Jazz North's Northern Line Showcase, Leeds June 10th

Posted: 24 May 2013

                                         Martin Smith (Weave)

The Friday Interview: Dave Smyth

Posted: 24 May 2013

                                                Photo by Martin Scheuregger.

Born in the Midlands, drummer and composer Dave Smyth moved to Yorkshire to study music at York University. As well as working as a jazz musician around Yorkshire, he studied with Martin France Julian Arguelles and Martin France and after graduating, moved to London to study his postgraduate degree at the Royal Academy of Music.  
He is about to embark on a UK tour in June with his octet, Timecraft (which featured saxophonist Iain Ballamy on their debut gig).




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NYJO & Jamie Cullum at St Pancras Station

Posted: 22 May 2013

Singer and pianist Jamie Cullum enlisted the help of NYJO to help promote his new album, Momentum, with a gig in St Pancras Station in London on Tuesday.

The North was well represented, with 3 LCoM graduates in the sax section - Riley Stone-Lonergan, Nadim Teimoori and Phil Meadows.

Seb Scotney was in attendance and has some footage of the gig HERE.

Django Bates Comes to Holmfirth

Posted: 22 May 2013

Pianist Django Bates will end his UK tour at Holmfirth Arts Festival on June 16th.

From Press Release...


Django plays at the Picturedrome following five star Guardian reviews and ahead of the recently announced summer date at the Proms with his ‘Belovèd’ trio. In addition to the performance at 8pm, there will be a pre-concert talk at 7pm, where you can catch Django in conversation with Professor Tony Whyton of the University of Salford.


Festival Director Fiona Goh is delighted to have attracted such an iconic instrumentalist:


“If you’ve never seen Django live, grab a ticket,” said Fiona. “He’s a true British eccentric and a breathtakingly original musician and performer. Belovèd will be playing a mixture of the Bird and Confirmation albums, which have wowed the jazz press and audiences alike with their unique takes on the music and influence of Charlie Parker.” 

Tickets for the Django Bates Belovèd concert are £15 (£12 concessions) and the pre concert talk is free to ticket holders.

Holmfirth Arts Festival Programme 2013

Edinburgh Jazz Festival 2013

Posted: 21 May 2013

The full programme for this year's Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival was announced today. It will run from July 19th to July 28th at venues across the city.

As always, there's a varied programme featuring many Scottish musicians (Brian Kellock, Cathie Rae, Konrad Wiszniewski and Euan Stevenson) some international visitors (Fred Wesley, Tia Fuller and Pharoah Sanders) and this year, jazz musicians from the North are featured a number of times in the programme (Submotion Orchestra, LCM alumni Malcolm MacFarlane and LOCUS, featuring Kim Macari, Riley Stone-Lonergan, Tom Wheatley and Jay Davis).

To see the full line-up and book tickets - Edinburgh Jazz Festival 2013

Burton Agnes Jazz & Blues Festival 5th-7th July

Posted: 20 May 2013

 Discounted Early Bird tickets for the Burton Agnes Jazz and Blues Festival are selling fast, so if you're thinking about going, get in there quick and take advantage of these tickets. You have until 31st May to sign up for Early Bird tickets.

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Trudy Kerr Steps into the breach at Wakefield Jazz, May 24th

Posted: 18 May 2013

Owing to a bereavement overseas, Georgia Mancio is unable to appear at Wakefield Jazz this Friday, May 24th.

At very short notice, experienced performer Trudy Kerr will visit to sing in her place. The same band will support her led by pianist Tim Lapthorn with Julie Walkington on bass and Dave Ohm on dru

The Friday Interview: Laura Cole

Posted: 17 May 2013

                                Laura with band Metamorphic (photo by Alex Bonney)

A graduate of Middlesex University's jazz degree, pianist and composer Laura Cole is now based in the North. Her work with Metamorphic is recognised nationally, with the group releasing albums on F-IRE label and touring throughout the UK. As well as Metamorphic, Laura also co-leads a large ensemble with bassist Seth Bennett and is the pianist with Martin Archer's Engine Room Favourites, one of the 12 bands selected to take part in Jazz North's Northern Line scheme.

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Jazz Does Crowdfunding - UPDATE

Posted: 15 May 2013

                                 Led Bib


Following up from our recent interview with guitarist Alex Roth, today he announced that his Sponsume campaign has raised £1,310.97 to go toward his UK tour with band Otriad. Congratulations to Alex, who has put in a lot of hard work to promote the tour, so head to see a gig if you can.

Led Bib are also going down the crowdfunding route and have started a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for a new studio album and live vinyl to mark their 10th anniversary. They've set a £10,000 goal and have until 25th May to achieve it. To see their video or to pledge, visit Led Bib Kickstarter page.

Garforth Arts Festival 2013

Posted: 15 May 2013

Garforth Arts Festival has announced their 2013 programme and it's full of big names from world music, folk and more.
Amongst many other events, guitarist Eduardo Niebla will perform as part of the festival on Sunday 30th. Their headline event, the Playground Party will take place on Saturday 6th July and feature LAU, Bellowhead, Kate Rusby, Ruby Turner and Leeds-based group Hope and Social. Tickets for this event are on-sale now - £22 full price, £18 conc and £54 for a family ticket.

More Information and Ticket Bookings