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 ›
(Stoney Lane Records) This is the most ambitious release yet from the young Birmingham jazz scene, and quite possibly from any Birmingham-based jazz musician. Drummer Jonathan Silk has expanded his big band to 20 players and then added a 13-piece… Read More ›
If you are going to try a few gigs in the English West Midlands this month, these are the ones I’d choose from first: Friday 2 Pilgrimage: Young Pilgrims, Rotunda Of Wonder, Gorillabot Jazzlines, Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath, Birmingham 8.30pm, £10 A… Read More ›
Today’s jazz musicians have to have a lot of fingers in a lot of pies in order to survive, and one with more than a few digits in more than a few steak-and-kidneys is drummer Jonathan Silk. He’s not only… Read More ›
It has developed into a much anticipated annual event – the summer Sunday afternoon gathering in back garden of The Spotted Dog in Digbeth. With as many musicians as punters – and a healthy overlap between the two – it… 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 ›
The Mockingbird Theatre and Bar has three film screenings coming up which will be further enlivened by a real band. The first is tomorrow night, it’s the controversial drummer movie Whiplash, and the live band will be led by drummer Jonathan Silk…. Read More ›
Eric & Ernie, Paul & Art, Stan & Ollie, Don & Phil, Don & Walt… perhaps Clifford & Max is the most appropriate analogy. Sometimes two can achieve so much more than just one. The pair that have done more for… Read More ›
Yep, every Tuesday could legitimately be called a big night at The Spotted Dog – the performers are always excellent, the room is always jumping. But tonight there is the added attraction of a classy little something to take home…. Read More ›
Here are a few thoughts from jazz movers in the English Midlands: Tony Dudley-Evans, programme adviser Cheltenham Jazz Festival: “I look forward to the Cheltenham Jazz Festival from 27th April to 2nd May, particularly the programme in the Parabola Arts… Read More ›
Jazz At The Spotted Dog has a smart new website – it’s another of the sure steps the organisers of the sessions at the Digbeth pub have been taking in the past year to build the Dog’s reputation as one of the most… Read More ›
Students arriving at Birmingham Conservatoire to study jazz get their best shot at mid-week excess this evening with an appetising double-tot Fizzle session at the Lamp Tavern followed by a mammoth four-band binge at The Spotted Dog. Fizzle offers Treppenwitz (Matthew… Read More ›
The Sun At The Station, Kings Heath, Birmingham UK 18-09-2015 I can’t run to an extensive review, but I do want to shout out about this new and very promising jazz night at the Sun at the Station pub on… Read More ›
The Spotted Dog, Digbeth, Birmingham 01-09-2015 I have a very good friend with wide taste in music who has always had difficulty with the processional soloing over a rhythm section that is the basis of so much jazz. It’s not… Read More ›
Like the proverbial buses the festivals all arrive at once! Tonight an excellent array of gigs starts at a favourite Birmingham city centre pub. The Old Joint Stock Jazz Fest it’s calling itself, drummer and Spotted Dog jazz co-organiser Jonathan Silk… Read More ›
The Yardbird jazz wake is still being talked about: “Were you there? Wasn’t it great? So sad it’s gone…” And, as the full horror of seeing that security fencing around a derelict Yardbird sinks in, the next question is “Where will… Read More ›
2014 has been a good year and I have heard lots of wonderful music, in Birmingham, in Cheltenham and abroad at one of the many excellent festivals in Europe I have been privileged to attend. I have selected entirely from… Read More ›
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