Paul Bream, champion of jazz and improvised music in the North East, runs a very informative and handy Jazz Alert mail-out so you'll never again miss out on a gig in the area. This time, he also flagged up an opportunity to support the scene in other ways - by becoming a board member for Jazz North East.
He says...
Jazz North East is the longest established promoter of Jazz in the UK, with 2016 having seen us celebrate 50 years of bringing the best contemporary jazz to Tyneside. But for us this anniversary was just the launchpad for the future. We’re much more interested in looking forward to our future concert programmes, with diversity very much at the heart of our approach.
As a registered charity and company limited by guarantee, our activities are managed by a Board of Trustees, who play a crucial role in making sure the organisation manages its funds properly and fulfils its role of promoting gigs that showcase the best of British and international jazz.
We are currently looking to recruit new members to our Board to help us manage our existing programme of gigs and build on our past success. We are particularly keen to recruit people who have skills and experience in any of the following areas:
Graphic design
Website development and management
Audio and video recording
Online sales and streaming
Education/music development.
But specialist skills aren’t essential: a love for jazz is the foremost requirement, and we don’t expect volunteers to have a comprehensive knowledge of jazz and its artists - enthusiastic newcomers would be very welcome, and being a Board member is itself an exciting learning experience!
The role is a voluntary one. You will be expected to attend Board meetings (normally around 10 a year, and usually held in central Newcastle in the evening) and help out at our regular gigs (generally four a month but you won’t need to be at every one). In return, you will help shape our future activities and get free entry to hear and meet some of the most exciting jazz musicians around.
Check out our website http://www.jazznortheast.com/ to get an idea of the quality and variety of our current programme.
If you are interested in joining us then please send an email to info@jazznortheast.com, giving us an idea of how you would like to be involved."
My understanding is that JNE aren't expecting anybody to dive in without getting a good idea of what is involved, and interested people will be able to sit in at one or two Board meetings and other events before making a firm decision . . . readers of 'Jazz Alert' are clearly committed consumers of jazz; here's a chance to help out as a provider.
