Dinosaur Nominated for Mercury Prize

Huge congratulations to Dinosaur, the only jazz ensemble to be nominated in this year's Mercury Prize shortlist.


The Hyundai Mercury Prize ‘Albums of the Year’ celebrates and promotes the best of UK music, recognising artistic achievement across a range of contemporary music genres. The Shortlist was chosen by an independent judging panel and revealed at our Launch event, hosted by BBC Music’s Huw Stephens. 
 The judges said “This year’s Hyundai Mercury Prize shortlist celebrates the remarkable power of British music. What these artists have in common is an infectious pleasure in music making and an arresting sense of urgency about the music they make. They delight in exploring musical possibilities and refusing to be pinned down by genre conventions.”

The winner will be announced on September 14th at Hammersmith Apollo.

Find out more about Dinosaur by visiting Laura Jurd's website and see the full shortlist here.

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.

Take Five edition XII participants announced

Serious have announced the latest edition of Take Five, their development programme that supports exceptional musicians,

The Take Five initiative is aimed at British and UK based composer-performers and is designed to give some of the UK’s most talented emerging creative jazz musicians the opportunity to take ‘time out’ to develop their craft, build their careers and get their music out into the world.

Serious developed this scheme in 2004, in partnership with the Jerwood Charitable Foundation and PRS for Music Foundation, and has gone on to produce ten more successful editions, involving 80 musicians aged under 35. From Edition V onwards, additional funding has been received from Arts Council England and Help Musicians UK.

Take Five Edition VII is

Corrie Dick (Drums)

Duncan Eagles (Saxophone)

Kim Macari (Trumpet)

Paul Edis (Piano)

Olie Brice (Double Bass)

Rebecca Nash (Piano)

Richard Foote (Trombone)

Shirley Tetteh (Guitar)

For more information, visit the Serious 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.

Ivor Mairants Guitar Award

The Worshipful Company of Musicians has opened submissions for the Ivor Mairants Guitar Award.

The award, which is now in its 18th year, is open to classical guitarists who wish to receive jazz-influenced tuition. 1st prize includes a £1500 Manuel Rodriguez guitar from the Ivor Mairants music centre in London, £1000 to use for jazz tuition and £200 worth of music. There is also a 2nd prize of £500 and a 3rd prize of £300.

Applicants have until 26th February 2016 to submit their application and must meet the following criteria:

- Have been born on or after January 1st 1989
- Have been resident in the EU for at least 12 months and/or be enrolled in a UK conservatoire
- Provide letters of recommendation from their conservatoire and guitar teacher


Application forms and further guidelines can be found on the Help Musicians UK and Musicians' Company websites.

Congratulations, Marsden Jazz Festival!

The hard-working team at Marsden Jazz Festival have just completed another hugely successful festival and yesterday they received the news that the festival have a new award to put in their trophy cabinet.

The festival beat off stiff competition to receive Outstanding Established Festival at the Yorkshire Gig Guide Awards.

Congratulations to the team - see you in 2016!

Submissions Now Welcomed for Dankworth Composition Prize

Submissions are now being accepted for the 2016 Dankworth Prize for Jazz Composition.

There are categories that composers may submit works to - the Big Band category and the small ensemble category (between 7 and 9 players). A winner will be selected from each category and will each receive £1,000.

This prize fund was set up in memory of John Dankworth and has run since 2008. Three Northern composers have received the prize including James Hamilton (pictured above) in its inaugural year, James Beckwith (LCoM alumni) and Matt Roberts (Darlington-born LCoM alumni).

Submissions will be accepted until 3rd December 2015 and interested parties should visit the Worshipful Company of Musicians website to download the information sheet and application form. Applicants must be aged 28 or under.

Previous Winners of the Dankworth Prize for Jazz Composition

2008 James Hamilton (Leeds) Big Band; Nicky Jacques (Birmingham) Small Ensemble
2009 James Beckwith (Leeds) Big Band; Matt Roberts (Leeds) Small Ensemble
2010 Matt Roberts (Trinity) Big Band; Yuriy Galkin (RAM) Small Ensemble
2011 Laura Jurd (Trinity) Big Band; Alex Roth (RAM) Small Ensemble
2012 James Opstadt (RAM) Big Band. No competition for Small Ensemble Composition
2013 Daniel Thorne (WAusAPA) Big Band; Tom Green (Cambridge & RAM) Small Ensemble
2014 Misha Mullov-Abbado (RAM) Big Band; Andrew Woodhead (Birmingham) Small Ensemble
2015 Chris McMurran (Cambridge) Big Band; Ralph Wyld (RAM) Small Ensemb

Leeds College of Music wins RIBA Award

Leeds College of Music has won an architectural award in a ceremony held by the Royal Institute of British Architects.

The revamp of the Quarry Hill building was led by Darntonegs Architects and was inspired by the fleet of Steinway Pianos recently delivered to the college.

LCoM were awarded the Small Project Award and the 10 other buildings also up for awards can be seen HERE.

Greg Barker wins Richard Turner Jazz Fund

Saxophonist Greg Barker has been announced as the third recipient of the Richard Turner Jazz Fund, set up to support RAM jazz undergraduates in memory of the trumpeter Richard Turner.

The award was set up after Richard suddenly passed away in 2011 and has supported young jazz musicians with a Yorkshire connection since then. Greg joins bassists Alex Davis and Tom McCredie as recipients of this award.

In a press release by RAM, Richard's mother Christine said:

Once again I enjoyed reading all of the applications but Greg had a very clear idea of how the fund was going to help him musically. He has already begun his efforts to add a bass clarinet to his collection of instruments, so I hope that this fund will help him to reach his target. Doubling is almost essential for woodwind players both in classical and jazz. I'm pleased the fund will help him in this regard, and that the connection with Yorkshire continues into the third year too! Richard was always very generous with his knowledge and his time for younger players and I know he would be delighted that we are able in some small way, and in his memory, to help the young jazz musicians at the Academy. I am grateful to the Academy and to Richard's friends for all the work they have done, setting up and administering this award.

Greg Barker attended Chethams School of Music before moving to London to study at the Royal Academy of Music, where he is now in his third year. 

Read full RAM article.

North Represented in Eddie Harvey shortlist

Leeds-based composer James Hamilton has been announced as one of the three finalists for the Eddie Harvey Award for Jazz Arrangement.

James, whose composition and arranging has garnered numerous awards and critical acclaim, will attend a special awards concert at the Polish Jazz Cafe in London on November 6th, during which the winner will be announced and NYJO will perform it and other Eddie Harvey arrangements.

Eddie Harvey Award
Polish Jazz Cafe
James Hamilton website 

Worshipful Company of Musicians Young Jazz Musician Finalists

         (Phil Meadows and Nadim Teimoori perform with NYJO at BBC Proms. Hush - Nikki Iles)

 The finalists for the Worshipful Company of Musicians Young Jazz Musician Award have been announced and include two ex-LCoM students; Phil Meadows and Nadim Teimoori.

The two saxophonists join four others (Tom Green, Moses Boyd, Misha Mullov-Abbado and Sam James) to compete for the award.

The final takes place at Pizza Express Dean St in London on 21st September, when each finalist is invited to perform live before a winner is announced.

See Pizza Express website to book tickets and find out more.

LCoM Alumni Wins Emerging Excellence Award

Pianist Sam Watts, a graduate of Leeds College of Music, has been announced as a recipient of an Emerging Excellence Award from Help Musicians UK.

Sam, who moved to London to study a Masters at Royal Academy of Music after graduating from LCoM, is one of two jazz musicians to receive the award this year. He will use the funding to help produce his debut album in the coming months.

The Emerging Excellence Awards are run by Help Musicians UK and help musicians under 30 who have already achieved recognition in their field to fund a project that will further their career.

Sam joins saxophonist James Mainwaring and trumpeter Kim Macari as LCoM graduates to have received the Award in recent years.

Find out more about Sam by visiting his website.

APPJAG Parliamentary Jazz Award shortlists announced

Jazz in the North is well-represented this year in the APPJAG Parliamentary Jazz Award shortlist, which was announced today.

Arun Ghosh and Mike Walker are both nominated for Instrumentalist of the Year, while Reuben Fowler and Phil Meadows are up for Newcomer of the Year. Leeds College of Music has been nominated for the Jazz Education Award, as has John Ellis for his work with the Doncaster Youth Jazz Association. All the nominations for Venue of the Year as festivals this time round, including Manchester Jazz Festival and Beats & Pieces are up for Large Ensemble of the Year.

The winners will be announced at the House of Commons on May 13th.

These shortlists demonstrate the wealth of talent and commitment that exists in the British jazz scene. Now in its 10^th year, the Parliamentary Jazz Awards honours the best of British jazz. MPs and Peers in the All Party Group are delighted to host another ceremony in the House of Commons and we are extremely grateful to PPL for sponsoring the event. Michael Connarty, MP

European Young Artists' Jazz Award announced

Pianist Elliot Galvin has been announced as the winner of the European Young Artists' Jazz Award Burghausen 2014.

Elliot's trio, featuring Wakefield-born Tom McCredie on bass and Simon Roth on drums, wins a cash prize of 5,000 euros and a further financial boost for use in promotion of the group.

For more information on Elliot, see his website.

Eddie Harvey Arranger of the Year Award

In honour of Eddie Harvey's enormous contribution to Jazz in the UK, an award has been set up which reflects his view that jazz composers and arrangers should receive due acknowledgement of their work and position in the jazz community.

The £2,000 prize will be awarded to the winner at a premiere of the new work. Submissions will be judged through a 'blinding listening' process and the identities will remain hidden to the judging panel until after a decision has been made.