JazzUK - December 2013-January 2014

. jazz uk DECEMBER / JANUARY 2014

ISSUE 114

NEWS • GIGS • INTERVIEWS • FEATURES • REVIEWS

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Zara McFarlane

NICK SMART • JAZZ ON THE ROAD • GIGS HIGHLIGHTS • HOTHOUSE 1 THE JAZZ SERVICES GUIDE TO THE BRITISH SCENE

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by Jazz Services, a registered charity which provides funding, information, and representation for the British jazz community.

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Welcome to the December/January issue of JazzUK, with more news and features on the UK’s jazz scene from Jazz Services. We’re delighted to feature the fantastic Zara McFarlane on the cover, talking about her new album and Jazz Services supported tour. We also look at the educational side of the UK’s scene with the Royal Academy of Music’s Nick Smart, head down to Cornwall to go Out & About with the St Ives Jazz Club, and hand over the Guest Spot to Peter Bacon of The Jazz Breakfast.

All of this plus highlights from the December issue of Gigs, Phil Meadow’s updates from the youth scene in Hot House, Q&As with Jazz Services’ touring bands and more.

Jazz Services Supporting Jazz In The UK!

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NEWS – Catch up on the latest news of what’s to come in December and January.

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OUT & ABOUT – We head to the very west of the West Country to visit the St Ives Jazz Club and learn about their contribution to the area’s jazz scene.

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NICK SMART – Following the recent Will Michael Awards for Jazz Education, we speak to the Royal Academy of Music’s Head of Jazz, Nick Smart, to discuss jazz education in the UK.

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ZARA McFARLANE – The singer speaks to Dan Paton in advance of her new album and accompanying Jazz Services supported tour.

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THE GUEST SPOT – Peter Bacon introduces us to his excellent Midlands-based blog, The Jazz Breakfast.

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HOT HOUSE – Phil Meadow’s regular spotlight on the best of the upand-coming players taking to the scene.

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GIGS HIGHLIGHTS – Choice picks from December’s issue of Gigs with Sabina Czajkowska.

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JAZZ ON THE ROAD – We speak to more bands touring the UK with the help of Jazz Services’ National Touring Support Scheme.

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JAZZ SERVICES HIGHLIGHTS – A brief selection of 2013’s best bits, as picked by the Jazz Services team.

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News Over the next few pages you can read some of the news that has filtered down into the JazzUK grapevine, plus updates on what to look out for in the next couple of months.

Got a story for News? Email details and press releases for the next issue’s news section to the editor, with the title ‘JazzUK News’.

James Allsop and Robin Fincker, as well as the strings, which have always formed a key ingredient of the group. Clocca is an album of contrasts, and one that surprises as much as it pleases – there’s a good mix between the more melodically led tunes and those that veer into more abstract territory, and Emilia Martensson and Elisabeth Nygaard are such delicate guest vocalists

that when Andrew Plummer’s spoken-word contribution appears on Stitched In And Back Under, it almost pulls against the mood set by the album so far. However, it’s these contrasts that showcase the versatility of the group and make it such a rewarding listen. “I’m excited to present the third and final Fringe Magnetic album,” concludes Simmons, “but I am also excited

Fringe Magnetic - Clocca Trumpeter Rory Simmons’ acoustic collective are set to release their third and final album on the 2nd December. The 12-piece Fringe Magnetic bow out with Clocca (Loop Records), and the album marks the culmination of a 7 year project that has deftly mixed jazz with contemporary classical composition to great effect. Honed on previous albums Twistic and Empty Spaces, the ensemble’s creative powers are at full strength on this latest release. “I guess it’s unusual for people to announce the end of an ensemble before an album has been released,” says Simmons, speaking to JazzUK, “but I feel that the progression to Clocca is one that I am very proud of. I feel like we have produced three albums which tell a story of musical development, yet stand as a cohesive image of an ensemble.”

Cohesive they most certainly are, and the all-star cast definitely deliver the goods, with Ivo Neame, Jasper Høiby and Ben Reynolds offering superb backing to the wind section of Tori Freestone (who contributes a beautiful flute solo on Buffalo, Buffalo, Buffalo),

Fringe Magnetic, Rory Simmons 5

One Education Music receive their Will Michael Award to move on to the next project, satisfied that the 14 musicians involved have created something very special together.” www.rorysimmons.com

Dick Lee’s Creators of Jazz Course, Edinburgh With an education theme running through some of this issue, readers in Scotland (and even further afield) might be interested to learn of the new Story Of Jazz course at the University of Edinburgh. The tenweek course is run by saxophonist and educator Dick Lee, and covers the history of the music from its early origins through until the present day. Part of the university’s Office of Lifelong Learning, it’s open to everyone and is perfect for those who wish to supplement their knowledge interested in continuing their studies and there are no prerequisites for joining which means it’s open to anyone. The course begins on the 14th January, and for more information visit www.lifelong.ed.ac.uk

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Will Michael Awards winners / report On Thursday 10th October, the winners of the annual Will Michael Awards for Jazz Education were announced in a ceremony held at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Presented by Jazz Services, and in association with the National Music Council Music Education Awards Scheme, they celebrate the efforts made by educators to ensure jazz is given a fair hearing in classrooms and curriculums around the UK. Honourable mentions were given to Bournemouth & Poole (SoundStorm), Glasgow, Sheffield and Southend-on-Sea, and the official Diplomas were awarded to Manchester’s One Education Music and the music Hubs (previously local music education authorities) of Southampton, Oxfordshire, East Renfrewshire and Devon. The last received a Diploma of Special Merit, and having been presented with several such awards in a row, they have now been brought on board as a mentor to offer advice and guidance to a future winner so that their tried and tested model – as evidenced by the success of the Devon Youth Jazz Orchestra - might

be copied and recreated elsewhere in the UK. Following the presentation ceremony was a concert from the RAM Big Band with Byron Wallen on guest trumpet. The ensemble played a selection of numbers by the South African composer Dudu Pukwana and was on great form – a strong statement about the health of jazz education in the UK and a representation of what the future holds as a result of the hard work done by jazz educations across the land.

For a more thorough run-down of this year’s ceremony you can visit the Music:Ed website and read a report by Ivor Widdison, Chair of Jazz Services’ education panel. www.musiced.co.uk

Josh Kemp - Tone Poetry With a release date of 1st January via his own label FulltoneMusic, saxophonist Josh Kemp is setting his stamp on 2014 good and early.

Although not his first CD, Tone Poetry is the debut recording with his Jazz Prophets group and is supported by an extensive tour, with more than 30 dates in the

offing including an album launch at Pizza Express in Soho on the 28th January. Josh is accompanied by Tim Lapthorn on piano, Mick Hutton on bass and Matt Skelton on drums, and the quartet has been racking up plaudits with their polished, mellow and assured mix of contemporary and post-bop styles – from early listens it’s a blend that clearly suits the leader’s strong compositional skills, and given the breadth of the tour it’s likely that readers all over the UK won’t have to go too far to see them in action for themselves… www.joshkemp.com

Jon Lloyd Group – Vanishing Points dates

Friends of Jazz scheme Those reading the paper copy of the last issue of JazzUK (rather than our snazzy online edition) may have noticed the centre-page pull-out about the Friends of Jazz scheme organised by Jazz Services. The scheme is a new way of handling donations and financial support for Jazz Services; as a registered charity we’re always looking for ways to supplement the support we receive from our regular funding organisations. The Friends of Jazz programme offers several benefits to members and ensures we’re able to continue to give jazz music the help it deserves, and by signing up for as little as £2.50 a month, you’ll be able to contribute to our work in supporting jazz in the UK. You’ll also receive a year’s subscription of JazzUK direct to your door, with other benefits including regular newsletter and updates, chances to grab tickets to gigs at Pizza Express Jazz Clubs and tickets to the annual Will Michael Jazz Education Awards, with other exclusive deals and privileges to be announced. For more information and to download an application form, see the Donations section of our website.

Jon Lloyd has two dates in early December to promote the release of his excellent new recording.

The saxophonist stops off at Sherborne Jazz Club on the 7th and Dempsey’s in Cardiff on the 11th, where audiences will hear tunes from Vanishing Points (33xtreme).

The album sees Lloyd moving away from the free-impov roots for which he’s perhaps best known into more harmonically inclined territory, with superb results. There are still vestiges of his earlier style intertwined with the melodies, which provide some exhilarating moments of virtuosity, but it’s all very accessibly packaged without losing any of its force or creative drive. Lloyd is joined on record and on stage by John Law on piano and Rob Palmer on guitar, with bassist Tom Farmer and dummer Asaf Sirkis making up the rhythm section - look out for more dates coming up in April 2014, as this is definitely a group to catch if you can. www. jonlloydgroup.co.uk

Recording Support Scheme bands The Jazz Services Recording Support Scheme has gone from

strength to strength, and we’re delighted to have been able to help several deserving new artists make their first recording. In recent months, guitarists Ant Law and Maciek Pysz and trumpeter Reuben Fowler have all made excellent debut recordings using funding support from the scheme, and there are several others in the pipeline (recordings must be made within two years of receiving the award). We aim to make ten selections in 2013, and the artists awarded funding support to date are ARQ, Wildflower Sextet, the Sam Gardiner Quartet, the Tommy Andrews Quintet, Jumoké Fashola, the Paul Riley Quartet and the Tom Green Septet (see below). The final submission period for the scheme ran throughout November, so we’ll look forward to announcing the final three names shortly.

Tom Green Septet tour dates Readers of this issue will have to be quick out of the gates to catch trombonist Tom Green. Touring his Septet during early December, he completes a run of dates in the South West from the 1st December, stopping off in Ashburton, Appledore, St. Ives, Cardiff and Poole before finishing in Bristol on the 6th. Green has marked himself out as a composer to watch as the winner of the 2013 Dankworth Prize for Jazz Composition, and is putting his skills down on record with his debut album due to be released next year through the Jazz Services Recording Support Scheme. For more info on the gigs, go to www. tomgreen.org.uk, and watch out the album when it’s launched next year – there’s a release gig at The Forge in Camden on the 7th January which should be worth seeing for those who can.

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Spitalfields Music Winter Festival The Spitalfields Music Winter Festival features a mixture of genres including classical, folk and jazz, and of the latter two dates are worth popping in the diary – last issue’s cover star Arun Ghosh will be exploring seasonal music from all around the world in a new project, as well as collaborating with Spitalfields Music’s new male voice choir, EastEnd Notes, to perform a new gospel blues work (10th December).

As well as Ghosh’s performance, it’ll be worth catching Norwegian experimental guitarist Stian Westerhus playing excerpts from his latest album The Matriarch and the Wrong Kind of Flowers with the Britten Sinfonia (14th December). Westerhus is a commanding player, and occasionally a demanding one too, so the addition of the Sinfonia should be an intriguing combination. www.spitalfieldsmusic.org.uk

APPJAG Awards nominations Following on from the awards celebrating Scotland’s finest, the APPJAG (All Party Parliamentary Jazz Appreciation Group) open for public nominations in January. By using a form on the Jazz Services website, you can nominate your favourites in a variety of categories covering album, newcomers, media, education and more. Public nominations in each category are then narrowed down to three choices by a panel of experts, and the final choice is made from these three by the APPJAG group, with the winners announced at ceremony in May. Voting opens on Monday 6th January and close on Monday 3rd February, and you

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can find the form online at www. jazzservices.org.uk

Brant Tilds Quartet – Green Gold

further information, go to The Capstone Theatre’s website, www. thecapstonetheatre.com

Troyk-estra, Live At The Cheltenham Jazz Festival

If the middle of December is turning just a bit too cold for your liking, then American-born, London-based trumpeter Brant Tilds’ new album could just help warm things up.

Inspired by his hero Dizzy Gillespie, Tilds’ debut recording for Spin Cycle Music showcases his great love of Afro-Cuban jazz with a band that includes the ‘godfather of UK salsa’ Roberto Pla on timbales. The album was recorded live, which lends it a certain vibrancy, but it’s let down a little by uneven production, and certain tracks are left feeling flat and lacking the heat of others. It’s bright and breezy and well played throughout, but perhaps one for more dedicated fans of the music rather than the casual Cuban connoisseur. www.branttilds.com

Liverpool Jazz Festival Tickets are now on sale for the 2014 Liverpool International Jazz Festival, running at the Capstone Theatre from 27th February until 3rd March next year. The headliners announced so far include Jason Rebello, The Impossible Gentlemen, Get The Blessing and Stuart McCallum, with more great names on the bill. For ticket details and

The formation of Troyk-estra came about as a result of a commission from Jazzwise magazine, who enlisted Troyka (guitarist Chris Montague, keyboardist Kit Downes and drummer Josh Blackmore) to perform at their 15 year anniversary series with an expanded big-band line-up. The resulting group, dubbed Troyk-estra, went on to play a spectacular concert at the 2013 Cheltenham Jazz Festival, and we are lucky enough to have a permanent record of the date in the form of this new album, which was launched at the London Jazz Festival in late November.

Directed by Nick Smart of the Royal Academy of Music (more from him later in this issue), the group takes Troyka’s stirring improvisation-led compositions to new heights, allowing them to expand and develop beyond their original parameters. First track Dry-Ops makes a great opening statement, unafraid to let the trio take centre stage in places but letting the horns stab in to provide added texture and depth. It’s great to see the group take their already established originality up a notch by

placing their music in an expanded context, and it’s well worth checking out. http://troykaband.wordpress.com

Dave Holland – concert and masterclass at RAM You can read more about the work of Nick Smart and the RAM in our feature later in this issue, but on a related note there’s a couple of great events in late January featuring Dave Holland.

The bassist is the Academy’s new International Artist In Residence and on the 22nd January the RAM will present a concert of Holland’s music arranged for sextet and with the RAM Big Band, both featuring Holland himself. The following day, Holland will be giving a masterclass with the students’ own ensembles, offering a superb opportunity to learn from one of the music’s great masters. www.ram.ac.uk/events

pairs up with Goloubev again later in the year for a further ACT release as part of the label’s ‘Duo Art’ series, but for the moment those who can would do well to catch Instrumation’s launch gig – part of a two day mini-festival curated by Simcock - at King’s Place in London on 9th January, supported by his ACT label mate and baritone saxophonist Céline Bonacina. www.gwilymsimcock.com

Scottish Jazz Awards 2013 The 2013 Scottish Jazz Awards were announced in late October, with some excellent and worthy winners in the line-up. Receiving a Lifetime Achievement award was guitarist Jim Mullen, and

former producer of BBC Radio 3’s Jazz Line-Up Keith Loxam was recognised for his Services To Jazz. The awards are organised by our friends at the Scottish Jazz Federation, and the full list of winners is as follows: Lifetime Recognition - Jim Mullen; Services to Jazz - Keith Loxam; Best Album (by public vote) - Das Contras, Highest Low; Instrumentalist - Konrad Wiszniewski; Education - Richard Michael; Emerging Artist - Euan Stevenson; Innovation - Brass Jaw School Workshops; Media - BBC Radio Scotland’s Jazz House; Ensemble - Brass Jaw; Vocalist Ali Affleck; Live Jazz Experience - Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, In the Spirit of Duke; International Tim Kliphaus. www.scottishjazzfederation.com

Keith Loxam at the Scottish Jazz Awards

Gwilym Simcock – Instrumation After pianist Gwilym Simcock released his last album Good Days At Schloss Elmau for the Munichbased ACT label, it was nominated for a Mercury Prize and even had the Sun newspaper saying it “deserves to win”. We’re not quite anticipating the same level of enthusiasm from the red-tops for the January release of Instrumation but no doubt the slack will be taken up elsewhere in the media. On the new album Gwilym’s formidable talents are placed against a more orchestral backdrop, with the pianist joined by Thomas Gould (violin), Gabriella Swallow (cello), Yuri Goloubev (double bass) and Martin France (drums). Simcock

Keith Loxam © Sean Purser

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out & about For this issue’s Out & About we head way down south to Cornwall’s St Ives Jazz Club – informally known as the Last Jazz Club Before New York.

Given its location on the northern coast of Cornwall, for non-residents it’s a fair trip to pay a visit to one of the South-West’s most noted jazz hotspots, but the St Ives Jazz Club, hosted each Tuesday night at the town’s Western Hotel, will certainly make it worth the effort. The Club was originally formed in 1998 by artist and pianist Ralph Freeman, who is still one of the club’s five committee members, all of whom run it on a volunteer basis.

It’s surely no coincidence that the club is a regular stop-off point for bands applying for Jazz Services’ own touring support scheme, and it obviously brings a lot of talent into the area. As Ralph says, “It encourages the musical participation of new talent students and college bands - but its emphasis is on the introduction and promotion in Cornwall of the highest standards of modern contemporary jazz.”

The club aims to bring “the best in live modern jazz to West Cornwall every Tuesday night throughout the year, at a reasonable price to both members and non-members,” says Ralph, pointing out that members enjoy reduced prices and benefits – St Ives jazz fans who have not yet taken up this opportunity might like to take note. Now celebrating its sixteenth year, it continues to feature prominent as well as up and coming international, UK and regional musicians, and the club’s website features a truly exhaustive list of everyone who has taken to the stage in recent years – a list that reads like a Spotter’s Guide to great jazz.

A great jazz club can do wonders for a local scene, especially for aspiring local players who can see top-class players first-hand on a regular basis, and Ralph explains how the club also engages with the local student population. “We feature concerts by students and youth bands several times a year,” he says. “These are often led and conducted by a tutor and comprise anything from a sextet to a twentyfour piece orchestra. Some of these are jazz students from Truro or Falmouth Colleges, who also use the club premises for their annual examination performances.”

This approach to making connections that can exist beyond just the audience often helps to extend a club’s reach, and it can also help out other clubs as well. This is probably especially important for a rural scene with venues away from the major touring areas, and the St Ives Jazz Club’s attitude to what might elsewhere be deemed ‘the competition’ is refreshing. “The club always supplies advice and contact information for neighbouring or regional venues to all musicians interested in arranging tours,” says Ralph. It’s a practice that makes sense; venues working together like this can help establish more of a ‘route’ for touring bands who might not otherwise find the prospect of travelling a long way for a single gig too appealing.

As well as working with their neighbours, the club recently teamed up with Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club for a series of collaborative concerts as part of the St Ives September Festival, further expanding its reputation. “Simon Cooke of Ronnie Scott’s has been a regular visitor to St Ives and is also a member of St Ives Jazz Club,” says Ralph. “He approached me as he had always wanted to do something with the club. We collaborated this year, for the first time, with two festival concerts which were both a sell-out.”

It’s not always been easy however, and Ralph admits that the club’s location, “has always been a bit of a barrier – 5 or 6 hours from London by train or car (another

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reason for the importance of co-ordinating tours with other regional venues), and also poorly served by public transport.” But it’s not stopped them, and their contribution to a wider arts scene plays a part in their success. “For many it is the arts scene that pulls them to St. Ives,” continues Ralph, “and a proportion of these will be interested in jazz and other contemporary or improvised music.

Our publicity constantly seeks to target and inform these and others visiting the area of the great music the club offers.”

Growing, and indeed keeping, the club’s following is something that Ralph and co. obviously have to take seriously. “This involves attracting new audiences to what can be esoteric or challenging,” he says, “but by ensuring a varied and lively programme with as many big names as the club can afford, and by careful post concert analysis, this has been achievable.” But to balance this, Ralph maintains that it’s important for the club to be true to its own tastes (with some flexibility and variety). “This,” he says, “coupled with its emphasis on collaborating with other venues - which enables the club to keep within its budget - provides a sustainable base.”

With regular nominations and two shortlist places (to date…) for the All Party Parliamentary Jazz Appreciation Group Awards, it’s obvious that the St Ives Jazz Club is a successful model, but as Ralph points out they don’t just do it alone. “At different times, the club has been supported by the Arts Council, North Cornwall Community Network, Bristol Piano Company, PRS Foundation and Jazz Services itself via the Jazz Promoters Award.” This support is invaluable, despite the fact that the club is a successful and popular enterprise in its own right. “In the past, this support has provided a safety net and

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focus on financial consideration, because we have had to justify our income and expenditure in great detail,” explains Ralph. “Above all, it facilitates the supply of touring bands and soloists to our club who we otherwise might not afford.”

So what might Ralph’s advice be to an up-and-coming promoter who wishes to make a successful contribution to the jazz scene in their area? “Network with as many other clubs and venues in your region and provide this information to visiting bands and soloists, as this will facilitate touring possibilities.

Resist the temptation to go outside your budget limitations, and keep your ear to the ground for new or undiscovered talent, local or national.” As well as this, he feels it’s important to offer the

audience that something extra.

“Encourage membership and set up a membership database. Produce well-designed, eye-catching publicity to attract attention, and try to create a varied and stimulating annual programme, and a good club atmosphere.” And if you’re still stuck for inspiration? Well, a visit to St Ives might be in order…

The St Ives Jazz Club is held every Tuesday at the Western Hotel in St Ives, Cornwall. Upcoming performances in 2014 include Christine Tobin, Maciek Pysz, Iain Ballamy, Gilad Atzmon, Dan Messore, Gabrielle Ducomble, Bruce Adams, Nigel Price and Jim Hart. For more details visit the club’s website, www.stivesjazzclub.com

Shaney Forbes at St Ives Jazz Club

Shaney Forbes Š Tony Brown

“We’re Nick with the RAM Big Band © Hana Zushi, Royal Academy of Music

October’s Will Michael Awards for Jazz Education celebrated the excellent work that musical educators do for jazz music up and down the UK, and the upcoming APPJAG Award nominations will offer another chance to acknowledge their on-going contribution to our jazz scene. With this (and more) in mind, JazzUK’s John Norbury-Lyons met up with Nick Smart, 2013’s recipient of the APPJAG Education Award, to discuss the UK’s jazz education scene.

There’s a ridiculous old adage that says that “those who can’t do, teach”, and while it shouldn’t be necessary, if proof of its absurdity is needed then Nick Smart would be a fine ‘Exhibit A’. The Royal Academy of Music’s Head of Jazz is an excellent musician in his own right, with three albums under his belt as a leader (including a fine new recording released in November entitled Tower Casa from his group Trogon, who were recently seen performing the first gig of the London Jazz Festival) and notable side credits on several others. As well as teaching the RAM’s jazz course he directs the college’s big band, and under his leadership his students have performed high profile concerts alongside such revered names as Dave Douglas, Kenny Wheeler, Peter Erskine and Stan Sulzmann.

Nick’s own route into jazz was

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heavily informed by his own teachers early on in his musical career.

“I came up through Bedfordshire county music service, and there were one or two really inspirational teachers who lit that fire under me, and of course once that’s started you can’t go back, you’re on a path and you’ve got to keep going.”

Even at this stage, before he went down the more conventional route of university education and a postgrad course at the Guildhall, Nick was drawn to teaching. “A really big, formative thing for me was the Glamorgan Summer School, which now operates under a new name [The Original UK Jazz Summer School], and I’d go on that as an assistant tutor and get to sit in on bands with great teachers like Nikki Iles and Steve Berry. Through Glamorgan I got some experience teaching jazz ensembles. That was an important experience for me, and led to doing a bit of teaching at Middlesex University, setting up the RAM’s Junior Jazz Course and eventually leading to the position I hold now.”

Music education has obviously moved on, but he sees similarities between his own experiences and those of today’s students. “Unlike these days, my early jazz education wasn’t formally organised, and I do appreciate that this can still be the case in many areas of the country

where youngsters are not lucky enough to have access to a specialist organisation offering a high level of structured jazz education. For me there was a lot of experiential kind of learning, ie getting better by the virtue of the fact that you’re actually doing it.”

Nick mentions the crucial role Richard Iles, his trumpet teacher at Salford University, played in almost single-handedly getting him up to the level where he could get a place on the Guildhall’s postgrad scheme, but speaking specifically about university-level education today compared with in his own experience, he’s pleased to see that “there’s much more awareness of the professional development side.

There’s a lot more learning going on alongside the actual music education, we’re looking at the career building side of things. Addressing those issues is something we’ve had to get wise to very quickly.”

“We [the tutors] are all professional musicians with professional expectations, so when I’m taking a big band project with the students it’s only ever faintly at the back of my mind that it’s actually a student project. We make no compromises for the fact that they’re students because we expect it to be of the highest professional standard, and it always is – they never let me down! So because of that it’s not like teaching, in a sense, it’s just like running a professional ensemble – and our high level demands mean that the students are naturally adapted to the demands of the business.”

Of course, the quality of musicianship required of and developed by students at conservatoire level, at the RAM and in other academic scenes across the UK, is of such a necessarily high standard that it’s almost a given that students

all entrepreneurs…” are going to be very good. So when it comes to the working world, Nick points out that it’s the other things that can make all the difference. “Being good enough for the gig is an assumption,” he says. “No one thinks, ‘Oh, how’s your reading?’, it’s just a given that if you’re there, you’re up to the job.

So other considerations can be the deciding factor in getting work– old fashioned skills like being punctual, being reliable and so on. You’ve just got to be able to conduct yourself in a professional, productive and positive way.”

“It’s interesting that one of the dictionary definitions of the term ‘entrepreneur’ says it’s ‘one who takes full responsibility for their business undertaking’, so by that definition we can all be thought of as entrepreneurs. As self-employed musicians we’re having to take complete responsibility for our careers all the time, so in that respect we do need to think like entrepreneurs in the truest sense.”

So far we have only discussed university level, but what about jazz education for younger students who have not yet reached that stage?

Secondary level jazz education is often a necessarily a broad brush affair where, as Nick says, “Time often doesn’t allow you to get into real detail on any one particular area. It’s more about trying to provide an environment where one can be inspired to study further.”

As much as anything else he feels there can be a ‘fear of jazz’, or perhaps just of improvisation, in secondary level instrumental teaching – “which in the worst case scenario can mean the subject gets overlooked completely.”

It’s clear secondary education offers its own challenges. “The 18 and upwards age group is well catered for, but it remains a bit

of a geographical lottery for the under-18 group. There have been some amazing organisations like the National Youth Jazz Collective, Tomorrow’s Warriors, the Junior Academy, which work hard to direct their attentions towards the younger age group.” The RAM also has its own department called the Open Academy that does outreach work with school-age and community groups, and Nick contemplates whether the importance of such activities has only been acknowledged by higher education institutions more recently. Certainly the influence of being involved in external organisations is of great benefit to the young musician.

“For example, a school’s sports team would be expected to train outside the timetabled P.E. lessons, and I think the same principle would obviously apply to serious study of any type of music. But that said, I think the core activities of the curriculum could probably embrace a bit more jazz, it doesn’t even have to be stylistically biased – just making the students comfortable with improvisation and generating relevant music that’s created by themselves.”

Nick echoes his own education experiences when he says that in a

lot of cases, “it still too often comes down to whether someone happens to live in a certain area where they will firstly hear about specialist opportunities, and secondly have the chance to participate,” he again emphasises that being ready for such opportunities when they arise is very much a crucial aspect of preparing for the working world. So is there a solution he can see? “I think for the future we need to see a lot more of our UK jazz graduates teaching music in the classroom.

We have all these amazing graduates and if they were out there teaching where it counts it could do so much good. They can plug the age gap between us older professional working musicians, and the school kids themselves. We have this incredibly highly skilled, well-trained group in the middle and we’re not taking full advantage of just how inspiring they could be to the next generation. I see no reason why every Music Hub in the country couldn’t have a Head of Jazz – and understand what value that could give to students’ wider musicality! It’s not only about whether you want to go on to be a professional jazz musician; it’s all of the wider things you can learn by studying this music.”

Nick Smart and Trogon 15

Getting to Know You‌

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ZARA McFARLANE talks to Dan Paton ahead of the release of her new album and Jazz Services supported tour.

If Zara McFarlane initially seems a little reticent, this disguises a steely confidence. Hers is a singing career firmly in the ascendant, with If You Knew Her, her second album for Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood label, already receiving advance plaudits from the critics. It reveals new and exciting facets of her writing and interpretation, whilst the accompanying tour in early 2014 looks set to bring her music to a wide range of venues and audiences.

McFarlane is warm, open and friendly as she talks about the new album, one which I suggest is characterised by a set of striking, imaginative contrasts. Putting her approach in context, she seems to agree: “With the first album (2011’s Until Tomorrow), I wanted the sound to be quite consistent, in terms of instrumentation and the way the songs progressed.

I wanted it to sound as the band sounded live. But I wanted this album to be different. I wanted to concentrate on how I heard each individual song, and then think about the live performances later.”

This prompts some thoughts about her song-writing process - does the lyric dictate the shape of the song, or does a melody or set of changes come first? “It varies all the time, I don’t have a specific approach to how I write”, she responds, not unreasonably. “I do like to have a concept in mind first but it’s not always like that. With Woman In The Olive Groves, I wrote that about a particular story I observed, but with other songs the melody came first and dictated the mood.”

One of the major sources of

contrast on the album is provided by moments of real sparseness, such as Open Heart. “With this recording, I did have the chance to explore a bit more in general, including who I wrote and worked with. For example, the song Open Heart is one I heard as being quite sparse. Manu Delago plays the hang drum on it and he is someone I’ve known and wanted to work with for many years...since Guildhall in fact.” Delago’s light touch and thoughtful playing imbues the track with an open, entrancing atmosphere. It is a great way to open the album. Even more striking is You’ll Get Me In Trouble, where McFarlane accompanies herself on guitar for the first time. The result is a bracing and exposed performance that immediately moved Gilles Peterson. Was she nervous about this? “Yes! I don’t really play instruments, at least not in public! I write on piano and guitar but I don’t perform on them.

We tried a range of arrangements for this song, but Gilles really liked the vibe of me playing guitar, and he kept coming back to my version, so I said ‘alright, alright, I’ll do it!’ When we do it live, we do it differently.”

This seems to summarise the approach of the entire album, with McFarlane wanting to ‘showcase songwriting, lyrics and melody’, with live performance being “something I wanted to investigate later.”

Yet part of the album is intense and spontaneous, with comparisons being made to the spiritual sound of Pharoah Sanders. It is here that McFarlane hears the most continuity with her earlier work.

“These band songs remind me more of the songs on the first album. I’m not sure what people are hearing exactly when they say spiritual. Do they mean the lyrics as well as the sound, or is it the open, repetitive nature of some of the riffs?” The latter point probably most influences that perception, with the big rolling piano chords occasionally reminiscent of Alice

Coltrane, although McFarlane’s original lyrics also demonstrate an awareness and empathy that might also inform this perspective.

This is particularly true of Woman In The Olive Groves, a haunting and beautiful song in which McFarlane relates an experience whilst traveling abroad. “I wrote it after being in Italy”, she explains.

“I’ve been there a few times, but this time was very strange. I had a nightmare getting to the airport and I was supposed to be doing a concert late in the south of Italy, 12am or something. I was about to get there, when I saw a black woman standing in the olive groves near the road. The driver explained that she was a prostitute and this was quite common in the south of Italy, and this inspired the song.

As a black person going to parts of Europe, people might assume that’s what you are, because you’re black. In different circumstances, that could be me or someone that I know.”

It seems as if there might be a theme running through the album, perhaps suggested by its enigmatic title. Is McFarlane exploring the distance between perceptions about women and the reality of their lives and experiences? “For me this album is a chance for me to celebrate women, and their different emotions and experiences.

There is some darkness, but then also some moments that are more playful. The angle that I’m taking is the journey of a woman.” This is crucial, as it also helps explain the diversity of styles and approaches on the album.

How much can the depth and range of material on If You Knew Her be explained by McFarlane’s background? She explains her rather circuitous route into jazz: “I was studying musical theatre at the BRIT school, because I really enjoy all three parts of the performing arts (music, dance, drama). After

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that, I decided to focus on music, which is what I loved most. While I was at Vocal Tech, I got into jazz because, whilst it was a popular music course, it had a jazz element.

Of course, I knew quite a lot of the jazz standards from musical theatre. I first worked with one of the tutors there, playing gigs.

Then I met Tomorrow’s Warriors and Dune Records - and I worked with Jazz Jamaica. I met a lot of British jazz artists, especially black British artists, who I otherwise wouldn’t have known. I understand the importance of consistent performance from musical theatre, but with jazz the sounds are much more intricate and I love the melodies from jazz standards too that’s what hooked me.”

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McFarlane has sought out some personal modern standards too. If You Knew Her includes two radically re-interpreted reggae songs. Her version of Junior Murvin’s Police and Thieves strips the song of some of its urgency and danger, instead creating a more subtle and mysterious menace.

McFarlane speaks enthusiastically about reggae: “My parents are Jamaican and I love reggae music!

I’ve always wanted to do something that would bring that into my music.

This is one of my very favourite reggae songs, so I was a bit wary of doing it, but people seem to really enjoy it so far. Pete (Edwards) and I came up with the arrangement and it just didn’t seem necessary to

include all the backing vocals. We were working on it at the time of the 50th anniversary of Jamaican independence and one year on from the London riots, so there was a context.” The other reggae piece is a very different version of Nora Dean’s weird and wonderful Angie La La. “Tabitha (Zara’s manager) introduced me to that song a couple of years ago. The original is crazy and dubbed out. It’s very haunting.”

McFarlane also has some exciting performing opportunities on the horizon, and has just opened for Dianne Reeves at the London Jazz Festival, something she describes as “a great honour and privilege”.

Her tour takes her beyond specialist jazz clubs, visiting venues such

as London’s XOYO and Bristol’s Colston Hall. McFarlane is admirably clear and ambitious here: “Being with Brownswood (Gilles Peterson’s label) is really important to me. Jazz is one of his passions but he is so open to all styles of music FULL STOP. I’m able to get remixes done and do other things that still link to my popular music experience, including performing in venues that are not traditionally jazz venues. This is a great way to bring jazz to different audiences and to show that music is music.

It doesn’t have to be confined to a particular venue or a specific way of listening.”

Given McFarlane’s popular music experience and love of musical theatre, might a theatrical or multimedia project might be a possible goal for the future? “I hope so”, she says, slightly wary of committing herself to a grand folly. “I plan at some point to write a musical and I have some clear

who have always wanted to learn an instrument but for whatever reason never did. People constrain themselves in all sorts of ways and it’s really important to help free them up.” Judging by the unusual and adventurous shape of her singing career, it seems McFarlane is the ideal person to do just that.

ideas about what I want it to be about. But another album will probably be the next thing!”

That being said, McFarlane does not seem to be someone holding back, and her self-belief comes through strongly when we talk about the importance of teaching in her life. “When I was little, I always thought I would be a teacher, I didn’t really think of singing as a career”, she admits, perhaps surprisingly. “I think it’s really important to get music into schools and there are also adults

Zara McFarlane’s new album If Your Knew Her is released on 20th January on Brownswood Recordings, and she tours with Jazz Services’ support throughout February. For dates and details, see www.zaramcfarlane.com www.jazzservices.org.uk

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THE GUEST SPOT For this issue we’re very pleased to welcome The Jazz Breakfast to the Guest Spot. Run by journalist Peter Bacon, it’s one of the UK’s finest jazz websites, brimming with insightful album reviews and news from the UK scene as a whole but with a particular emphasis on the Midlands. Peter, the Guest Spot is yours….

sitting at a fancy restaurant table perusing the menu while a waiter stood at his side, pencil poised above pad. The caption read: “I’ll have the dog’s breakfast, please.”

I was honoured to have this blog nominated as Best Publication in the 2009 Parliamentary Jazz Awards. Other guest chefs in thejazzbreakfast.com kitchen include writers Steve Tromans, Laurence Jones, JJ Wheeler, Tony Dudley-Evans and Alex Roth, and photographers John Watson and Garry Corbett [the latter of whom has kindly contributed some of his work to this article – Ed.].

The Birmingham scene

I discovered my father’s Art Tatum records at an early age and have been a jazz devotee ever since.

Other formative experiences were hearing Miles’ In A Silent Way over the speakers in a dark basement club at the age of 17 and witnessing Abdullah Ibrahim (then Dollar Brand) playing his first gig back in South Africa in 1970. I was a full-time newspaper journalist (both in South Africa and in England) for over 20 years before moving into freelance and online journalism, and arts administration. I have been writing about live jazz and reviewing recorded jazz since 1978 and have been The Birmingham Post’s jazz reviewer since 1994 and contributor of its weekly Jazz Diary column since 2002.

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I started my blog, thejazzbreakfast.com, after leaving full-time journalism in order to give myself an unmediated way of sharing my enthusiasm for the music. I am lucky to be living near enough to Birmingham to be able to hear the many amazing (mostly quite young) jazz musicians who have chosen to study, gig and work in this city.

So thejazzbreakfast.com is mostly about jazz in Birmingham and the English Midlands, but there are also reviews of CDs from all over the world, and news and opinion pieces about whatever else takes my fancy. There is even a page of jazz musicians’ favourite breakfasts.

The blog’s title is inspired not only by my surname, but also by a New Yorker cartoon which showed a dog

Birmingham had always had a thriving, if small, jazz scene but it has really taken off in the last 20 years as a direct result of Birmingham Conservatoire’s jazz course and the kind of young players it has attracted - especially the ones who have chosen to stay in the city after finishing their studies.

So, we have musicians like trumpeter Percy Pursglove, singer Sara Colman, bassist Chris Mapp, saxophonist Mike Fletcher and pianist Steve Tromans, all working regularly in the city. And then there is the younger crowd - saxophonists John Fleming and Lluis Mather (pictured), double bassist Nick Jurd, pianists Andy Bunting, David Austin Grey and Andrew Woodhead, trombonist Richard Foote, trumpeter Sam Wooster, and drummer Jim Bashford - all producing interesting

and exciting music, both as leaders and sidemen.

Lluis Mather

Lluis Mather © Garry Corbett

The Conservatoire course encourages gigging from the start, so there are lots of student bands around as well. Some graduates have moved elsewhere once their studies have ended, but they return regularly and have strong Birmingham connections - and I think they all have some of that Birmingham sound in their playing. They include bassist Euan Burton, pianist/saxophonist Dan Nicholls, saxophonist Rachael Cohen (who has just released her debut album on Whirlwind Recordings), pianist from Blink Alcyona Mick, and drummer JJ Wheeler, who is presenting new music at the London Jazz Festival. And then of course there is Soweto Kinch.

Birmingham - the city, its people, its culture - plays a central role in his hip-hop jazz. Older players like trumpeter Ray Butcher, pianist Tim Amann and drummer Miles Levin, son of the late Tony, are very active, too.

Where to hear live jazz in Birmingham: Keeping it live and local, Peter offers a comprehensive guide to the city’s jazz scene…

Jazzlines puts on high profile gigs in the CBSO Centre in Berkley Street, and in the Town Hall. The organisation also puts on free early evening sessions - weekly in the Symphony Hall Cafe Bar, and monthly at the new Bramall Music Building on the University of Birmingham campus. It also uses the Hare & Hounds pub in Kings Heath and the Jam House in the Jewellery Quarter.

Blam! - the collective of Conservatoire grads - puts on regular Tuesday nights at The Spotted Dog in Digbeth. Andy Woodhead

hosts fortnightly Monday nights at The Prince Of Wales just behind Symphony Hall, Tymoteusz Jozwiak organises jazz in The Ort Cafe in Balsall Heath on one Wednesday every month, while David Austin Grey and Wayne Chambers are putting on events at The Church Inn in the Jewellery Quarter - a night called The Big Easy.

Birmingham Jazz puts on gigs in the traditional upstairs pub room - this one is above The Red Lion, also in the Jewellery Quarter, usually on Friday evenings. The Silvershine Jazz Club meets at the every Thursday, and the Yardbird Jazz Club also has jazz every Thursday, thanks to Ray Butcher (though don’t be fooled by the name - the bands that play there the rest of the week are not jazz ones).

Churchills Snooker Club’s back room is perhaps the most characterful of all for jazz in Birmingham.

It’s where young drummer turned jazz promoter Sam Marchant - he put on the three-day Beat City Jazz Festival earlier this year - has a fortnightly Wednesday night session. Churchills is an underground snooker club near New Street Station, so you have to cross a darkened room full of snooker tables to get to it. Shades of a 1930s Speakeasy in the approach, but instead of gangsters, their molls and illegal liquor, you find a bunch of fresh-faced young music students amid the dilapidated Tudor decor complete with horse brasses, and a cheap bar stocked with very little.

The music is just great and, as with The Spotted Dog evenings, there is a late night jam session.

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Recent releases from Birmingham

search? Hey, we’re all researchers now! www.steve-tromans.co.uk

musicians

Boalch’s compositions make full use of that three-horn front line, and not only give them lots of tasty melodic and harmonic elements to solo on, but also some tricky but lush ensemble sections. Contradiction (based on the chords of Alone Together - geddit?) starts with a complex line played by Fleming and Boalch in unison and, after a fine solo from tenor man Fleming, there is a terrific four-part written whirl through the beboppish tune.

The following reviews are excerpts – visit thejazzbreakfast.com for full reviews!

Steve Tromans - Songs (of Love, of Hate) This is an album of solo piano pieces which the Birminghambased pianist describes as “an experiment in artistic research.”

Together with the tunes - which have titles like Sunlicked And Wrapped In Love, Icarus Rising, and All Tears Empty Into The Ocean there are words, in the form of messages in the album cover, which are intended to be read as an integral part of the work.

Steve is interested in the interaction of the words you read and the music you hear in simultaneous integration or juxtaposition. And that album title is important because, in a way, each piece of music and each message is filled with degrees of both those apparently contradictory emotions.

This is a profoundly personal work and it communicates on a profoundly personal level; what I might make of the music and the words is completely different from what you might make of them. And how about the art of listening as re-

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and this comes through in the music which really is the product of a shared jazz philosophy and shared experiences.

Jonathan Silk Big Band – Uncouth This album, recorded in July 2012, features a whole bunch of other Conservatoire graduates, with trumpeter Percy Pursglove as featured soloist. The tunes are nearly all by Silk and they are rich with material both for written charts (the arrangements are Silk’s too) and for improvising. The written and spontaneous elements flow into each other beautifully, a testament to the creative nature of both the arrangements and the playing.

Aside from Pursglove, the other excellent soloists include saxophonists Mike Fletcher, and Colin Mills, pianist Andy Bunting, trombonist Kieran McLeod and trumpeter Mike Adlington. Silk himself controls the whole thing beautifully from behind the drums, giving it a lithe drive, never overbearing, always buoyant.

This is a hugely enjoyable album and a real tribute to the talented jazz musicians now plying their tenuous trade in Birmingham - heroes all! www.jonathansilk.co.uk Toby Boalch Sextet - State Of Play Another Birmingham Conservatoire graduate affair; pianist and composer Boalch has Chris Maddock and John Fleming on saxophones, Richard Foote on trombone, Nick Jurd on double bass and Jonathan Silk on drums. All are good friends

Another highlight, Mighty Mike, is named after one these musicians’ chief influences, saxophonist and Conservatoire tutor Mike Williams.

And the penultimate track, Glimmer, is just plain gorgeous. www.tobyboalch.co.uk

The Festive 50 It’s built into a tradition since I first started it in 2008. Inspired by the late John Peel’s end-of-year programmes on BBC Radio 1, I pick my favourite 50 albums of the preceding 12 months and do a countdown over the few weeks running up to Christmas.

What will be there in 2013? Will the albums above feature in it? Can they cut the mustard alongside international albums from Arve Henriksen, The Impossible Gentlemen, Mostly Other People Do The Killing, Ahmad Jamal, Bill Frisell, Sons Of Kemet, Kairos 4tet and David Murray? Visit thejazzbreakfast.com to find out - and do keep coming back.

The menu is always changing!

For more of Peter’s writing, visit thejazzbreakfast.com, and follow him on Facebook (peter.bacon.58 ) and Twitter (@jazzbreakfast).

HOTHOUSE Saxophonist, bandleader and educator Phil Meadows gives us his regular insight into what’s hot on the UK’s youth jazz scene…

Liam Noble

HotTopic: Liam Noble: Brother Face

“I did quite a lot of the main composing in advance, but as soon as we rehearsed (and also after a couple of gigs playing things in) it all changed. Often the other musicians would spot better ways to structure things, coming to the music with a fresh perspective.”

Having a varied set of musical influences, from Bill Frisell and Duke Ellington to Stravinsky and Prokof-

Liam Noble © Noorie Parves

Brother Face is a brand new collaboration fronted by one of the UK’s most creative musicians.

After promoter Tony Dudley Evans asked Liam Noble to ‘put something together’, Noble took the opportunity to build on the relationships established in his Brubeck trio, with the addition of renowned trumpeter Chris Batchelor and the ever talented Shabaka Hutchings on tenor saxophone and clarinet. Having recently completed their first UK tour I caught up with Noble to talk about the groups approach to his original music and to learn how it all came together.

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iev, it is no surprise that Noble’s approach is so open and thoughtful. He continues to tell us how he makes his own personal decisions drawing on everything from his first obsession of Scott Joplin at the age of 12 through to his contemporary counterparts today.

“I like to think that what influences my musical decisions is first and foremost the notes themselves, what each idea suggests as a way forward. I feel each sketch or idea you start with is like a riddle, each with its own possible set of solutions. I suppose, in a broader sense, I am mostly influenced by the band members I choose, and what they bring to the music, and also the audience to some degree…maybe more and more as I get older.“ It is both the trust in the decisions of his band members and his passion for their musicianship that has helped to shape and develop Noble’s music in Brother Face, but does it sound how he hoped it would?

“There are definitely elements where the music suggests a pretty obvious direction and we followed it as improvisers. I’ve learnt over the years not to form too strong an idea of how things will sound; I think some people need that strong idea, and produce great music, art, whatever. But for me and what I do, it doesn’t seem to work. So I avoid feeling like the outcome doesn’t meet my criteria by making those criteria as broad as possible.”

Following a seven date tour with their new music, Brother Face has a set of recordings ready to go, but bandleader Noble is still deciding what do to with them; all we know is to expect something great.

“I’m hoping to release the music from the Vortex gig, which was recorded by Alex Kilpatrick, in some format or another. It might even be a double CD, or maybe some kind

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of download, but now I know more about how this group of people work together I would love to do more.”

Hot Tracks: NYJO London NYJO London is a weekly ensemble run by the National Youth Jazz Orchestra (and directed by me) for under 19s within the M25, who want to learn about improvisation and stylistic aspects of jazz music.

The group focuses on learning repertoire by ear and developing time feel, as well as learning how to design solos. All are welcome to join in on Saturday afternoons at the London College of Contemporary Music. If you’re interested in taking part, just e-mail info@nyjo.org.uk.

Here’s what they’ve been listening to: 1. Mr PC – John Coltrane 2. Something – Snarky Puppy feat. Lalah Hathaway 3. Sonnymoon for Two – Sonny Rollins 4. Whoza Mtwana – Abdullah Ibrahim 5. Thriller – Michael Jackson 6. Watermelon Man – Herbie Hancock 7. Superstition – SF Jazz Collective 8. Falling – Tigran Hamasyan 9. Strasbourg St Denis – Roy Hargrove 10. Blue Bossa – Kenny Dorham

HotChops: Theo Jackson Having released his debut album Jericho in 2012 and completed a national tour in May 2013, Theo Jackson is a vocalist who has made an impressive entrance onto the UK jazz scene. British male singers are

relatively few and far between in our genre’s performance circuit but for Jackson things look set to only get better. A fresh line-up for his band and the launch of Duologue, a new project with award-winning Empirical saxophonist Nathaniel Facey, sees his music taking new direction and the next few months looking very exciting. I took the opportunity to find out what’s in the pipeline, starting with a Duologue performance at Bonnington Theatre in Nottingham on December 5th.

“We played our first duo show in autumn 2011 and realised that the project had real potential. The lack of a rhythm section gives us more freedom to improvise and deviate from the structures of the tunes.

Originally we were playing jazz standards but recently the set has become much more reliant upon original material which we both contribute.”

Currently known primarily for his covers of Ellington, Coltrane, Monk and the like, Theo’s own writing is now taking shape as he learns from the masters to pick up his own pen.

Not only an ambitious writer, Jackson’s statement on his website; “My name is Theo and I have a burning desire to take over the world in its entirety through the medium of jazz” appears apparent too. Shortly after performing in Nottingham he is set to make his first trip to New York to make friends and contacts where his main ambition in music lies.

“I first visited NY when I was 14 and even then I said that I would have to live there at some point in my life. This trip in January is hopefully a stepping stone towards that eventuality. I’m looking forward to catching up with a load of inspiring musicians and seeing as many gigs as I can. This will be my first time in the city as someone who is legally old enough to go to a jazz club and have a drink.”

2014 will not only see the develop-

ment of the new duo but also a fresh line-up to his band setting that will now feature the enigmatic Dave Hamblett on drums, Alex Davis on bass and his duo counterpart Nathaniel Facey on saxophone.

“We will be recording live at The Forge in Camden on the 27th Febru-

ary. The gig will feature both my quartet and Duologue although the latter will most likely make up the main body of the recording. It will be my first live release which I’m looking forward to. I feel that jazz recorded in the studio can sometimes lose some of its best qualities - the risk and the spontaneity.”

So there we have it; Theo Jackson, ‘taking over the world through the medium of jazz’ - or at least not allowing jazz fans a moment’s rest from his passion. More listings and line-ups and new original tunes can be found at www.theojackson.com.

Theo Jackson © Ben Amure

Theo Jackson

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GIGS

You can download the GIGS PDF to your smart phone or tablet by scanning this QR code!

HIGHLIGHTS

Jazz Services’ listings editor Sabina Czajkowska takes us through her picks for December’s listings. Read Gigs, the full month’s listings to the UK’s live jazz scene at www.jazzservices.org.uk

Festivals Spitalfields Music Winter Festival 6th – 17th December www.spitalfieldsmusic.org.uk There aren’t many festivals in December, it’s more a Christmas Party time with special concerts happening in most of the clubs (check our listings), but here’s one that spans classical, jazz and folk, with a line-up that features fine early music and contemporary sounds, with – and without – a seasonal twist. The jazz line-up includes Arun Ghosh (10th Dec) and Norwegian guitarist Stian Westerhus with Britten Sinfonia (14th Dec). Don’t miss the talks before the concerts – see the Events section for details.

Workshops

Nottingham Jazz Workshops Continue every month at The Robin Hood, 540 Mansfield Rd, Nottingham NG5 2FR, contact: 0115 962 4737 or nottinghamjazzworkshops@ gmail.com, 7.00pm – 9.00pm, cost: £5. The next dates are: 4th Dec, 8th Jan and 5th Feb – Jazz Singers/Performance (instrumentalists are welcome to attend and should definitely come along if they are keen to work on section backings or perform solos on particular vocal numbers);

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11th Dec, 15th Jan and 12th Feb – Jazz Instrumental.

There will also be a Workshop Performance on Saturday 21st Dec, 8.00pm.

Events Café Society Swing – A True Story @ The Leicester Square Theatre 6 Leicester Place, London WC2H 7BX, 21st and 22nd December at 9.30pm The show, written by Alex Webb and directed by Simon Green, returns to make its West End debut after its successful run at the London’s Tricycle Theatre in 2012.

The swinging show stars China Moses, Harold Sanditen, Alexander Stewart and introduces Cherise Adams-Burnett.

Café Society Swing tells the story of the venue from its idealistic Leftwing beginnings in Depression-era America. It follows its thrilling musical journey through struggles and triumphs, to its eventual demise in the ‘Red scare’ hysteria of the late 1940s. The irresistible soundtrack comes from the Café Society All Stars, drawn from the cream of UK jazz talent. Musical highlights include representations of performances by Billie Holiday, Big Joe Turner, Lena Horne, Sarah Vaughan, Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Lucienne Boyer.

The original Café Society was based in New York’s Greenwich Village and later opened a midtown venue. The brainchild of former shoe salesman Barney Josephson,

it was the first racially desegregated club in New York City. Proud of its Left-wing leanings, Café Society called itself ‘The Wrong Place for the Right People’. An early headliner at the club was Billie Holiday, to whom Barney Josephson presented the classic protest song Strange Fruit – which became her signature song.

Alex Webb created the show (formerly titled ‘Jazz at Café Society’) with the help and advice of Terry Trilling-Josephson, widow of Barney Josephson (1902–1988).

Pre-gig Insight Talks during the Spitalfields Music Winter Festival Arun Gosh and Omar Shahryar discuss collaboration between artists from multiple disciplines and cultural backgrounds – 10th Dec, 6.00pm, free entry.

Fiona Talkington and Stian Westerhus talk about the Conexions series and working with Britten Sinfonia – 14th Dec, 6.00pm, free entry.

Look out for the Young & Talented Yamaha Jazz Scholars @ 606 Club, London The annual event showcasing

the recipients of Yamaha Music Foundation of Europe Scholarships takes place on 4th December.

The Yamaha New Jazz Sessions 2013 CD, to be launched on the day, features seven outstanding young Jazz musicians nominated by the Heads of Jazz at seven of the UK’s leading conservatoires, plus special guest tracks from Kit Downes (recipient of the scholarship in the past), Clare Teal and the band Samara featuring Steve Rubie to mark the 606 Club’s 25th anniversary. The five out of seven featured Yamaha Jazz Scholars will give short performances with their bands: Elliot Galvin (piano), Lloyd Haines (drums), Angus Milne (double bass), David Ingamells (drums) and Peter Johnstone (piano). Two of the awarded young talents are away at the moment: Alex Woods is studying in the USA and Sam Miles is touring overseas.

Bands still on tour in December You can still catch some of the bands that are touring with Jazz Services’ support this winter.

Last chance to see Chris Biscoe & Roger Turner in a series of Collaborations – the December date is in London and special guests-collaborators include John Edwards on double bass and Liam Noble on piano. Flashmob are also finalising their tour with a gig in Southampton and Dominic Lash Quartet & Zoë Gilby Quartet tour throughout the month – check our listings for details.

of The Great American Songbook and original compositions. With the leader on vocals, Mark Williams on guitar, Andy Champion on double bass and Richard Brown on drums, the quartet comprises superb musicians, all performing with a finely tuned sense of musical sympathy and harmony. The band’s latest CD, Twelve Stories, originally recorded in 2012, is due for release at the end of 2013 and showcased on this Jazz Services tour. With a great range and versatility at her disposal, Zoë leads a tried, tested and trusted line-up that makes the material their own.

Zoë Gilby Quartet perform a repertoire that encompasses a wide range of contemporary material, including innovative interpretations

Advertise with JazzUK For more info contact Fran Hardcastle at advertising@jazzservices.org.uk or call 07907 569946.

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JAZZ ON THE ROAD JazzUK speaks to more bands hitting the road in December and January with the help of our National Touring Support Scheme. For information on the scheme and the bands involved, see the Jazz Services website.

Zoë Gilby Quartet How long have you been playing together?

This line up has been together since 2008. I have worked with Mark Williams (guitarist) for about 10 years and with my husband/double bassist Andy Champion for about 6 years. Our drummer Richard Brown

Zoë Gilby

came in when the band was formed for the Looking Glass album, and we occasionally work with a fantastic trumpet player, Noel Dennis. He is featured on the new album but for the tour it will be just the quartet.

What’s the latest project?

The new album Twelve Stories. It features predominantly original

material, and it’s a direction I’m ready for and enjoying very much.

We have been performing some of the originals live and the audience response has been overwhelmingly positive. There are also some more contemporary covers from Kate Bush and Pink Floyd and a couple of jazz standards too. I still love to sing the standards as well as my own stuff; it’s where I started out.

What are your hopes for this tour and the future?

To establish ourselves further in the UK jazz scene. Being from the northeast can put up a few hurdles, but we have a good scene up here with some great players and I’m proud to be a part of that and showcase what the northeast has to offer.

What can audiences expect from one of your gigs?

This is an album launch tour so plenty of material from Twelve Stories. I like to create a feeling of intimacy with the audience, to engage with them and draw them into the stories attached to each song. It’ll feature a special voice and double bass duo with Andy and a few hidden surprises.

What’s the best thing about touring with this line-up?

We have a hoot! We know each other so well on and off stage.

The band are phenomenal, they bring these songs to life. There is a support and camaraderie there, which is so important.

Zoë Gilby © Adrian Tilbrook

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www.zoegilby.co.uk

Dominic Lash How long have you been playing together?

The band started out in 2009 as a trio with Alexander Hawkins on piano and Javier Carmona on drums. I felt I wanted to rebalance the group somewhat, so last year we added Ricardo Tejero on saxophones and clarinet for a few gigs in Spain and it worked better than I could have imagined.

Between the four of us there is an excellent mix of shared playing histories (we all go back a long way but had never played in this configuration before) and musical tension, which is a healthy and in fact essential element in any improvising group.

There is a great deal of improvising in this band, but not a great deal of completely free improvising; on the other hand there is a lot of written material but playing it live is not at all about trying to recreate the CD, it’s about trying continually to take each piece to new places. I hope audiences interested in dynamism, interaction, melody, rhythm, noise and silence should find something to enjoy in our music.

What’s the best thing about touring with this line-up?

The best thing about touring with the band – besides the music of course! – is seeing the amazement of the two Spaniards that Alex Hawkins knows more about Spanish football than they do! http://dominiclash.blogspot.co.uk

Dominic Lash

What’s the latest project?

Our latest project was the recording of our debut CD, Opabinia, which we recorded in January for the Babel label with the support of Jazz Services. This is my first ever recording as a leader and so it represents a very special project for me.

What are your hopes for this tour and the future?

This tour will be the first time we have played since making the CD, so I’m champing at the bit to get the group on stage again!

Javier no longer lives in the UK, and Ricardo will be moving away soon, so it takes some doing to get us all together. It will be the most extensive tour the quartet has done thus far, and I’m hugely excited to get the chance to take our music to more people, see how it develops through playing night after night, and hope that it will lead to our being able to take it even further afield, both musically and geographically!

What can audiences expect from one of your gigs?

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Jazz Services

highlights of 2013!

The Jazz Services team offer their personal highlights of the last twelve months. Here’s looking forward to a fantastic jazz-filled 2014!

John Norbury-Lyons (Editor) There have been so many great albums released by British artists this year that it’s hard to choose a favourite. With that in mind, there are two recordings that I keep coming back to – Kairos 4tet’s Everything We Hold and Sam Crowe’s Towards The Centre Of Everything are both superb records that consistently manage to grab my attention on repeated listens. With its guest vocalists lending it something of a more accessible, (dare I say ‘commercial’?) quality, I thought Kairos 4tet’s offering was a shoe-in for the Mercury Prize, one of the few chances jazz has to grab some mainstream attention.

But sadly there were no jazz-related artists included this year. Perhaps a reversal of this could be something to look forward to in 2014?

Chris Hodgkins (Director) One of the highlights for me this year was the Will Michael Awards for Jazz Education, with the Royal Academy of Music Big Band playing the music of Dudu Pukwana featuring Byron Wallen – a fantastic mix of established and new talent working together to produce something rather special. Another great moment was the Made In The UK showcase Jazz Services organised at WOMEX, as it was wonderful to get so many great players in one place under the Jazz Services banner!

Sabina Czajkowska (Listings Editor) With regards to singular gigs, it would be very difficult for me to pick a personal favourite of 2013. But certainly GoGo Penguin and Roller Trio have been a revelation

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of the 2012/13 season to me, and I’m very interested to see the bands’ careers develop. I was also very happy to follow – through listings – the Jazz Services Touring Support bands, and I especially enjoyed Robert Mitchell’s highly original ‘The Glimpse’ tour where he presented piano solo for the left hand. Let’s hope that 2014 will be equally exciting and we will witness growth of jazz audiences which we all rely upon. Good luck and thank you for supporting live music!

Anne Rigg (Touring & International Manager) In June I returned to Rochester, NY, for the Made in the UK Series, where two bands stood out; Christine Tobin’s Sailing to Byzantium was a totally ethereal experience, and my other favourite was the Julian Arguelles Quartet, who as ever performed exquisitely. More recently, I was fortunate enough to see Hugh Masekela performing with Larry Willis. I have long been a huge admirer and fan of Hugh’s life and work, and it was a wonderful opportunity and a privilege to see him perform in such an intimate venue. I was also at the Vortex in November for the packed out last gig of Liam Noble’s Brother Face tour - what an amazing night that was…

Phil Meadows (JazzUK contributor) 2013 saw a wave young of talent grow into UK jazz scene. My personal highlight has been witnessing the work of guitarist, composer and cross-art collaborator Alex Roth. One of the latest musicians on Serious’ Take Five scheme, my eyes and ears are firmly on him for 2014 - and yours should be too!