Huddersfield Jazz Guitar Festival - this weekend!

If you're not already on your way, check out what the Huddersfield Jazz Guitar Festival has to offer this very weekend - a 3 day celebration of all that's great in jazz guitar.

This is the third annual Huddersfield Jazz Guitar Festival and this year is going to prove to be bigger and better. Held at the Rat and Ratchet, the festival is a celebration of jazz guitar in all its many forms,  from gypsy jazz, funk, fusion and mainstream there will be something for everyone. 

The festival is held over three days although there are some fringe events held around Huddersfield on the run up to the festival. Alan Barnes is joining the Charlie Christian Collective at the Head of Steam on Wednesday 19th July.

The festival a proper begins on Friday 21st July with the ever popular Gypsy Jazz Night. The Saturday and Sunday are packed with free concerts during the day, workshops, jam sessions and competitions. Saturday evening sees two of the counties leading players, Cameron Pierre and Femi Temowo who bring their unique and brilliant blend of jazz guitar to an evening we’ve called Jazz, Roots and Beyond. Sunday is dedicated more towards funk and fusion with the amazing Tom Quayle running a workshop and concert during the day and Adrian Ingram’s Cookbook and Dennis Rollins and Johnny Heyes bringing a blend of funk and groove based music to the evening. All this and some wonderful beer brewed on the premises at the Rat, whats not to like.

For all the details, check out the Huddersfield Jazz Guitar website. Congratulations to the team that work hard to run the festival - may it continue for many years!

Alan Barnes - A Fish Tale Tour

Gill Wilde of Grimsby Jazz recently commissioned Alan Barnes to develop a new work, A Fish Tale, which draws on the rich and interesting history of the fishing trade in Grimsby. Barnes teamed up with guitarist Pat McCarthy and poet Josie Moon and the new work is now about to embark on a tour thanks to the support of Arts Council England.

...the commission explores the myths, the misadventures and the realities of the trawling life.

It is a tribute to the contribution made by those in the fishing industry who were instrumental in feeding the nation and protecting it in times of war.

It is a powerful and exciting evening of jazz and poetry completely evocative of any fishing port, and guaranteed to stir the memories of fishing communities.

Alan is joined by -

Gilad Atzmon - Soprano/Alto/Bass Clarinet
Dean Masser - Tenor/Clarinet
Mark Nightingale - Trombone
Neil Yates - Trumpet
Dave Green - Double Bass
Pat McCarthy - Guitar
John Perry - Drums
Josie Moon - Spoken Word

You can catch this brilliant band on tour at the following venues -

July

6th - Kardomah94, Hull
14th - Central Hall, Grimsby
15th - Swanage Jazz Festival
29th - Llandudno Jazz Festival

October

11th - Swansea Jazzland
12th - Seven Arts, Leeds
13th - Wakefield Jazz
15th - Herts Jazz Festival
19th - Folkestone Jazz Club

November

11th - Drill Hall, Lincoln
12th - Wigan Jazz
18th - The Hive, Shrewsbury

Vula Viel, Liane Carroll, SK2 and more set for Scarborough Jazz Festival

The 2016 Scarborough Jazz Festival takes place between 23rd and 25th September and the programme is as varied and exciting as ever.

Fans of vocal jazz will not be disappointed as there will be performances from Liane Carroll (7pm, Sunday) and Georgia Mancio's new project with Alan Broadbent (8.45pm, Friday). If it's world music you prefer, you'll be in for a treat with the joyous Vula Viel (12.30pm, Sunday), Pan Jumby (4pm, Friday) and Adam Glasser's South Africa & Beyond (2.15pm, Sunday). Brit jazz fanatics will be delighted to be see Brandon Allen (Sunday 8.45pm, Sunday), Alan Barnes & Dave O'Higgins (2.15pm, Saturday) and Gareth Williams & Trish Clowes (7pm, Friday).

All of this only scratches the surface of course, and you can find details on the entire programme can be found on the Scarborough Jazz Festival website.

Ushaw Jazz Festival, August 26th - 28th

Pianist Paul Edis is working as hard as ever in the North East, this time turning his hand to festival directing as the first ever Ushaw Durham Jazz Festival takes place in Durham between August 26th and 28th.

A weekend of events that celebrate the vibrant North East scene and beyond, the festival will feature discussions, workshops and jam sessions alongside the performances.

Day tickets are available for each day (Firday - £8, Saturday - £25, Sunday - £20) as well as tickets for individual events.

The schedule is listed below but for more information on all the acts involved, visit the Ushaw College website.

Ushaw Durham Jazz Festival Programme

Friday 26th  -  6.00pm -  Northern Monkey Brass Band - in the theatre - £5
Friday 26th - 8.15pm - Zoe Gilby - £5

Saturday 27th - Early Bird Band - in the bar - FREE
Saturday 27th - 1.00pm - 2.15pm - Durham Alumni Big Band  - £7
Saturday 27th - 2.30-3.30pm - Workshop / Talk led by Paul Edis
Saturday 27th - 4.00 - 5.30pm - Alyn Shipton & Alan Barnes - "What is Jazz?" - £5
Saturday 27th  - 6.00 - 7.00pm - Mark Williams and Joel McCulloch Duo - £5
Saturday 27th - 8.00 - 10.00pm - Alan Barnes & Bruce Adams with the Paul Edis Trio - £10
Saturday 27th - 10.00pm - Jam session in the Francis Thompson Room with the Peter Gilligan Trio

Sunday 28th - 1.00 - 2.00pm Square One - £5
Sunday 28th - 4pm - New Century Ragtime Orchestra - £10
Sunday 28th - 8pm - Nigel Price Trio - £7

Cleethorpes Jazz Festival, 24th-26th June

The jam-packed programme of this year's Cleethorpes Jazz Festival has been announced and tickets are now on sale for the 3 day festival which runs 24th to 26th June.

The festival opens with a strong international slant on Friday, with Australian vocalist and piano player Janet Seidel performing with her trio (7pm) followed by Swiss trio VEIN (8.30pm). Closing the evening, an all-star UK band led by Matt Skelton and featuring the likes of Mike Lovatt, Callum Au and Dave Newton play the music of Duke Ellington.

Festival director Gill Wilde has a keen eye for the rising stars of jazz and there a number of young musicians and ensembles performing during this year's festival - Jazz North Introduces winners Jam Experiment play on Saturday as do the North East Lincolnshire Jazz Orchestra and Sunday features music from Franklin College's Sound Departure and the renowned Doncaster Youth Jazz Orchestra.

For the first time, Cleethorpes Jazz Festival has commissioned a new work which will be premiered as part of the festival programme. Alan Barnes will lead his ensemble through the new work, A Grimsby Fish Tale, on Sunday evening.

Until June 1st, weekend tickets can be purchased for £75 (rising to £85 after that) and day tickets cost £36.

For full details on the entire line-up, all ticketing information and more, visit the Cleethorpes Jazz Festival website.

NJ Advent Calendar - Video: Alan Barnes (December 17th)

A celebration of Jazz in the North wouldn't be complete without a nod to one of its most well known exponents, Alan Barnes. As his bio says

Alan Barnes’s unique musicianship, indefatigable touring, and warm rapport with audiences have made him uniquely popular in British jazz.  He has received over 25 British Jazz Awards, most recently in 2014 for clarinet, and has twice been made BBC Jazz Musician of the Year.

See him in action in this video, recorded at Seven Arts in Leeds with Bruce Adams on trumpet. 

7 Pieces of Silver Tour 2016

7 Pieces of Silver, Paul Baxter's all star septet paying homage to Horace Silver is to release their debut album in early 2016 accompanied by a UK tour.

The band features a four piece horn front line (Alan Barnes, John McKillup, James Lancaster and Matt Ball) and a power house rhythm section of Paul Baxter, Andrej Baranek and Paul Smith.

From press release...

7 Pieces Of Silver consists of a 4-piece horn section with 3 rhythm, combined with the performance of Horace Silver’s Music, one of Jazz’s finest composers, can only result in an exciting, no holds barred show. Very excited about releasing the band’s eponymous debut album featuring Alan Barnes - February 25th on Hungry Bear Records.

Tour dates are listed below but the band are still accepting bookings - interested promoters should contact bookings@hungrybearrecords.co.uk.

For more information, visit the 7 Pieces of Silver website.

2nd February -St. Ives Jazz Club
3rd February - Restormel Arts, Cornwall
5th February - JATP, Bradford
 9th February - Dempseys, Cardiff
17th February - The Jazz Bar, Edinburgh
18th February - Jazz At The Blue Lamp, Aberdeen
19th February - The Jazz Cafe, Newcastle
20th February -  Zeffirellis, Ambleside
23rd February or 1st March - Parr Jazz at Fredericks, Liverpool
28th February -  Seven Jazz, Leeds
2nd March Scarborough Jazz Club

Scarborough Jazz celebrate 30 years

Mike and Marion Gordon celebrate 30 year's of organising, promoting and supporting live jazz in Scarborough. Not many jazz clubs can claim to have promoted jazz fifty nights a year for thirty years. Dennis Hitch, Bob Walker and Mike Gordon, the original trio, were just looking for somewhere to play and that’s how Scarborough Jazz started.