NYJC comes to Yorkshire

In the recent Arts Council England announcement, the National Youth Jazz Collective was was pleased to be announced as one of the organisations to remain an NPO (national portfolio organisation), meaning their funding is secured until 2022.

Following that good news, NYJC have announced that they will be extending their Workshops to five new locations in addition to London and Hampshire; Essex, Bedfordshire, Bristol, Leicester and South Yorkshire.

In each of these locations, 6 full day workshops will take place between October and June. The sessions will be run by professional jazz musicians with each small group working together as a band throughout the year. Musicians will work on improvising, learning new tunes, creative leadership skills and more. Each session culminates in an evening concert, allowing each group to showcase what they've worked on. The faculty of tutors includes some of the UK's finest improvising musicians including Nikki Yeoh, Tom Hewson, Issie Barratt, Kim Macari, Tori Freestone and more.

Musicians of all instruments aged between 8 and 18 are welcome and sessions are tailored for all abilities.

To find out more, visit the National Youth Jazz Collective website.

Gig Preview: Ivo Neame Quintet at Capstone Theatre, October 20th

The Capstone Theatre in Liverpool has risen to prominence as a jazz venue in recent years, thanks to the hard work of promoter Neil Campbell. As well as running an annual jazz festival in February (more on that soon, keep an eye out for news of the 2017 programme coming soon), Neil also programmes gigs throughout the year. On October 20th, pianist Ivo Neame performs with his quintet.

Featuring some of the UK's best loved improvisers Tori Freestone, Jim Hart, Huw Williams and Dave Hamblett, the quintet will play music from their most recent album, Strata (released on Whirlwind Records in 2015).

Ivo Neame is a forward thinking and innovative pianist, composer and multi-instrumentalist. As a musician of exceptional ability, Neame is developing a reputation as one of the most exciting and original pianists to emerge in some time. Well known as the pianist with Phronesis and with Norwegian saxophonist Marius Neset, his most recent release Strata saw him reach new heights as a composer leading a quintet in a set of exuberant and creative originals. With an abundance of ideas, his career is travelling on new trajectory set to emulate the profile achieved by the likes of Django Bates.

"Neame has a restless imagination as an improviser." - 4 Stars Recommended, Marlbank

Tickets cost £11.50 and the gig starts at 7.30pm. 

The following day, Ivo and the band will also run a masterclass at Leeds College of Music. 

For information, visit Ivo Neame's website and the Capstone Theatre website.