CBSO Centre, Birmingham UK 09-12-16 This event was even more special than I had expected. Such are the difficulties when recording a big band and a string section – getting everyone in the same studio, getting everyone there on the same day… Read More ›
Review and pictures by John Watson CBSO Centre, Birmingham UK 12-11-16 “Jazz can save the world – right?” Drummer Andrew Bain posed the question to the audience at his Jazzlines concert. Some of us were nodding hopefully, and he added: “Or maybe… Read More ›
If you are going to try a few gigs in the English Midlands this month, these are the ones I’d choose from first: Saturday 12 Andrew Bain Embodied Hope Quartet Jazzlines, CBSO Centre, Birmingham 8pm, £12.50 The drummer’s Transatlantic all-star band playing Bain’s… Read More ›
Andrew Bain, drummer, band leader and senior lecturer at Birmingham Conservatoire, is back on the road. This is the second of year of Andrew’s PhD – have you noticed that academic study is now not just a worthy undertaking in… Read More ›
The strong jazz connections between Birmingham and Scotland are manifested this week with no fewer than seven “ex-pat Scots Brummies” included in the National Youth Jazz Orchestra of Scotland (NYJOS) performances at the Wiltshire Music Centre near Bath on Thursday… Read More ›
It’s a sign of a sophisticated city when good quality live music is acknowledged to be a vital and regular part of the cafe bar mix. And when that live music starts to feature international musicians of exceptional calibre, then… Read More ›
Jazz At The Spotted Dog is busy planning its second compilation album and this one is going to be called Live At The Spotted Dog. It will feature four bands and will capture the great live atmosphere that is generated… Read More ›
CBSO Centre, Birmingham UK 18-10-2015 I’ve heard drummer Andrew Bain many times in other people’s bands but never as a leader. And what a band to lead! On piano was Gwilym Simcock, on bass Steve Watts, on tenor and soprano… Read More ›
Andrew Bain is a well-known drummer and teacher. Originally from Edinburgh, he has studied in London and New York and is now contributing his considerable talents and buoyant positive energy to the Birmingham scene. We spoke about his new job, about his… Read More ›
The Yorks Bakery Sessions are no more; welcome to The Pure Sessions. Trumpeter/bassist Percy Pursglove and drummer Andrew Bain have switched their regular Monday evening jazz sessions from Yorks in Newhall St, central Birmingham, to the Purecraft Bar and Kitchen… Read More ›
Birmingham Conservatoire‘s jazz department, part of Birmingham City University, has expanded its senior teaching staff by 50%. Interviews for a new post of Senior Lecturer were held yesterday and earlier today Head of Jazz Jeremy Price let me know that the… Read More ›
It’s drummer Andrew Bain’s birthday today and he’s playing this evening at the weekly session he and trumpeter/bassist Percy Pursglove host at Yorks Bakery Cafe. With Andrew and Percy will be Gareth Fowler on guitar and Mark Hodgson on bass,… Read More ›
Well, with Saturday off for other things – like going to the cinema or the theatre, or perhaps even having an evening at home, you can enjoy some jazz at minimal cost on six of the next seven days. Today,… Read More ›
You just have to say two words to those who have been listening to British jazz for a while to elicit (I’ll stick my neck out here and say) without exception a warm smile and enthusiastic appreciation. Those words are… Read More ›
Of the many excellent regular jazz nights around the city, top marks for hipness of setting has to go to the Monday sessions trumpeter/bassist Percy Pursglove and drummer Andrew Bain have established at Yorks Bakery Cafe, at the Colmore Row… Read More ›
A recent delight has been my discovery of Yorks Bakery Cafe in Newhall Street, Birmingham (just near the corner with Colmore Row). It has a lovely atmosphere and the kind of understated style that one associates with cafes in places… Read More ›
Ben Powell leads a quartet at the CBSO Centre this evening, in a programme of modern jazz violin which moves the music forward while still acknowledging the founding fathers like Stephane Grappelli. Ben, who grew up in Cheltenham but now… Read More ›
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