Jeremy Sassoon on Manchester

Manchester has been in the headlines throughout the week after the atrocious attack at the MEN arena.

Manchester's own Jeremy Sassoon, renowned jazz vocalist and pianist, wrote this moving piece for London Jazz News. We couldn't have put it better ourselves, so here is a link -

http://www.londonjazznews.com/2017/05/in-sadness-manchester-in-mourning.html

NJ Advent Calendar - Venues in the North West (December 21st)

The North West has a number of venues and festivals programming live jazz year round and with only four days left of our advent calendar, we take a look at some of them...

Matt & Phreds, Manchester

Situated in Manchester's Northern Quarter, Matt & Phreds programmes live music every day of the week. There's quite a mixture in the bands they programme but you can expect to see Manchester's favourite Stuart McCallum, New York Brass Band and regular jam sessions. Plus you can get a pizza named after drummer Dave Walsh, so who can say fairer than that?

Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester

The RNCM has a year round programme of live music events, often programming international and touring jazz musicians. Their own RNCM Big Band often appears with special guests and in January trumpeter Ryan Quigley will join them. Early 2016 will also bring Clark Tracey to work with the band.

Ribble Valley Jazz Club, Clitheroe

As well as the annual Jazz Festival, there is also year round jazz going on in Ribble Valley. Most of the gigs take place in the Atrium Cafe Bar and happen one Friday a month. Coming up after the Christmas break will be Graeme Wilson Quartet, JJ Wheeler and Tim Garland.

Southport Melodic Jazz, Southport

Southport Melodic Jazz programmes jazz gigs on Sunday evenings and is programmed by Geoff Matthews. Early next year brings a focus on emerging talent with Artephis and the Jam Experiment. And of course, their festival is in February!

The Cinnamon Club, Altrinham

The Cinnamon Club programmes jazz, soul and Motown at their venue in Altrinham. Their schedule has some local musicians like Sam Healey as well as touring and international acts like Liane Carroll and Barb Jungr.

Wigan Jazz Club

Wigan Jazz Club hosts gigs on Sunday afternoons, usually on the last Sunday of the month. They are big fans of big bands so expect a few of those popping up on the programme. There's a big band bash on the 28th December and Al Wood's quintet plays tribute to Mulligan and Carter in March.

Reminder: MJF Application Deadlines

The deadline for submissions for next year's Manchester Jazz Festival are fast approaching so MJF are sending a call-out to musicians keen to play.

There are two ways to get involved. Firstly, the general open call for submissions to be included in the festival programme. This online form is very easy and only takes a few minutes. You'll need band details and bios and to upload audio and/or video.

The second way is through their MJF Introduces scheme. This is aimed at young musicians between 16-25 just starting out in the world of professional gigging and gives the opportunity for young musicians to perform a gig at a major jazz festival. Again, this is applied for through an online application.

The deadline for both of these is 5pm on Friday 11th December 2015. Full information, eligibility and guidelines for submissions can be found on the Manchester Jazz Festival website.

Apply Now to Play at Manchester Jazz Festival 2016

With the summer jazz festival season drawing to a close, so begins the start of a new season - the season of musicians applying to play at next year's summer jazz festivals.

With only a few weeks since this year's festival ended (which was their 20th year no less), Manchester Jazz Festival have opened submissions for their 2016 festival. The online application form is very clear and easy to use and they'll be accepting submissions until 5pm on December 11th 2015. Successful artists will be contacted by around 5th February 2016.

To apply, you will need -

- Audio recordings (you can submit multiple tracks totalling no more than 20 minutes max)
- High quality photographs (300dpi colour shots preferred)
- A Bio for the band (Reading the 2015 programme may give you some hints as to the kind of descriptions they like to see)

These files can be linked to through Soundcloud or Dropbox (making sure there isn't an expiry date on the Dropbox links)

As well as submissions for the regular festival programme, there is also an opportunity for young musicians to apply to their MJF Introduces scheme and for composers to apply to the Irwin Mitchell MJF Originals Commission scheme.

All information can be found on the Manchester Jazz Festival website. Good luck!