No Bounds Festival in Sheffield, October 14th

Improv & avant-garde powerhouse Martin Archer is to run a one day festival in Sheffield on October 14th.

No Bounds Festival will take place at the newly refurbished arts centre at Sheffield's Nonconformist Chapel (Cemetery Road, Sheffield).

This festival within a festival is partly funded by Jazz North's Northern Line scheme. The event is split into three parts (with admission costing £5 for each part).

Line up -

Commencing 1.30pm

Maja Bugge - solo cello
Juxtavoices - 25 piece improv choir directed by Martin Archer and Alan Halsey
H Trio - Mark Hanslip/Otto Willberg/ Andrew Cheetham

Commencing 4.30pm

Charlie Collins/Ryoko Akama
Platform 4 - Sheffield based contemporary music composers collective
Beck Hunters - Mick Beck/Anton Hunter/Johnny Hunter

Commencing 8pm

Matthew Bourne - solo memorymoog
Corey Mwamba/Mark Sanders
Inclusion Principle - Martin Archer/Herve Perez/Peter Fairclough

And finally to top it all off, lurking in the cemetery ground between sets and alarming passers-by with sonic events will be maverick composer Steven Chase.

A date for the diaries for sure!

Black Cygnet: Jazz and Beyond

Black Cygnet is a new series of events taking place at The White Swan in Leeds which showcases the best of cutting edge and improvised music.

In association with Leeds College of Music, the gigs are curated by pianist Matthew Bourne. The first gig takes place on November 15th and will feature two groups - a trio featuring Matthew Bourne, Ed Jones and Joost Hendrikx and support TBC.

Following on from that, their next gig is December 6th, this time featuring Epic Toe Birth (Johnny Richards and Mick Bardon) and a duo with Dave Kane and Chris Sharkey.

For more information on these upcoming gigs, see the facebook event page, Also, check out the Leeds College of Music website for information on this and their other projects and events.

Polar Bear, Melt Yourself Down and Matthew Bourne in Leeds

This month, Leeds-based indepdendant record label The Leaf Label reaches its 20th anniversary. As part of these Leaf 20 celebrations, which include vinyl re-releases and a limited edtion edition box set, new Leeds venue Headrow House will host gigs by three of the UK's most innovative and exciting improvsing bands and artists.

BBC Documentary featuring music of Matt Bourne airs tonight

A new six-part series about the canal network in the UK begins tonight on BBC One and will feature original music by pianist Matthew Bourne.

Matthew Bourne and Sam Hobbs worked on this BBC commission together and brought in some of Leeds' finest musicians to join them including Jonny Flockton, Mark Creswell and Richard Ormrod.

Interested in canals or music by one of the country's most respected pianists and improvising musicians or both? Tune in!

Find out more on the BBC Website or on Matthew's website.