Call for Musicians for Jazz Directors Series with Zoe Rahman

Applications are now being accepted to be part of the third Jazz Director Series, run by Band On The Wall & Brighter Sounds. As with their two previous projects, featuring Terence Blanchard and Chris Potter), the call-out is for musicians to form the Inner City Ensemble. This time, the featured musician is pianist Zoe Rahman.

The Inner City Ensemble will work with Zoe in a residency before embarking on a short tour in October 2017. The instrumentation required for this incarnation of the band is - double bass, drums, flute, clarinet, trumpet, trombone, tuba, alto sax and tenor sax.

From Band on the Wall...


Described by the Observer as “a remarkable pianist by any standard”, pianist and composer Zoe Rahman has firmly established herself as one of the brightest stars on the contemporary jazz scene. A vibrant and highly individual artist, her style is deeply rooted in jazz yet it reflects her classical background, British/Bengali heritage and her very broad musical taste. Known for her powerful technique, wide-ranging imagination and exuberant performances, she has become a highly sought-after musician, recently working with the likes of George Mraz, Courtney Pine and Jerry Dammers’ Spatial AKA Orchestra. She is a winner of the prestigious UK Parliamentary Jazz Award, and has been nominated for the Mercury Music Prize.  

“I’m really looking forward to working with open-minded improvising artists who have a strong grounding in jazz, a deep sense of groove and who like to listen to a wide range of musical styles. There will be opportunities for all of the musicians to shine individually as well as contribute to the ensemble as a whole. Hopefully the project will be challenging, rewarding and above all fun for all of us.” – Zoe Rahman

The deadline is 13 August 2017 and successful applicants will be notified by 18th August. For more information and to apply, visit the Band on the Wall website.

Apply now for European Young Artists' Jazz Award 2018

Applications are now being accepted for the 10th Annual European Young Artists' Jazz Award, held each year as part of the Burghausen International Jazz Festival in Germany.

The prize was created to actively promote promising young jazz artists. The winning ensemble will be awarded 5,000euro as well as the opening slot at the festival the following day, with 2nd and 3rd prizes being 3,000 and 1,000 respectively.

All styles of jazz are welcomed and groups of three musicians or more (up to and including big bands) are eligible. Musicians must be aged 30 or under on March 6 2018.

Applications should include 6 identical CDs in a neutral cover, a 300 dpi photo of the band (on a separate CD) and a written description of the band and music, max 2 pages.

To find out more about the Award, visit the b-jazz website.

Sarah Vaughan Vocal Jazz Competition - Call for entries

The 6th Annual Sarah Vaughan Vocal Jazz Competition is now open for entries, with a 1st prize of $5,000 and an offer to record an album with the Concord Music Group.

Last year, London-based vocalist Deelee Dube (pictured above) scooped the top prize. Also offered are a second prize of $1500 and a third prize of $500.

The competition is open to solo vocalists of all nationalities who are not signed to a major record label and, for the first time this year, both men and women. Singers will be judged on vocal quality, musicality, technique, performance, individuality, artistic interpretation and ability to swing; winner will receive a Concord Record deal.

Now in its 6th year, The Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Competition, also known as the SASSY Awards, honors the talent and tradition of the competition’s namesake as the only international jazz competition of its kind, providing a platform for one outstanding jazz singer to launch a career within the music business.

Previous winners include Jazzmeia Horn (2013) who also was the 2015 winner of the Thelonious Monk Competition, and Cyrille Aimee (2012), the first-ever winner of the competition, whose major label debut in August 2014 was called “a bravura turn, presented with a smile” by The New York Times.

This year's judges are Gary Walker, Vanessa Rubin, T.S Monk, Will Downing and Ann Hampton Callaway.

Entries will be accepted until September 5th. For full information and to apply, visit the Sarah Vaughan Vocal Jazz Competition website. 

12 Points Announces Line-Up for 2017 Festival

Officially announced during JazzAhead in Bremen last weekend, 12 Points have their line-up for their 2017 festival which takes place in Aarhus, Denmark in July.

The full list of ensembles is listed below but a special congratulations goes to Taupe, a current Northern Line group and North East based trio who have been selected as the UK group to perform this year!

For more information, check out the 12 Point website.

12 Points 2017 will feature - BigSpoon, chuffDRONE, Francesco Orio Trio, Kirke Karja Quartet, Lars Fill Frit Fald, Marie Kruttli Quartet, Post K, SCHNITZL, Sheep Got Waxed, Significant Time, Taupe and Tommy Moustache.

Apply Now for the 2nd International Jarek Smietana Jazz Guitar Competition

Applications are now being accepted for the 2nd International Jarek Smietana Guitar Competition. Held in memory of influential Polish guitarist Jarek Smietana, the competition is open to guitarists of all nationalities up to 35 years of age, performing jazz and musical genres related to improvised music.

There are three prizes up for grabs - 1st place is approx. £4000, 2nd place approx. £2000 and 3rd place approx. £1000.

Semi-finals take place in Kracow on 28th and 29th June and the finals on 30th June. The judging panel will include Mike Stern and John Abercrombie.

Requirements -

- Brief bio in English (max. 1500 words)

- Two high quality photographs

- 3 recordings - 2 audio and 1 video (not to exceed 10 minutes each)

For more information, , visit the Jarek Smietana Jazz Guitar Competition website.

Applications open for Brighter Sound's Jazz Directors series with Chris Potter

Brighter Sound has announced the second artist to be featured in their Jazz Director series - the incomparable Chris Potter.

They are on the look out for 10 professional musicians to form the 'Inner City Ensemble' that will work with Chris, rehearsing and performing specially written works including arrangements of the music from his 2015 ECM release Imaginary Cities.

The instrumentation required is -

Piano
Double bass
Drums
Vibraphone (doubling marimba)
Bass Guitar
Guitars (electric and semi-acoustic)
Violin
Violin
Viola
Cello

The project runs from 9th April until 16th April including rehearsals in Manchester and performances 13th - 16th. This is a professional engagement and musicians will receive a fee plus travel and accommodation.

The deadline for applications is February 26th 2017. Successful applicants will be informed by March 6th.

For full information and to apply, click here - http://www.brightersound.com/jazzdirectorsseries2-chrispotter/

Applications now open for Northern Line scheme

Jazz North are now accepting  applications  from ensembles to take part in their flagship initiative , Northern Line.

A number of groups are selected by a panel of judges and are then invited to take part. When featured in the artist roster, ensembles can be booked by promoters at a subsidised rate. They are also supported by Jazz North who provide them with a photo shoot and promo video. Each year, a showcase event takes place at Manchester Jazz Festival - a whole day of performances by each featured ensemble.

Now in its 5th round, so far the scheme has supported 47 groups to perform 450 gigs at over 150 venues.

Applications will be accepted until 10pm on Monday 12th December 2016.

For full information on eligibility and application criteria, visit the Jazz North website.

We want YOUR music for our NJN Jazz Advent Calendar

It's the most wonderful time of the year and it's just around the corner. Following on from our Advent calendar last year, where we featured a different part of the Northern Jazz Scene each day, we wanted to carry on the tradition.

This year, we want to showcase the music of Northern musicians so we need you to get in touch. Each day, we'll feature a track from a different ensemble or musician.

Here's what to send us -

- A link to soundcloud/youtube/bandcamp of a track (Links only please, we don't have the capacity to receive mp3s or posted CDs) - these links must be public and free to listen to.

- A bio of the musician/ensemble

- One photo of the band or musician

- Links to all relevant sites - website, facebook page, twitter etc.

We want to focus on music with a link to the North so we'll prioritise musicians based in the North, born there or with a strong connection (studied in the North etc).

There will be 24 posts, from December 1st until December 24th. If we receive a large number of submissions, we'll do our best to feature them all by sometimes featuring more than one per day.

To ensure your music is included, send in your submissions early and make sure they contain all of the information requested above.

Send submissions to kim.i.macari@gmail.com with the subject header - NJN JAZZ ADVENT SUBMISSION.

We look forward to hearing your music soon!

Apply to play at 12 Points 2017

As the nights draw in each year, we have a number of things to look forward to - venues end their summer break and there's a whole host of new gigs to attend, TV channels start to show good dramas again, all the wasps bed in for the winter and stop their buzzy reign of terror AND musicians have a bunch of bursaries and opportunities to apply for ahead of the new year.

The latest application portal to open is 12 Points. Their festival will take place in Aarhus in Denmark in July next year and they are on the look out for the next round of artists and ensembles to apply.

They receive a very large number of applications each year, so they highly recommend fully reading the guidelines before submitting yours. There is also a fully completed example application for prospective bands to look at to get a sense of what they should aim for.

For full information and to view the bands that have performed at previous festivals, visit the 12 Points Festival website.

Artist Submissions Now Open for MJF 2017

 It seems like only yesterday that thousands of audience members descended on Manchester for the 2016 festival in July. But the work never stops in the running of a jazz festival and the team have announced that applications are now open for 2017.

There are three strands for artists to apply to -

General Festival Programme - to play at MJF in their main programme, artists and ensembles can use the very straight forward and easy to use online submission form.

MJF Introduces - This is festival's platform for supporting emerging talent and is open to regional bands aged between 16-25.

Irwin Mitchell MJF Originals 2017 - Each year, the festival commissions an artist to create a new piece of work to be premiered at the festival. Last year, guitarist and composer Anton Hunter produced an ambitious work for an 21 piece ensemble entitled Article XI.

For more information and to apply for any of these three strands, visit the MJF website.

Applications now open for the Eddie Harvey Jazz Arrangers Award

Applications are now open for this year's Eddie Harvey Jazz Arranger Award, now administered by the Worshipful Company of Musicians as well as the original trustees.

The award is given to a jazz arranger for an outstanding big band arrangement. The winning piece will be performed at a concert at Milton Court Concert Hall in London on 23rd March 2017 and the winning arranger will also receive a cash prize of £1,000.

Applications will be accepted until 2nd December 2016 and there is no age limit for applicants. The pieces will be judged blind and a panel of judges will decide on a winner.

Full information and the online application form can be found on the Worshipful Company of Musicians website.

Terence Blanchard announced as first artist for Brighter Sound scheme

US trumpet Terence Blanchard has been announced as the first artist in the Jazz Director Series run by Band on the Wall and Brighter Sound with support from Jazz North. They have put out an open call to find 11 young professional musicians to form the first Inner City Ensemble to work with Blanchard over the course of a week in September, rehearsing and performing original work by Blanchard and some of the musicians has has worked with in his expansive career.

For Jazz Directors Series #001 with Terence Blanchard we are looking for emerging professionals aged over 18 who play to a very high standard (graduate and above) with excellent reading skills and who work in jazz and related ‘crossover’ genres. This is a paid professional engagement.

Instruments required: piano, bass, drums, guitar, trumpet, trombone, tuba, french horn, flute, oboe, clarniet, bass clarinet and saxophone.

Musicians selected for the ensemble will take part in a rehearsal residency between 11th and 14th September before embarking on a short tour between 15th and 18th September to perform at Band on the Wall, Parr Hall in Warrington, Bradford Playhouse and Brewery Arts Centre in Kendal.

There is a fee and expenses are covered.

Applications will be accepted until July 29th at 5pm and successful applicants will be notified by Friday August 5th.

To find out more and to apply online, visit the Band on the Wall Jazz Directors Series website.

Tremplin Jazz Avignon Contest 2016 - Submissions open until Saturday

Submissions for the Tremplin Jazz Avignon Contest are open until Saturday of this week (30th) for ensembles from across Europe.

Since 1992, this French outdoor jazz festival has run a contest open to emerging ensembles across Europe. The winners are given a gig supporting the headline act of the next festival as well as three days of recording in a studio in France. This year, the judging panel is led by Kyle Eastwood.

The eligibility criteria states -


- Bands of between 2 and 6 people and all based in the EU
- No age limits
- No overlapping (musicians cannot compete in more than one band)
-Winners from previous years cannot apply
- Bands can be represented by an indie record label (preferably their own)

The application must include bios of each member, at least 3 high quality recordings with at least one original work and hi-res photographs.

You can find the full list of rules & regulations here and the registration form here.

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Lancaster Jazz Festival - Submissions Open

2016 marks the 6th Lancaster Jazz Festival and under the watchful eye of festival director Matt Robinson and his team, it continues to grow year on year.

They have opened the floodgates for artist submissions to take part in this year's festival and will be accepting submission until the 20th March at 5pm.

When programming we look for exciting artists that we feel might bring more to the festival than just a performance. This could be something very tangible, such as a workshop or a seminar (like Seth Bennett or A Dread Supreme from last year for example) or the hosting of a jam session or a new collaboration (like Word of Moth). Or, it could be something else, a buzz from peers about being on the same bill (Trevor Watts or Richard Illes), a truly amazing performance that is talked about for months (Thunkfish or Dakhla Brass), or a million other things that we haven't thought of yet.
We aim to promote the best in contemporary music and jazz from around the UK as well as locally. We are especially interested in promoting a diverse programme of events, including new works, emerging artists and underrepresented groups.

The application process is simple and is done through an online portal. Applicants are required to provide two tracks to be listened to (linked to directly so that the panel can listen online) and answer questions to describe their project. The festival open useful advice on their guidance page (like staying away from stock phrases like 'a new take on jazz standards' which incidentally was used over 30 times in applications last year...!)

Those under 25 can also apply to the Festival Commission fund. Each year, one group or artist is selected to develop a new piece of work to be premiered at the festival. These artists receive support from the festival and mentorship from the artist in residence throughout their project.

All the information you need can be found on the Lancaster Jazz Festival website. Good luck!

Artist Submissions welcome for the first LUME Festival

Cath Roberts and Dee Byrne are champions of original, improvised music and their work with LUME has been praised across the country. Their programming is full of surprises and the team are at the forefront of the wave of musicians now involved in promoting jazz and improvised music.

This year, they have announced that they will round of their season of gigs with the first ever LUME Festival. The one day event will take place on 26th June at I’klectik Artlab near Waterloo in London and they have issued a call out for musicians and groups who want to be a part of it.

As part of programming this, we’re putting the call out for submissions. Bands, soloists, new collaborations: we’d like to hear from you. These are the things we’re looking for:

Original music. To us this means new music composed by the musicians who are playing.
Improvised music. We are also into spontaneous composition! Totally improvised music created in the moment. If your project fits into one or both of those categories then we want to know about it.

There is an online submission form for the interested musicians on the LUME website and submissions will be accepted until 5pm on February 12th.

B-Jazz Composition Contest - Applications now open!

B-Jazz is a Belgium jazz competition aimed at international musicians under 30. They have launched their Jazz Composition Contest and are calling for composers to submit their work to be in with a chance of winning a 2,000 euro cash prize.

The winning composition will then be interpreted and performed by the finalists in the B-Jazz Contest (finalists announced 21st January) on 18-19 March in OPEK Leuven, Belgium.

Criteria:

- Contest is open to composers of all nationalities born on or after 1st January 1986.

- Each applicant should only submit one piece

- Compositions should be submitted as a score (max. 3 pages) and a demo (mp3 quality or better)

- Compositions are judged blindfold so no links to websites or names should be included on the score, just the title of the piece.


The deadline for submissions is February 15th 2016 and full information can be found on the B-Jazz website.

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.

New Radio Show on JazzFM to showcase British Jazz

JazzFM have announced that a new weekly show on their station will focus solely on British Jazz.

True Brit will run each Thursday at 6pm and will be presented by Nick Pitts. There will be regular guests from the British Jazz scene and music from the archives of UK Jazz as well as new releases.

With the wealth of releases by British acts, there is a huge potential playlist for a programme like this and we hope it helps celebrate the rich and varied UK jazz scene.

Artists who wish to submit music for airplay should either post physical CDs and press packs to 75-77 Margaret Street, London, W1W 8SY or visit the Contact Us page of the JazzFM website for links to email contacts for mp3s and EPKs.

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!

Jazz Radio in Bradford - artists submit your work!

As well as running live jazz at JATP in Bradford, for the past few years promoter Martin Powell has also been presenting a jazz radio show called Jazzscene on BCB Radio 106.6fm.

The show features a range of jazz with a particular focus on UK and Continental groups. He is a big supporter of current musicians on the scene and his recent broadcasts have included music by John Bailey, Zeitgeist, Girls In Airports, The Weave, Outhouse and Michael Garrick.

Martin has an open invitation for artists to send their recordings to be broadcast - if you'd like him to play your music (or to request a particular band/song) send him an email at martin.powellATbcbradio.co.uk (replacing AT with @)

More information and a Listen Again function for past shows can be found on the BCB Radio website.