Drummer, composer and band leader Jonathan Silk is a most familiar figure for jazz listeners in Birmingham. He crops up all over the place, as a sideman, as a leader, in groups small and large. And when he’s not playing… Read More ›
jonathan silk
Great week for singers continues with Liane and Madeleine
It’s been a fine week already for visiting singers to the West Midlands. On Friday Swedish singer Emilia Martensson and her British pianist partner Barry Green played the Jazzlines Free Jazz session at Symphony Hall Cafe Bar and on Saturday… Read More ›
Toby Boalch Sextet – State Of Play
(www.tobyboalch.co.uk) This Birmingham Conservatoire graduate affair has been bringing me great joy for the past week and is likely to continue to do so for many years. It is one of the best examples yet of the marvellous jazz being… Read More ›
Loads of jazz on offer in Birmingham this evening
We’ve had Jazz Clash Friday and Gig Jam Tuesday. Now welcome to Tough Choice Thursday, with four gigs going on this evening, three of them simultaneously. Courtney Pine is the special guest player at a Prostrate Cancer Awareness Jazz Evening… Read More ›
Jonathan Silk Quintet
Churchills Snooker Club, Birmingham UK 23-10-2013 The small stage might have been cluttered with microphones and various other cameras and recording devices, but the band was looking relaxed and was firing strongly from the beginning. It’s probably a little difficult… Read More ›
Silk – a few steps beyond the snooker cushions tonight
Drummer Jonathan Silk and his band make a journey down the stairs and past the darkened snooker tables well worthwhile this evening. The band is a quintet with Chris Mapp on bass, Andy Bunting on piano, and John Fleming and… Read More ›
Fine drummer to be spotted at The Dog tonight
Ollie Howell, who has a very impressive debut album just out on Whirlwind Recordings, brings his band into The Spotted Dog in Digbeth, Birmingham, this evening. Judging by the sound of the album (here is a review) it should be… Read More ›
CD review: Jonathan Silk Big Band
Uncouth (with Percy Pursglove) (Jonathan Silk) Jonathan Silk is a Scottish drummer who graduated from Birmingham Conservatoire with a first class honours degree in 2011 and has most generously decided to make Birmingham his home. This album, recorded in July… Read More ›
Gig review: John Fleming Quartet
The Ort Cafe, Balsall Heath, Birmingham UK 19-07-2013 “I’m so sorry – late for my own gig!” were the tenor saxophonist’s opening words to the small audience in this marvellously rough and ready little cafe. But Fleming and pianist Andy… Read More ›
The insufficiently sung heroes of British jazz and the week’s other great Midland gigs
When it comes to unsung heroes – or maybe insufficiently sung heroes – jazz, being itself rather an unsung art form, is likely to have a good few. One of this illustrious group’s UK contingent is undoubtedly the pianist Nikki… Read More ›
Quercus and Neset lead the Midland jazz attractions this week
There are two great gigs marked on the calendar this week. One is the mature folk/jazz trio Quercus at Warwick Arts Centre on Monday and the other is the brilliant young saxophonist Marius Neset at the mac on Wednesday. Quercus… Read More ›
From Silvershine Jam to an Aquarium in a Dog – the week’s Midland jazz gigs
Unpack your axe and head for the Silvershine Jazz Club in Bearwood this evening. There’s a Jam Night with The Blue Notes and other guests, including Vic Evans on vocals, Keith York on drums and Dutch Lewis on saxophones. Entry… Read More ›
Tony Dudley-Evans’ 10 best gigs of 2012
Guest writer Tony Dudley-Evans, jazz producer for Birmingham-based Jazzlines, which presents jazz gigs in the area, chooses his most memorable gigs of the last 12 months. These are ten gigs that I either helped with the promotion or just attended…. Read More ›
The week ahead in Midland gigs
The National Youth Orchestra are in town for a performance which includes Messiaen’s huge Turangalila-Symphonie on Wednesday evening, but this evening musicians from the orchestra show off their jazz chops at Rush Hour Blues. Now there was a time when… Read More ›
Birmingham in Manchester
Three great bands from the Midlands plus one of our finest singers take a trip a little further up north for the Manchester Jazz Festival this week. TG Collective take their special brand of flamenco hot club swing to the… Read More ›
Farewell Cobweb Collective, hello Blam!
The Cobweb Collective, a group of young Birmingham Conservatoire jazz course graduates who had decided to stay in the city and promote their music collectively, is no more. But this doesn’t mean the energy of the young, local jazz scene… Read More ›
Meadow headlines the week ahead’s gigs
After what seems like an awfully long time, Birmingham Jazz finally gets fully into gear this week with a prestige double bill on Saturday, the first of the new Jazz Club season on Wednesday and collaboration with the Supersonic Festival… Read More ›
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