Refujazz Charity Event at HEART, February 11th

Jazz at Heart's Lesley Jeffries and double bassist John Marley have teamed up to run a full day of jazz performances and workshops to raise money for several refugee charities supporting those fleeing from war.

The day runs from midday to 11pm on Saturday 11th February. Tickets for individual events cost £5 and a day pass is available for just £20. Events in the cafe are free entry but all donations are gratefully received.

The timetable of events is below. For more information, visit the Jazz at Heart website here - www.heartcentre.org.uk/jazz-at-heart

12-12.45pm - Al Morrison Trio (Cafe)
1-1.45pm - Joe Boyes Trio (Main Hall)
2.15-3pm - Bassa Bassa (Main Hall)
3-3.30pm - Inside Out Duo (Cafe)
3.30-4.30pm - George Macdonald Trio (Main Hall)
4.30-5pm - The Irrelevance (Cafe)
5-6pm - Louie Mcdonald (Main Hall)
6-6.30pm - Sam Dunn (Cafe)
6.30-7.30pm - York Youth Jazz Orchestra (Main Hall)
7.30-8pm - Aleks Podraza Trio (Cafe)
8-9pm - Leeds Jazz Orchestra (Main Hall)
9-9.30pm - Phil Green's Sky High Jazz Trio (Cafe)
9.30-11pm - Kate Peters Quartet + Jam (Main Hall)

Workshops -
John Marley - Jazz Bass Time TBC
Sam Dunn - Jazz Guitar Time TBC

Gig Preview: Jazz for SKIP at Heart, November 27th

On Friday November 27th, Jazz at Heart will host a special concert to raise funds for SKIP, a charity which supports families affected by poverty in Peru and runs educational initiatives.

Three local bands will perform in the jazz showcase event including members of the North Leeds Jazz Orchestra, Colin Byrne's Leeds Jazz Orchestra and Seven Arts jazz workshops.

SKIP is a UK, US and Peruvian registered charity working in the impoverished districts of El Porvenir and Alto Trujillo, located on the North Coast of Peru. SKIP's primary aim is to enable children living in this area to realise their right to an education. In terms of theoretical framework, we understand that families are the principal force in the lives of children and therefore work with the entire familial unit. This holistic approach focuses on four pillars of family development: education, economically stable families, emotional well-being, and healthy and safe home environments. SKIP believes that economically-disadvantaged families have the capacity to be the principal agents of change in their own lives and communities. As such, our organisation works in partnership with the community to empower people to make sustainable changes. 

Tickets for the event cost £8/6 and the ticket sales plus proceeds from the raffles will go to SKIP. Musicians will be donating their time for free in support of the cause.

For more information, visit HEART's website and for a more depth look at the work SKIP does, visit their website.

Jazz Coffee Morning for MacMillan Cancer Support in York

Jazz In York is a website run by bassist John Marley. As the name would suggest, it keeps audiences up to date with all the jazz going on in York. On November 14th, Jazz In York will be running a Jazz Coffee Morning in order to raise money for MacMillan Cancer Care.

John says...

On Saturday 14th November, we will be having a coffee morning with live jazz for Macmillan Cancer Support. The event will take place at Clements Hall which is located close to York city centre. The Kate Peters Trio will be performing and guests musicians are more than welcome to play as well.

Please come along and help raise lots of money for this great charity....and enjoy some coffee and cake while you're at it!

10am-12pm. 

MacMillan Cancer provides valuable support to those diagnosed with cancer and their families. For more information on the work they do, visit their website.

Nicki Allan Launches Charity Single for Cancer Research

Jazz vocalist Nicki Allan is releasing a single to raise money for Cancer Research, both in memory of a close friend Nick Laycock who passed away after being diagnosed with stomach cancer and drawing from her own experience with breast cancer.

The single is called For Life and will be officially launched at the Chapel Allerton festival on September 5th. Proceeds from online downloads and cd sales will be split between MacMillan Cancer Care and Yorkshire Cancer Research.

In an article published by Yorkshire Cancer Research, Nicki says

On returning home from the funeral I immediately felt compelled to compose a piece of music in Nick’s memory. The melody was easy but I could only think of a few hook lines here and there for the words and assigned the main task to another friend, Johanne Levy, who was going through breast cancer at the time. She wrote the lyrics, which were beautiful, and yet it was another four years before the song was recorded.

In January I found a lump which turned out to be breast cancer and although it initially turned my life upside down, once I got my head around things I realised I wanted to try and give something back to charity to spur on the fight to find a cure for this terrible disease that was threatening to take my life.

Full Article Here

For Life will be available on iTunes from September 5th and more information can be found on Nicki's website.

Sandhouse Stompers Mardis Gras for Favela Brass Update

Congratulations to the Sandhouse Stompers for raising a grand total of £4062 for the Favela Brass Project during their 9 day coast to coast mardi gras!

Read about the project and keep updated with their news on their website.

The Sandhouse Stompers go Coast to Coast for Favela Brass

The Sandhouse Stompers, a 9 piece New Orleans brass group made up of Northern musicians, are embarking on a 120 mile walk from Morecambe to Whitby to raise funds for Favela Brass.

Starting on 23rd July, the group will play 9 gigs as they walk through towns from coast to coast, as well as stopping to busk and raise awareness of the work Favela Brass does.

The Favela Brass project provides free brass, percussion and English lessons to children in a small favela in Rio de Janiero.  Brass instruments are extremely expensive to buy in Brazil and brass tuition is almost non-existent in Rio's state school system. Net result: children in Rio's low-income neighbourhoods rarely learn to play brass, which is a huge shame considering that music plays such a central role in the cultural and social life of the city. The Favela Brass project aims to change that situation for children in a small favela (slum) called Pereira da Silva in Rio's Laranjeiras district.

The Sandhouse Stompers are - Mark Ellis (saxophone), Stuart Garside (trombone), Tom Ashe (trumpet), Paul Grady (trumpet), Neil Morley (trumpet), Gareth Smith (trumpet), Rowena Smith (trombone), James Stretton (tuba) and Mark Kerrigan (drums).

Keep an eye out for the band busking over next week or so, or catch them at one of their 9 performances -

23rd July, 4pm - Knight Stainforth Hall, Stainforth
23rd July, 8pm - Victoria Hall, Settle
24th July, 8pm - Foresters Arms, Grassington
25th July, 8pm - Crown Inn, Pateley Bridge
26th July, 5pm - One Eyed Rat, Ripon
27th July, 8pm - Little 3, Thirsk
28th July, 8pm - Helmsley Brewing Co., Helmsley
29th July, 9pm - Coach House Inn, Rosedale Abbey

Instrument Amnesty at Ronnie Scott's

In partnership with Sistema England and Music Fund EU, Ronnie Scott's will hold a musical instrument amnesty on July 11th to provide instruments for young musicians in the UK and abroad.

People with old instruments stashed away and never used are invited to make an appointment on July 11th to have their instrument looked at. Instruments will have tracking numbers fitted so that donors can be informed of their final destination.

Sistema was set up by Julian Lloyd Webber, inspired by El Sistema in Venezuela. Their aim is to transform the lives of children, young people and their communities through music making. Sistema will distribute the donated instruments in the UK.

Music Fund EU provides instruments to international conflict zones from their base in Brussels. They support musicians and music schools in areas like Africa, The Middle East and Central America. Music Fund EU will distribute donated instruments internationally.

For full information, see the Ronnie Scott's website.

York Jazz Jam for Charity

Bassist John Marley has organised a charity jazz jam to raise funds for music charity Nordoff-Robbins, an organisation which specialises in music therapy.

The jam will take place on March 31st at 8.30pm at the Phoenix in York.

John says...

To celebrate the jazzinyork.com website being up and running for over a year, we've organised a jam session to raise money for charity. We wanted it to be a music charity so we've picked Nordoff Robbins who do great work helping people through music therapy. You can find out about them at http://www.nordoff-robbins.org.uk/
All guests are welcome to play...all instruments and vocalists.
The house band is -
Harry Orme - Guitar John Marley - Bass Matt Parkinson - Drums and maybe a couple of pianists!
Entry is £4 or £3 if you are going to sit in and play.