Want to support Jazz in the North East? Here's how...

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.

A Fond Farewell to Fusebox and JazzintoDoncaster

The vibrant, diverse jazz scene in the North has a lot to thank the voluntary promoter sector for; a huge number of jazz venues in the North are run entirely by passionate volunteers. The landscape changes frequently and unfortunately, just as new venues and nights pop up regularly, we must say farewell to others.

We use this opportunity to celebrate the brilliant and vital contributions made by two promoters of live jazz that have sadly wound up; Fusebox in Leeds and JazzintoDoncaster. Congratulations and heartfelt thanks to the teams of people who ran these ventures.

Message from Fusebox -

I'm afraid that Fusebox isn't active anymore. After a meeting last October and a fruitful discussion with the Arts Council, we decided to take a pause, while we wrote a bid and  restyled ourselves.

The plan was to start up again with a new format in September but as time passed and with the busy and complex lives of the musician members, nothing developed and so the general consensus was that Fusebox has run it's course. Sad to see.

Bill Chatwin

Message from JazzintoDoncaster -

Sorry to report that JazzintoDoncaster has now ceased due the fall in people attending with the demography of our supporters. We have been subsidising the Bands over the last 12-18 months and our funds have now been depleted.

We may have one final performance featuring the Doncaster Youth Jazz Orchestra at a future date to be arranged.

Thank you for your support, especially Charlie Worsdale, Peter Robinson, Malcolm Silverwood and all previous Committee Members the founders of JazzintoDoncaster

Brian Askew

Volunteer at this year's Marsden Jazz Festival

Set in beautiful surroundings, the Marsden Jazz Festival takes over a village each October and fills it with jazz from mainstream to cutting edge in venues indoors and out. Each year, they run a programme packed full of performances ranging from youth ensembles from the local area to internationally recognised artists.

The festival team have put a call out to recruit volunteers to help run the festival. They have a very simple form to fill in and have a range of jobs on offer.

To find out more, visit the Marsden Jazz Festival website.

Jazz Coop Seeks volunteers for GIJF

The Jazz Coop is seeking volunteers to man their stand at the Sage Gateshead during the International Jazz Festival (15th-17th April).

Situated in the main concourse, the Coop hopes that their stand can be used to promote their education programmes and upcoming gigs as well as attracting new investors.

They are asking for people to give two hours of their time during the following periods -

Friday - 8-10pm
Saturday - 1-5pm and 7-11pm
Sunday - 1-9pm

Those interested should contact Anne on 0191 4560888 or through email on annalex@btinternet.com.

Find out more about the organisation at the Jazz Coop website.
See full programme for Gateshead International Jazz Festival on the Sage Gateshead website.

Want to help the Lancaster Jazz Festival?

Only one month remains before the 2015 Lancaster Jazz Festival kicks off. This festival has gone from strength to strength thanks to the hard work of the festival team and with last year's festival selling out almost every event, this year is sure to be a huge success. (The programme includes Emprical, Tori Freestone, A Dread Supreme and a commission premiere by Calum Mcleod.)

As with many jazz festivals, they couldn't run without the help of volunteers and festival director Matt Robinson has put a call out to those who would like to be part of their team during the festival.

Behind the scenes during LJF it's a mad three days of running around, meeting people, troubleshooting and caffeine with the entire festival team mucking in from dawn to well into the early hours. The wonderful volunteers are the people that make it all happen and make sure that artists and audiences feel comfortable and that everything is running smoothy.

We need volunteers to help with audience management, to meet and greet artists, to help sell merchandise, to support our tech crews, to stop the festival team falling asleep and a million other things. There's no limit to how much or how little time you can volunteer and it doesn't matter if you have loads of experience or none at all.

There are a range of positions available including stage manager, stage tech, front of house and more. Volunteers are able to give as much or as little of their time as they are able.

Those interested should fill out the online form on the Lancaster Jazz Festival website and someone from the team will be in touch.

Trustee Opportunities for Jazz North

Development organisation Jazz North has put a call out to invite people to join their board and become trustees.

We seek trustees whose profile, reputation and skills will enable them to act as a powerful ambassador for Jazz North in any forum. We would expect that potential trustees share our vision for jazz in the North and our belief that jazz has the transformational power to enrich lives through improvisation. We are specifically, but not exclusively, looking for enthusiastic, entrepreneurial-minded, ambitious individuals with expertise in one or more of the following fields:

• Professional music practice
• Business development
• Finance and accounting
• Fundraising
• Corporate Governance
• Education

A Board Recruitment pack has been developed to provide full information and allow interested parties to apply.

For full information, see the Jazz North website.

Want to Volunteer at MJF 2014?

Manchester Jazz Festival are looking for volunteers to help run this years festival, 18-27 July.

There is no limit to the amount of time you can offer, and there a number of different roles available to volunteers:

Box Office/Information Desk
Front of House
Audience Research & Monitoring
Backstage
Runner
Flyering
Selling Raffle Tickets
Driving
Administration
Photography
Pre-Production
Post-Production
Team Leader

Interested parties can apply online using the Volunteer Application Form.

You can also read one volunteer's account of her experience on the MJF Website.