Arts Council England Announces NPO grants - who got cash for jazz?

This week, Arts Council England announced the recipients of their National Portfolio Organisation funding. NPOs are offered long term funding, previously for 3 years periods and for the first time this year, 4 year periods. A number of jazz organisations that support jazz have been awarded funding -

- Manchester Jazz Festival
- National Youth Jazz Collective
- Jazz Re:Freshed
- National Youth Jazz Orchestra
- J-Night
- Cheltenham Festivals
- Jazzlines Birmingham
- Serious 
- Jazz North
- East Midlands Jazz
- Tomorrow's Warriors
- Brownswood Music/Gilles Peterson

This means that there are 3 NPOs that focus on Jazz based in the North alone - a great success!

Congratulations to all organisations awarded funding (and in some cases, an increase in their provision).

For more information, visit the Arts Council England website.

An Evening with Pat Metheny in Hull, 11th November

Tickets are now on sale for a very special performance by 20 time GRAMMY winner Pat Metheny in Hull as part of the 25th Hull Jazz Festival.

Metheny will open the Winter edition of the Hull Jazz Festival on November 11th with a performance at Hull City Hall. He will be joined by his current quartet which features Linda Oh, Gwilym Simcock and Antonio Sanchez, as well as performing musical highlights of his extensive career in jazz.

In this brand new quartet, his unmistakeable guitar style is matched with two stellar talents from a new generation, with UK pianist Gwilym Simcock joining the brilliant bassist Linda Oh and long-time Metheny sidekick, drummer Antonio Sanchez, in a band that positively exudes class.

With the release of his first album, Bright Size Life, in 1975, he reinvented the traditional jazz guitar sound for a new generation of players. Over the years, he’s performed with artists as diverse as Steve Reich to Ornette Coleman, Herbie Hancock to David Bowie. Recently inducted into the Downbeat Hall of Fame as its youngest member, and only the fourth guitarist (joining Django Reinhardt, Charlie Christian and Wes Montgomery), Metheny will present a range of music from throughout his career.

This concert is part of a year long programme of events to celebrate Hull as the UK City of Culture 2017.

This will sell out so book quickly to ensure you get a ticket. Tickets cost from £25 to £35 and there is a limit of 6 tickets to be bought by each person.

For more details and book tickets, see this event page and the Hull Jazz Festival website.

Festival Preview: Hull Jazz Festival, 21st-24th July

J-Night are hard at work, gearing up to present the 24th Summer edition of the Hull Jazz Festival later this month. Running between 21st and 24th July, the programme is predominantly hosted at the Hull Truck Theatre with a small number of other events held at venues across the city.

You can see the full festival programme on the J-Night website but we've selected a couple of events that caught our eye to get you started...

Thursday 21st July - Minima

Kicking off the festival is a a very interesting gig at Hull Truck Theatre. Minima are a four piece featuring guitar, cello, bass and drums that perform live scores to silent film. They were a hit when they performed at Hull Freedom Festival back in 2015 when they performed to Phantom of the Opera. They return to Hull to provide music to Nosferatu.

“Minima's spine-tingling music clung to each twist of the movie... spellbinding accompaniment.” Guardian

Friday 22nd July - Daj Dook

A firm favourite of Hull, violinist Matt Holborn brings his gypsy jazz quartet Daj Dook to Kardomah94. Based in the London, these four musicians have come together through a love of Django Reinhardt and the gyspy jazz scene. They bring the music to live in a modern way that audiences love.

Saturday 23rd July - Jean Toussiant Young Lions: Roots & Herbs the Blakey Project

Saxophonist Jean Toussaint brings his latest project to the Hull Truck Theatre, performing the music of the legendary musician (and Toussaint's former band leader) Art Blakey. He is joined by a band of rising stars including Mark Kavuma on trumpet, Ashley Henry on piano, Daniel Casimir on bass and Femi Koleoso on drums.

Through the music, Art encouraged us to strive and reach beyond ourselves and work as one to create excitement while never losing sight of the audience. - Jean Toussaint

There are a couple of special ticket offers for festival goers - Saturday Saver allows you to see all three Saturday gigs at Hull Truck Theatre for £30 and the Festival Saver allows you to see 3 Hull Truck shows for the price of 2 across the festival.

Hull Jazz Festival Winter Edition

Between 20th and 22nd November, J-Night in Hull will host its 23rd annual Hull Jazz Festival Winter Edition.

Taking place at the Hull Truck Theatre, the festival programme highlights J-Night's commitment to showcasing emerging jazz talent alongside established acts. Opening the festival on Friday 20th November, Jazz North Introduces 2015 winners Artephis will perform followed by the Alumni Band from the City of Hull Youth Jazz Orchestra.

Saturday's proceedings are led by bassist Gary Crosby with his Groundation - Singing Freedom! project. He brings with him a group of musicians connected to Tomorrow's Warriors including Binker Golding and Shirley Tetteh. NYJO perform later that evening and are joined by the City of Hull Youth Jazz Orchestra, Jazz Aesthetic and local school groups. Finishing off Saturday, saxophonist Andy Sheppard brings his Surrounded By Sea project to peform.

Finally, Sunday features LCoM alumnus Matt Holborn's Gypsy Jazz project for a Jazz Brunch.

Individual tickets are available from both the Hull Truck Theatre and Hull Uni and there is also a Festival Saver Ticket which means 3 gigs for the price of 2.

Information on the programme and tickets can be found on the J-Night website.

Hull Jazz Festival Summer Edition

The Summer Edition of Hull Jazz Festival kicks off today, opened by festival favourites New York Brass Band. Hosted at Hull Truck Theatre, there is a weekend of jazz featuring beloved vocalists and a celebration of A Love Supreme.

Singer Clare Teal brings her trio to celebrate the works of Doris Day on Friday and North East's finest Zoe Gilby closes the festival on Sunday with a Jazz Brunch with her quartet. There is a hip-hop double bill on Friday with the Abstract Orchestra and Akala and Gary Crosby pays tribute to the great Coltrane album A Love Supreme (which is 50 years old this year!) with his quartet featuring Denys Baptiste.

There are a couple of ticket offers available over the weekend; book three gigs in advance and see the cheapest for free and see all three Northern Line shows on Saturday for only £21.

To see the full details of the gigs happening at the festival, visit the Hull Jazz Festival website.

J-Night celebrates International Jazz Day with Christine Tobin

In 2011, UNESCO designated April 30th as International Jazz Day and since then, venues across the world have celebrated the event with live concerts, streamed concerts and more. For the first time, J-Night in Hull will take place in International Jazz Day by hosting an evening of Brasilian Jazz featuring vocalist Christine Tobin.

Tobin will bring her tribute to Brasilian jazz singer Elis Regina to Hull Truck Theatre, with support from Hull's own Lyn Acton Bossa Revista.

A key focus for our work is celebrating diversity and introducing audiences to artists performing incredible music from a wide range of cultures. As the eyes of the world turn to Hull in the lead up to 2017, it’s fantastic to be linking in with promoters and artists from across the world to celebrate International Jazz Day. - David Porter, Director of J-Night.

Tickets for this event are priced at £15 (£6 for students/under 26s) and more information can be obtained at www.hulltruck.co.uk

What else is going on in the North for International Jazz Day? Add your event in the comments below!