Gig Preview: NYJO 'Three Nations Under One Groove' at Sage Gateshead, April 1st

The National Youth Jazz Orchestra has set up a three date tour in collaboration with two visiting international youth jazz orchestras, including one date in the North as part of the Gateshead International Jazz Festival on April 1st.

After a number of successful collaborations with Germany's BuJazzO and the Dutch Nationaal Jeugd Jazz Orkest, they have put together these three special performances featuring all three ensembles which are sure to be unforgettable gigs!

NYJO MD Mark Armstrong says

The whole concept for “Three Nations Under One Groove” is to demonstrate that jazz is a universal language spoken by young musicians across Europe, with the variety of colours and “jazz dialects” used by all three nations coming together to add nuance and conversation to the repertoire we play.

One key element was that although all three groups brought their own repertoire and players, we would perform as mixed groups rather than separately as NYJO, BuJazzO and NJJO. The music ranged from NYJO’s eclectic mix of arrangements and commissions, original compositions by the NJJO director Martin Fondse, the epic Cuban Fire by Johnny Richards for Stan Kenton, and a “jazz concerto grosso” for big band and small solo group specially written for the project.

Tickets for the Gateshead performance cost £15 and can be bought through the Sage Gateshead website.

For more information, visit the NYJO website.

Want to play at JazzAhead 2017?

JazzAhead is one of the largest jazz expos in the world and it takes place over in Bremen each April. Thousands of musicians, agents, festival directors and organisations gather for the 4 day event and there are four official showcase concerts across the event.

Musicians can attend as a delegate and many do so a chance to meet with promoters and festival directors from across Europe to begin building relationships and setting up gigs for their ensembles. They can also apply to play in one of the showcase events and applications are now being accepted for these showcases.

Currently, there is only one of the four that UK groups can apply for - European Jazz Meeting. This features musicians from across Europe. The other three showcases are German Jazz Expo (german jazz), Overseas Night (jazz from outside of Europe) and the showcase hosted by the event's partner country (2017's is Finland).

Applications are judged by a panel and the deadline is October 31st. In terms of opportunities to apply for, this certainly isn't for everyone and musicians should carefully read the guidelines on the website to ascertain whether their music is at the right stage to benefit from this kind of event. However, it can be a great stepping stone to building an international reputation so it worth investigating.

See the Jazzahead website for further information.

Submissions welcomed for the First International Jazz Competition

Jazz musicians of all ages and styles to apply for the 1st International Jazz Competition run by Seven Virtual Jazz Club.

A panel of musicians, festival directors and critics from around the world will judge videos submissions to select a short list of entries which will then be opened for a public vote. The entries will the highest votes will then be used to decide on winners. The prizes being offered are -

1st Prize - 4000 euros + advertising
2nd Prize - 2000 euros + advertising
3rd Prize - 1000 euros + advertising

Musicians interested in applying are asked to submit a video which lasts no more than 7 minutes and is no larger than 2gb. The quality of the video can be anything from a video shot on a smartphone to a professionally made video. There is a cost of 35 euros to submit an application and applicants are able to submit mutliple entries for consideration (the entry fee must be paid for each one).

Submissions will be accepted until September 15th 2016.

For full information on the contest as well as a list of the judges on the panel, visit the Seven Virtual Jazz Club website.

Help Smoove&Turrell go to Canada Music Week

When not being one of the North's most in-demand jazz bass players and being a pillar of the jazz scene in the North East, Andy Champion is the bassist for Northern Funk outfit Smoove & Turrell.

Since 2009, the band have released 3 albums, appeared numerous times on national radio and toured extensively. They have supported Nile Rodgers and Martha and the Vandellas and appeared at international festivals.

This week, the band announced that they have been selected from thousands of bands to represent the UK music industry at Canada Music Week - a huge international music festival that is attended by US festival directors and bookers and agents from across the world.

In order to take advantage of this opportunity, Smoove & Turrell have to raise £5,000 and they have set up a Crowdfunder campaign to do so. It's going well so far with 71 backers and 53% of their total raised. Donors will receive a number of rewards including special merchandise and chances to win tickets to festivals and a one-off gig from the band themselves.

For full information, visit their Crowdfunder page. The campaign runs until April 29th.

Gogo Penguin Tour 2016

2016 is already shaping up to be a busy year for Manchester trio Gogo Penguin, with the release of their Blue Note debut Man Made Object and extensive touring in the UK and internationally.

The group have been invited to perform at Coachella Festival in California, as well as some NYC shows and they are scheduled to make their debut at the Blue Note in Tokyo - all of this before June!

Those closer to home will be able to see the band as they tour the UK in February with dates in Leeds, Manchester, Cardiff, Glasgow, Aberdeen and London amongst others. Following this, the band head to Europe for a further 20+ dates.

See below for their full tour dates and head to the Gogo Penguin website to find out more and pre-order the new album.

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.

NORVOL & Apollo Receive Grant to set up International Touring Network

It has been announced that NORVOL Jazz (the Northern Voluntary Jazz promoters network) in partnership with Apollo Jazz Network run by trumpeter Kim Macari have been awarded over £32,000 by Arts Council England to set up an International Touring Network for live jazz in the North.

PRESS RELEASE

The Northern Voluntary Jazz Promoters Network (NORVOL JAZZ) in partnership with Apollo Jazz Network have been awarded over £32,000 by Arts Council England to establish a touring network for live jazz and to present three tours featuring world-class international musicians.

Through the development of a touring infrastructure, northern jazz clubs clubs will host tour dates and workshops and Apollo Jazz Network, run by trumpeter Kim Macari, will manage the project. The first tour will take place in May 2016 and will feature Canadian trumpeter Ingrid Jensen.

"I am delighted to receive this support from Arts Council England. It has been over a year of development and discussion for a project which is ambitious and large-scale and it’s fantastic that we are now able to roll it out.

The project is going to benefit audiences, promoters and musicians in a direct way. We’ll have three featured artists from the USA collaborating with UK musicians to create new work and then touring it across the region, leading workshops and masterclasses along the way. We’re also going to be live-streaming gigs, allowing as many people as possible the opportunity to be involved. Getting a chance to see groups like this perform in more intimate venues is going to be extraordinary.

This focus on collaboration – artistic collaboration as well as partnering with organisations – is what Apollo Jazz Network has always been about .
Kim Macari, Project Director

"We’re really pleased at this news. It is a vindication of what the 30 Northern jazz clubs and festival promoters in the network have been aiming to do. The international touring programme will enable volunteer run jazz clubs – the backbone of the jazz scene in the North – to show off some of the best jazz artists in the world to their audiences". –
Steve Crocker, NorvolJazz

International Jarek Smietana Jazz Guitar Competition

The first International Jarek Smietana Jazz Guitar Competition is being held in Krakow this year and applications are now being invited by guitarists across the world.

The competition is in celebration of the year of Jarek Smietana, a polish guitarist whose extensive career included performances with Art Farmer, Joe Zawinul, John Abercrombie and Nigel Kennedy. Smietana passed away in 2013.

The competition will be judged by a panel including Mike Stern, John Abercrombie and Ed Cherry. First prize is $10,000, second prize is $5,000 and third is $2,000. There will also be a special prize funded by Smietana's wife and daugther.

Guitarists who wish to enter the competition are asked to submit two audio files and one video file by March 31st with a 30euro entry fee. Those who are successful will take part in the semi finals and finals in Krakow on 1-4th July. Participants will be required to cover their own travel expenses.

Full details can be found on the Jarek Smietana Jazz Guitar Competition website.

Sam Healey wins International Jazz Competition

Beats & Pieces saxophonist Sam Healey has won first prize at the Johnny Raducanu International Jazz Competition in Romania.

Healey joined 13 other musicians to participate in the competition over two days and was selected by the panel of judges to receive the first prize of €5000.

From the Epfi press release...

“I'm feeling over the moon! It has been my first solo competition and so a real honour to not only win the grand prize but have the opportunity to meet like minded musicians  and  make connections all across Europe...it is very apparent how important music and sustaining performance are to the Romanian public.”   

As well as his work with Beats & Pieces, Sam has recently debuted a new quartet featuring Stuart McCallum, Richard Hammond and Luke Flowers. He plans to use the prize money to record his debut album with this group, his first as leader.

For more information, visit samhealey.com and epfirecords.com.