NJ Advent Calendar - Venues in the North East (December 12th)

Jazz audiences and musicians alike are fortunate to have a huge number of venues that promote live jazz in the North. Some weekly, some monthly, festivals and jams - there is something for everyone. We're using broad strokes with the categorisation of these articles - we'll be giving a list for the North East, North West, Yorkshire & the Humber and Merseyside. We hope no-one is offended if we've mentioned your venue in the wrong region (!) but we wanted to include as many as possible. As ever, if we've missed anything out let us know by commenting and sharing a link.

The Globe, Newcastle- Run by the Jazz Coop there are gigs, workshops and jam session that run in this cooperatively owned venue. Programming is varied from mainstream to contemporary and recent artists include Euan Burton quartet and Maciek Pysz Trio

Jazz Cafe, Newcastle - Situated on Pink Lane in Newcastle, the jazz cafe promotes live jazz upstairs and a cafe bar downstairs. Gigs are usually on Fridays, Saturdays and Tuesdays and there also jam sessions held there. Recent artists include Manjula, Unfurl and Loz Speyer's Inner Space Music.

Lit & Phil, Newcastle - Pianist Paul Edis programmes live jazz at this historic building in Newcastle. Local and touring bands play there and recently, Paul's duo with Graham Hardy and Sue Ferris have featured in the programme.

Darlington Jazz Club - A club that focuses on New Orleans jazz, Darlington Jazz Club is found at St Augustines Parish Centre and they host gigs monthly on a Saturday. Frank Booker and Thomas 'Spats' Langham are amongst their latest gig offerings.

The Sage, Gateshead - Jazz is just one of the many strands that the Sage feature in their year round programme. Of course, there's the International Jazz Festival in April but events happen year round like Jambone & Paul Edis on December 20th and the Glenn Miller Orchestra on December 29th.

Saltburn Jazz, Saltburn - This arts centre hosts many things with Saltburn Jazz Club being just one. There are monthly gigs, often featuring musicians in the North East scene and coming up next is LEASH, a trio with Mark Williams, Andy Champion and Adrian Tilbrook on January 8th.

Jazz North East - Jazz North East just celebrated their 50th birthday and continue to programme jazz at various venues. Their programme is varied but they are real champions of contemporary and improvised music. Roller Trio and Entropi will be hosted in early 2016.

NJ Advent Calendar - The Globe, Newcastle (December 2nd)

Behind door number 2, we have a unique feature of the Northern Jazz scene - the first jazz venue in the UK to be owned freehold by a cooperative.

The Globe in Newcastle was bought in 2014 with around 200 people investing in it. Leading the charge was the Jazz.Coop (also called Pink Lane Jazz Coop), a group of local residents and musicians who work to continue the provision of live jazz and education programmes in honour of Keith Crombie who ran the Jazz Cafe. This was set up after his death in 2012.

The Jazz.Coop were able to raise over £123,000 to purchase The Globe and have worked tirelessly since then to make the building become a hub for jazz music. It plays host to live jazz and world music as well as workshops in jazz and in dance. The Coop also run monthly workshops at The Sage and programme events in other venues including Empty Shop HQ, which we reported on recently.

Find out more about the Globe and the people behind it by visiting the Jazz.Coop website where you can still become a shareholder in this one of a kind venture if you choose!

Would you like to manage a jazz club?

The Globe, the UK's only co-operatively owned jazz venue, has issued a call out for prospective tenants and managers to help them grow and expand their reputation as a live music venue.

The deadline for applications is noon on November 9th. Interviews will be held on November 24th.

They say

We are looking for someone to run the Globe and work with the co-operative to build the reputation of the music venue.

We will welcome applications from both prospective tenants and managers. We are open to new ideas. Convince us that you are the right person to run the Globe and we will agree a mutually beneficial arrangement.

KEY FEATURES

• Considerable opportunity to grow the business

• Highly visible corner location

• Nearest pub to Metro Radio Arena

• Established reputation as a music venue

• Late licence (3am Friday and Saturday)

• Fully wheelchair accessible

APPLICATION PROCESS

For tenants: send a business plan including financial projections and details of your skills and experience.

For managers: send your CV and a proposal of how you would like to run the Globe

 

Weekend Workshop at The Globe - Sign-up open now

The Globe in Newcastle, run by the Jazz Coop, is hosting their first weekend-long jazz workshop in August (1st and 2nd) and sign-up is open now.

The course will be led by James Birkett and Judith Thompson, two of the jazz tutors at the Globe's regular series of jazz workshops. The weekend has have sessions split into two abilities and will cover areas like learning tunes, arrangements, leading bands and an improvisation skills/jazz theory class. Saturday 1st's session will run from 9.30pm until 5pm and will also feature an evening performance by the Williams-Tanton quartet and jam session. Sunday 2nd will run from 9.30am until 5pm and will culminate in a performance by all participants.

The cost of the weekend is a very reasonable £82 and participants can opt to pay an extra £16 for the provision of food and refreshments. Accommodation is not included.

Full details of the course structure can be found on the Jazz Coop website.

The Globe celebrates International Jazz Day & Their Anniversary with a bang

As International Jazz Day (April 30th) approaches, The Jazz Coop are gearing up to celebrate with a gig which also marks the anniversary of the purchase of their venue, The Globe.

The Globe is unique in that it's the only jazz venue in the country owned by the community, after a substantial drive to raise funds and welcome shareholders. Now up and running and with their renovations almost complete, the Globe is establishing itself as a hub for jazz in the North East.

On April 30th, they will present a packed programme including vocalist Ruth Lambert (pictured above) fronting the Customs House Big Band, DJs Vicky Vegas and Kerry James and a jam session. The evening starts at 7.15pm and tickets cost £7.50.

More information can be found on the Jazz Coop website.

Jazz Education at the Jazz Coop

The Jazz Coop are gearing up to launch their educational programmes for 2015. The Coop run a number of workshops throughout the year at the Globe as well as a monthly session at The Sage. Details of the courses starting in January are outlined below and for full details, visit the Jazz Coop's Education page.

Play Jazz!

Frequency: Monthly, first Saturday of each month
Location: Sage Gateshead
Duration: 2pm until 6pm
Suitable for: All instruments, aged 16 and above
Content: Largely practical sessions in a small ensemble format; improvisation, listening, theory.
Led by: A team of tutors including James Birkett, Stu Finden and Steve Glendinning.
Cost: £20 or £18 for jazz coop members

Play More Jazz!

Frequency: Weekly, Tuesday evenings from 20th January until 24th March
Location: The Globe
Duration: 7.30 - 9.30pm
Suitable for: All instruments, aged 16 and above
Content: Complements the Sage Gateshead sessions. Largely practical; improvisation, theory, repertoire, ensemble playing.
Led by: Judith Thompson
Cost: £15 per session or £125 for 10 week course.

Saxophones Together

Frequency: Weekly, Monday evenings from 19th January until 23rd March
Location: The Globe
Duration: 7pm - 9pm
Suitable for: Saxophonists of intermediate level
Content: Learn to construct melodic solos over scales and modes, play fluently over chord progressions, look at reharmonisation and learn about saxophone technique.
Led by: Gary Turner
Cost: £15 per session or £125 for 10 week course.

Advanced Jazz Guitar

Frequency: Fortnightly, Tuesday evenings starting 20th January until 17th March
Location: The Globe
Duration: 5pm - 7pm
Suitable for: Guitarists
Content: Topics include technique, practicing, interpretation of chord symbols, harmonic analysis and substitution, comping and improvisation.
Led by: James Birkett
Cost: £15 per session or £65 for 5 session course.

Gig Preview: Clark Tracey at The Globe

Clark Tracey Quintet
November 1st (doors open 8pm)
The Globe, Newcastle
£15

Clark Tracey is to be perform at the Globe in Newcastle with his quintet featuring some of the UK's up and coming young jazz artists.

Tracey, the son of the late Stan Tracey, has been a mainstay of the UK jazz scene for decades and has been leading his own groups since the 1980s. This performance will showcase the new quintet's latest release 'Meantime'. The quintet features -

Chris Maddock: alto and tenor sax

Henry Armburg-Jennings: trumpet and flugel horn

Harry Bolt: piano

Daniel Casimir: bass

Clark Tracey: drums

Prior to the gig, Clark will lead a masterclass (3.30pm) and participants can attend both the masterclass and the performance for £22.

Tickets can be purchased in advance through Skiddle (with a £1.75 booking fee).

Jazz Co-op Call for Bands

The Pink Lane Jazz Co-op is on the lookout for bands and solos artists to perform at their new venue, The Globe in Newcastle.

They have an inclusive and very wide definition of jazz - from Trad to Avant-Garde, from Latin to Celtic, from solo piano to big band.

Any groups who are interested in performing there are invited to use the contact form on their website to get in touch.

Contact form for Bands.

Jazz Summer Party at The Globe

Friday 18th July
Jazz Summer Party
7.30pm until 2am
£7

Pink Lane Jazz Coop are preparing for their Jazz Summer Party - the first gig to take place in the UK' first co-operatively owned music venue, The Globe.

The event will feature three performances - NE favourites the Strictly Smokin' Big Band, DJ Funkmaster Jazz and poet John Challis.

Tickets can be bought for £7 on the door, or can be bought online at their Eventbrite page to ensure you secure a place at what is sure to be a busy gig!

Pink Lane Jazz Co-op Buy The Globe

Minnie Fraser and Dave Parker have announced that as of yesterday the Pink Lane Jazz Co-op are the official owners of the Globe in Newcastle.

Their drive and determination seemed infectious and their cause has received widespread support in the jazz media. They now have over 200 members.

In a statement published by Lance over at Bebop Spoken Here, the co-chairs said there is a bit of refurbishment to be done before they can open, so stay tuned for news of the opening.

Congratulations from the team at Northern Jazz News - we look forward to watching the venue go from strength to strength!

Pink Lane Jazz Coop and The Globe - UPDATE

Pink Lane Jazz Coop are continuing with their mission to sell shares and purchase The Globe - a venue in Tyneside - to develop a new hub for jazz performance and education.

Dave Parker from the Pink Lane Jazz Coop has been in touch to spread the word about an event they are holding next week for potential investors.