The little, local, volunteer-run jazz club is alive and well in Warwickshire, where there are regular gatherings in Stratford-Upon-Avon, Kenilworth and Leamington Spa, as well as a refreshed jazz programme in the county’s prinicipal city, courtesy of Jazz Coventry. There… Read More ›
stratford jazz
Tom Haines & Birmingham Jazz Orchestra
Stratford Jazz Stratford Arts House 07-12-16 Tom Haines has written some strong music over the last few years and he wanted to get it all down on a recording. What better way than to get a crowdfunder campaign together, employ the… Read More ›
My top five West Midland gigs – December 2016
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 ›
Vicari and band hold up their Mirror in the Midlands
Pianist Andrea Vicari was commissioned to write a suite for the 2007 Music At Leasowes Bank festival in Shropshire, and The Mirror was the result. Nearly a decade later she has had the chance to record it and the suite is… Read More ›
And so, as one door closes tonight for Stratford Jazz…
Tonight is the last Stratford Jazz gig at its home for the last eight years, No.1, Shakespeare St, Stratford-upon-Avon. Helping with the farewell speeches, the goodbye looks and that one more for the road will be Gilad Atzmon & the Orient… Read More ›
Phoenix spotted among the Stratford swans
Stratford Jazz at Stratford-Upon-Avon faced shutting up shop for good following the decision of programme Roy Stevens to hang up his hat after many years of sterling work. The alternate Wednesday gigs at No.1 Shakespeare Street were put on hold… Read More ›
Barnes and Adams play Stratford Jazz’s wake on Wednesday
“For in that sleep of death what dreams may come…” Stratford-upon-Avon’s most famous son wrote those words in Hamlet, but whether dreams of future jazz gigs may come to be a reality following the predicted and imminent death of Stratford Jazz… Read More ›
Phelps, Fowler, Glasson and Hill – this week’s Midland highlights
One of the most exciting players of the young jazz set that has matured over the last decade – it includes the members of Empirical, pianist Kit Downes and saxophonist/rapper Soweto Kinch – is surely trumpeter Jay Phelps. We don’t… Read More ›
Trumpeters bookend the week’s top West Midland gigs
A busy Birmingham-centred jazz week begins this evening at what used to be called “cocktail hour” back in the day. No cocktails on hand in the foyer of the Bramall Building on the University of Birmingham campus, but a possibly… Read More ›
Tony Kofi plays Stratford Jazz with BoHop tomorrow
Tomorrow evening saxophonist Tony Kofi brings his powerful sound to The Chapel, the intimate room used every other Wednesday by Stratford Jazz at No 1 Shakespeare Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, and he has the BoHop Trio for company. Tony Kofi was born… Read More ›
Glasper, DeJohnette, Lovano, Spalding, Banner, Robson – they’re all here
This jam-packed West Midland jazz week shows the full range of the genre with music from acoustic to electronic played by musicians from Birmingham students to some of the biggest international names in the business. Here are the highlights. First… Read More ›
What Jonathan Silk learned from Maria Schneider – the best of this week’s Midland gigs
Earlier this year Birmingham band leader Jonathan Silk spent some time with New York bandleader Maria Schneider. Tomorrow evening Silk brings his Big Band in to the CBSO Centre, and we’ll be able to hear the results. Of course, we… Read More ›
Recommended Midland gigs over the next seven days
Tomorrow evening there are interesting “concept” gigs in Birmingham and Shrewsbury. The Forgotten Fairground Project is a nine-piece jazz group with string quartet and vocals, masterminded by trumpeter Matt Gough and drummer Jonathan Silk. The central piece is a Matt… Read More ›
Six out of seven nights makes the Midland jazz week
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 ›
Empirical leads a busy Midland jazz week
Jazzlines’ 2014 programme gets underway in earnest this week with four gigs over six days. The big one is on Saturday evening at the CBSO Centre, when the jazz quartet Empirical is joined by the classical Benyounes String Quartet, to… Read More ›
Bryan Corbett & Chris Dodd – Green
(BCCD Records BCCD 2013) The trumpeter and the bassist met while playing in the band Us3, with whom they have toured all over the US and Asia. On a brief break back in Britain they tried writing and recording a… Read More ›
Bowden and gang in Will’s neck of the woods
Stratford Jazz opens its autumn season on Wednesday with some of the Midlands’ most familiar and best-loved players. Leading the quartet from the alto saxophone is Chris Bowden, with Ben Markland on bass and Neil Bullock on drums. The band’s… Read More ›
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