Gig Preview: Zhenya Strigalev's Never Group at The Phoenix, York - July 26th

Russian saxohonist Zhenya Strigalev is well known on the UK jazz scene and one of his great skills is putting together A list bands for his projects. His latest album, Never Group, continues with this thread and brings together Eric Harland, Tim LeFevre and Bruno Liberda with guest appearances by John Escreet, Alex Bonney and more, all with Striaglev at the helm.

Zhenya is currently on his Never Group tour, accompanied this time by US bassist and label owner Mike Janisch and Spanish drummer Marc Ayza. On July 26th, jazz audiences in York will get a treat at the band performs at The Phoenix, a special gig which is free to attend.

"A typical Strigalev collision of hip jazz virtuosity and surrealism... Strigalev's alto displays bebop agility, shivery lyricism, or sometimes a bluesy Ornetteish swerve." ★★★★ The Guardian

For more information Zhenya and the band, you can visit Zhenya's website and his Whirlwind Records page.

Jazz Worlds/World Jazz Book Launch in York, June 16th

Jazz in York are hosting a special event on June 16th to launch a new book on jazz entitled Jazz Worlds/World Jazz by Philip V. Bohlman and Goffredo Plastino.

Hosted at Ink-Well on Gillygate in York, the two authors will be featured speakers along with York University's Jonathan Eto. The speakers will be joined by the Cornelius Corkery Trio will be peforming live during the event.

This is free to attend and no booking is necessary, just turn up on the day (the event runs from 3pm until 4.30pm).

About the book -

“In this book, the authors have gone much further than simply recognizing that jazz is located differently in cultures outside of the United States; they have transformed our understanding of those cultures and what jazz has meant to and for the people who inhabit them. In seeking to locate jazz in the world, and to map the multiple worlds of jazz, this book manages to redefine the possibilities and politics of the field. This is a major achievement for jazz scholarship.” 

Read more about the book HERE.

For more information on the venue, visit the Ink-Well website.

NJ Advent Calendar - Websites & Blogs (December 3rd)

Behind door number 3 are the dedicated team of people who run websites and blogs that spread the word about gigs, bands, albums, festivals, funding and all sorts of other jazz news. For musicians and audience members alike, these sites are often daily ports of call to keep up to date on what's happening and these writers make a valuable contribution to the scene with the work they do.

Bebop Spoken Here

This North East website is constantly abuzz with new content - Lance Liddle and Russell Corbett fill the site with news, live reviews and album reviews. Judging by the amount of material on the site, it's highly likely between the two of them they go to every jazz gig in the region and listen to every single album produced by NE musicians and are huge supporters of up and coming musicians.

Northern Jazz Live

This is the NORVOL Jazz blog and is run by Steve Crocker (promoter at Seven Jazz). Visitors can use it as a one stop shop for gigs happening at all the NORVOL clubs and Steve keeps an ear to the ground at all times for news on gigs starting up, tours visiting the North and more. It's a relatively new blog but already it's had over 190,000 visitors so he's clearly doing something right!

Jazz In York

Bassist John Marley runs this site and, as the name would suggest, it's focus is on the jazz happening in York. There's been lots of activity going on in York of late, with a number of regular jazz gigs, the NCEM hosting big names and Ian Chalk's educational crusade to make York a s Centre for Excellence in Jazz and it's safe to say that John Marley is a vital part of all this activity. As well as gig news, John also reviews albums and has a weekly column called Jazz Notes in a local newspaper.

Jazz Goes to Leeds

This site is run by John Toolan and Mark Beirne-Smith. The content is a mixture of gig reviews and interviews with artists and Mark is also a talented photographer so there are many photographs of musicians in there, too.

Honourable Mention - Corey Mwamba

Derby might be pushing it a bit in the Northern stakes but regardless of geography, vibes player Corey Mwamba's website is one to visit. The Rambles section of his site contains lots of interesting articles and thinking points and is well worth checking out. Corey also programmes live gigs in Derby and has a full schedule of performances throughout the year so he is a force to be reckoned with.

Jazz Coffee Morning for MacMillan Cancer Support in York

Jazz In York is a website run by bassist John Marley. As the name would suggest, it keeps audiences up to date with all the jazz going on in York. On November 14th, Jazz In York will be running a Jazz Coffee Morning in order to raise money for MacMillan Cancer Care.

John says...

On Saturday 14th November, we will be having a coffee morning with live jazz for Macmillan Cancer Support. The event will take place at Clements Hall which is located close to York city centre. The Kate Peters Trio will be performing and guests musicians are more than welcome to play as well.

Please come along and help raise lots of money for this great charity....and enjoy some coffee and cake while you're at it!

10am-12pm. 

MacMillan Cancer provides valuable support to those diagnosed with cancer and their families. For more information on the work they do, visit their website.