Family Band UK Tour kicks off at Wakefield Jazz, February 24th

Fiery quartet Family Band have announced a tour stretching from Newcastle to London which commences this Friday, 24th February.

2016 saw the band selected for the Jazz North Northern Line initiative, receive BBC radio play and record their first full length album. Now as 2017 gets started, they will perform a number of live performances showcasing material from their upcoming album as well as newly composed works.

This is a superb, freewheeling band composed of four long-time musical collaborators and friends.    Rooted in the music of Ornette Coleman and the 1960’s avant-garde, Family Band play powerful music – moments of fierce intensity, a tender spirituality and the blues combine to form an emotionally complex and cathartic whole that rarely fails to move.   They are currently preparing a second CD of music recorded live at the Manchester Jazz Festival at a terrific and well-received gig.
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“What a revelation – exciting group, gradually revealing more and more depth and thrilling the audience to the very end” – Blow The Fuse, The Vortex

Tour Dates

Friday 24th February - Wakefield Jazz
Monday 27th February - The Wonder Inn, Manchester
Wednesday 1st March - The Lescar, Sheffield
Friday 17th March - The Jazz Cafe, Newcastle
March 27th March - Jazz in the Round at The Cockpit, London
Friday 7th April - JATP, Bradford

NJN Jazz Advent Calendar - Family Band (Dec 13th)

With only 12 days to go until good old Santy Claus gets to work and besides the elves at the North Pole, behind door number 13 there are four little jazz elves working hard - Family Band.

Currently preparing to release an album on BUG Records in early 2017, check out this video of the band by Maria Alzamora of Tom Riviere's composition Mao 2 - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VkiSpgAr5uE

Rooted in the music of Ornette Coleman and the 1960’s avant-garde, Family Band play powerful and freewheeling music – moments of fierce intensity, a tender spirituality and the blues combine to form an emotionally complex and cathartic whole that rarely fails to move. Comprised of four long-time musical collaborators and friends, the group recently released their eponymous debut album and are in the process of preparing their second release, an album of live material recorded at Manchester Jazz Festival.

“What a revelation – exciting group, gradually revealing more and more depth and thrilling the audience to the very end” – Blow The Fuse, The Vortex

“A band who aren’t afraid of the jazz tradition” – Jez Nelson, Jazz On 3

Trumpet – Kim Macari
Tenor Saxophone – Riley Stone-Lonergan
Double Bass – Tom Rivière
Drums – Steve Hanley

Buy their first EP here - https://bringlulu.bandcamp.com/album/family-band?from=embed

NJN Jazz Advent Calendar - Perpetual Motion Machine (Dec 11th)

Behind door number 11 is an ensemble that have been hard at work in 2016. With an unusual line-up of two guitars, two tenors, bass and drums, the group have developed a unique sound with their take on pop songs and originals.

Check out this video of the band playing their tune, The Cut -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txP3QFY8cWw&t=9s

Perpetual Motion Machine is a six piece band comprising of jazz musicians from across Yorkshire and beyond. It features 2 guitarists (Sam Dunn and Jamie Taylor), which is what gives this ensemble its unique quality, as they are able to explore a more diverse range on the instrument that only having a single player would not allow. The rest of the band has a more traditional feel to the line up. Two Saxophones (Riley Stone-Lonergan and Ben Lowman) as well as some other woodwind instruments including Bass Clarinet, Electric Bass (Garry Jackson) and Drums/Percussion (Steve Hanley).

The group first got together back at the start on 2016 to experiment with the idea of having the two guitars working side by side, and it quickly became a regular rehearsing outfit, taking already established pop songs (Black Star by the late David Bowie / Here comes the flood by Peter Gabriel) and deconstructing them to form new arrangements. Two original compositions swiftly followed written by Sam, which the band recorded in August to be released as videos. Over the subsequent months more originals were bought to rehearsals from the rest of the band which now make up the majority of the music the band perform.

A national uk tour is in the final planning stages for the ensemble throughout early September 2017 to help promote the Album "IGNITION", which they are recording in January at Rebel Elements Studio in Ilkley, West Yorkshire under the watchful eyes and ears of engineer Sam Hobbs. A short teaser clip for the band was also recently released on youtube to help promote the forthcoming album. 

NJN Jazz Advent Calendar - Treppenwitz (Dec 9th)

Behind door number 9 is Treppenwitz, a trio compromised of three Leeds-based musicians - Matt Aplin on piano, Tom Riviere on double bass and Steve Hanley on drums.

Fortuitously, the band released their debut album only this week, so we're pleased to let you hear a snippet of their new release - https://treppenwitzmusic.bandcamp.com/album/short-and-long-ditties

Treppenwitz, n. – treppen (stairs) + witz (wit)
An event or fact that seems to contradict its background or context.

“…(t)he main character in Treppenwitz is a miniature spiral staircase model paralyzed by its future, enchained by its past. It resents everything about its existence including the fact that it was carved by a craftsman rather than having sprung from the womb of a Matryoshka doll. Nor was it conceived as the creation ladder of Ramon Llull’s 14th century eight-step ascension theory…”

Treppenwitz is a project dedicated to improvisation and the exploration of sounds within open structures. It was formed in January 2014 after (though not because) a Philadelphian drummer, Matthew McGraw, left the city of Leeds. The music they make can be seen as an indirect response to this.

Their debut album, Short and Long Ditties is part I of II: the partial documentation of a series of recordings made on 25-26th November 2015 in Leeds Fold.

http://newjazzrecords.co.uk/artists/treppenwitz/

Two new releases from New Jazz Records

It's been a busy time for Leeds-based record label New Jazz Records. Run by composer and trumpeter James Hamilton, the label recently released Jamil Sheriff's debut trio albums Places Like This. Now, they are gearing up to launch two more albums at a special launch gig at HEART in Headingley on December 6th.

March is the second album double bassist Sam Jackson has released on the label. His group Drawing Hands have released a suite of 12 new pieces and will perform some of this new material at the gig.

Treppenwitz is a trio formed by pianist Matt Aplin, double bassist Tom Riviere and drummer Steve Hanley. Their album, Short and Long Ditties, is the first in a two part release of material recorded at Leeds Fold last year.

The albums will both be launched with live performances at HEART on December 6th. Doors at 7.30 and there's music from 8pm. Tickets are an absolute steal at £5/3 for two great bands.

To find out about these releases and to keep up to date with future releases from the label, visit the New Jazz Records website.

Gig Preview: Perpetual Motion Machine at Heart, October 22nd

This month's Jazz at Heart gig features Perpetual Motion Machine, an all-star band put together earlier this year.

From the jazz at heart website...

Performing at Heart for the first time, Perpetual Motion Machine are a 6 piece contemporary jazz ensemble, comprising of some of the North of England's finest improvising musicians.

PMM play their own original music; a dynamic mixture of jazz, rock, funk and ambient soundscapes, with an energy and dynamism that will have you on the edge of your seat.

It's a band of familiar faces in a brand new line-up - Sam Dunn and Jamie Taylor on guitars, Ben Lowman and Riley Stone-Lonergan on tenors, Garry Jackson on bass and Steve Hanley on drums. 

The gig starts at 7.30pm and tickets can be purchased on the Heart website or on the door for £10/6 concessions. If you'd like a taster, click here to watch the band's new video - The Cut.

Family Band Album Launch in Leeds, November 1st

Family Band, a chord-less quartet led by bassist Tom Riviere and featuring Riley Stone-Lonergan, Kim Macari and Steve Hanley, will release their first album at a launch concert at Seven Jazz on Sunday November 1st.

The album features predominantly original material and will be available through Bandcamp on a Pay-What-You-Feel basis.

Tom says...

In short, I want to stop thinking when I improvise. Sometimes when I’m on stage I experience moments in which it is as if I’m an outside observer listening to myself and the band play. This is a very satisfying feeling – much more enjoyable than the analytical state of mind I often fall into whilst performing – and I’d like to experience it more often. To that end, it made sense to me to put together a project loosely inspired by the aforementioned groups (Ornette Coleman and Coltrane) as the more open structures that they often favour lend themselves to what it is that I seek: music that I can feel – rather than think – my way through.

The launch gig will be part of Seven's Unplugged series which allows audiences and musicians to connect by using the 'in the round' format. Family Band will also premiere a whole set of newly written music at the gig.

Follow this link to hear a track from the release, Bring Lulu.

Gig Preview: Tom Riviere Quartet at HEART, January 24th

Jazz at Heart Presents: Tom Riviere Quartet
Saturday 24th January, 7.30pm
£8/6

 Bassist and composer Tom has been a valuable part of the Leeds Jazz scene since moving from Brighton to study at LCoM in 2008. Leaving with a 1st Class Honours degree, Tom also won prizes for his compositions and had them performed by the National Youth Jazz Orchestra and Leeds College of Music Big Band.

Although he can be seen regularly with a number of ensembles in the North, this performance is one of the few occasions to catch Tom as a band leader. His quartet, featuring Young Jazz Musician of the Year Matt Anderson on saxophone, pianist Martin Longhawn and drummer Steve Hanley, the group will perform Tom's original compositions as well as some much-loved standards.

Read more about Tom at his website and follow him on twitter.