the brightest stars in British jazz. At last week's Parliamentary Jazz Awards he picked up Best Album for Let It Be Told, his newest release with his quartet Tetra. In a few weeks time, the band will embark on a UK tour performing material from Let It Be Told between 9th and 18th of June.

The band will visit the North for one of their tour dates, performing at the Royal Northern College of Music on June 11th.

For full details on the album and tour dates, visit Julian's website. Full tour dates are listed below.

Thursday June 9th - Cambridge Modern Jazz Club
Friday June 10th - Adrian Boult Hall, Birmingham (with Percy Pursglove)
Saturday June 11th - Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester
Sunday June 12th - Colston Hall, Bristol
Monday June 13th - Bexley Jazz Club, Kent
Thursday June 16th - The Vortex, London
Friday June 17th - Y Theatre, Leicester
Saturday June 18th -  The Hive, Shrewsbury

Gig Preview: Ant Law Quintet at The White Rabbit, Leeds

Jazz Jam @ The White Rabbit presents: Ant Law Quintet
Tuesday 19th May
8.00pm
£5

By now, guitarist Ant Law is a familiar face (and sound) to the jazz scene in the North, so we predict a sell-out crowd for his May 19th gig at the White Rabbit in Leeds.

Currently promoting his newest album, Zero Sum World (Whirlwind Records), Law brings with him four heavy-hitters - Mike Chillingworth on saxophone, Ivo Neame on piano, Tom Farmer on bass and James Maddren on drums.

Law surfaced first in 2013 with Entanglement, an album that certainly made scene-watchers at the time sit up and take note of the hitherto little known guitarist. Zero Sum World is even more accomplished, particularly in the writing department. 2015 augurs well if the imaginative essentially acoustic jazz sounds found here are at all representative of what’s in store. 4 Stars, Marlbank

Tickets for the gig cost £5 and can be bought directly from the White Rabbit or by emailing them at thewhiterabbitbar@gmail.com.

NB - there will be no jam session, just the gig!