Jazz Services - A voice for jazz

Click the link below to download the January 2013 edition of Gigs, with full live jazz listings for the coming month and details of what's on near you, along with highlights and recommendations from the Jazz Services team.  

Robert Mitchell – solo piano

The above artist has received a Jazz Services National Touring Support Scheme grant for his new tour.

Picture: A.Guadagnino

Line-up:

Robert Mitchell - piano

www.robertmitchellmusic.com 

A new project from Robert Mitchell is always an eagerly anticipated prospect amongst his fans and peers, and his latest offering is no exception.  Robert has regularly performed solo in the past, as it is at the heart his approach to playing.  However, his latest outing focus on a very particular aspect of his playing – the left hand.  Original compositions, covers, new arrangements, improvisations (sometimes derived from audience contributions) and explorations, all delivered via the left hand alone, with occasional augmentations using a loop pedal.  Throughout his career, Robert's solo piano work has changed and expanded his approach as a musician, and this tour, along with the accompanying new album The Glimpse (Whirlwind Recordings), showcases his developing fascination with left-hand only approaches to composition and improvisation.

The tour will also allow him a chance to explore audience interaction as a basis for creating music and improvisations, and the creative use of the looping pedal, especially rhythmic or melodic ideas as a basis for developing in the moment music.  Free improvisations are as likely to appear in his repertoire as a completely composed piece, but regardless of what is on offer, audiences are certain to have their horizons broadened…in at least one direction.

“He imbues everything he plays with an affecting earnestness that compels listeners' respectful attention…whether his music is gentle or florid, tumultuous or delicately thoughtful, his patent sincerity and the overall seriousness of the project shine through all he plays” – Chris Parker, The Vortex

“one of the most original pianists on the UK scene” – Jazz FM

“…there are those who are so skilled at what they do that nature itself demands that it be imparted; Robert Mitchell is one such person. If he was born with a baby grand fused to his fingers he could not be more qualified to share this amazing gift with the world.” - Soul Culture 

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The Dave Hamblett Group

The above band has received a Jazz Services National Touring Support Scheme grant for their new tour.

Line-up:

Dave Hamblett – drums/compositions

Josh Arcoleo – tenor saxophone

Joe Wright – tenor and soprano saxophone

Ivo Neame – piano/keyboards

Alex Munk - guitar

Calum Gourlay – double bass

www.davehamblett.com

The Dave Hamblett Group was formed at the end of 2009 by the drummer and composer as a compositional outlet whilst he was studying at the Royal Academy of Music.  Now regulars on the London scene, the outfit has spent time carefully refining and consolidating its material and group sound to create a unified, cohesive unit with an identifiable compositional voice.  In 2010 the group expanded from a quintet to a sextet with the addition of guitarist Alex Munk, further widening the textural range of the group, to create the current line-up.

With such a strong grouping it’s unsurprising that the ensemble has been grabbing attention and gathering fine reviews during its relatively short tenure.  An album of Dave’s original compositions, Light At Night, will be released in February 2013 on Whirlwind Records.

Dave Hamblett – drums/compositions

A 2010 winner of Yamaha’s Jazz Scholarship programme, Hamblett is a hugely promising young drummer with a wealth of experience already at his disposal.  Dave studied at the Royal Academy of Music and has honed his craft with a number of great players, both as a sideman and a leader.  His involvement with the well-known F-IRE collective has led him to form strong working partnerships with several of his peers, resulting in several fruitful projects of which his own Group is the latest to bear extremely satisfying results.

Josh Arcoleo – tenor saxophone

Arceleo is a hot prospect for the UK scene, tipped by those in the know as very much one to watch.  Taking lessons from the great James Brown sideman Pee Wee Ellis at a young age did him no disservice, but Josh’s rising star is very much one of his own making.  In collecting the Kenny Wheeler Jazz Prize and a Yamaha Jazz Scholarship prize in the same year as graduating with a 1^st from the Royal Academy, Josh has marked himself out as an original player who has also caught the attentions of several noted UK players including Kit Downes, Nikki Iles, Stan Sulzmann and Jeff Williams.

Joe Wright – tenor and soprano saxophone

The young Scottish saxophonist cut his teeth in both the National Youth Jazz Orchestra of Scotland and Tommy smith’s Youth Jazz Orchestra, before going on to win the title of BBC Young Scottish Jazz Musician of the Year in 2008.  Since these auspicious beginnings, Joe has built himself a reputation as an innovative composer and musician with a lot going for him.

Ivo Neame – piano/keyboards

Ivo Neame’s keyboards are increasingly becoming a staple element of some of the best new music on the national jazz scene.  His involvement with bands such as Phronesis, Kairos 4Tet and the Cinematic Orchestra, or the groups of Mark Lockheart and Stan Sulzmann demonstrate his versatility, and as a leader his music is adventurous and progressive, but with a firm ear for his roots.

Alex Munk - guitar

Leeds College of Music has contributed to the CVs of some fine musicians in recent years and Alex is most definitely one of them.  A regular on the scene with both his own groups and those of his peers, he has performed extensively in the UK as well as in Europe, perhaps most notably when representing the Royal Academy of Music in the ‘Keep An Eye On Jazz Awards’ in 2010. 

Calum Gourlay – double bass

An increasingly mature and sophisticated player, the inclusion of Gourlay’s bass playing is pretty much a guarantee of quality.  His experience and dedication has propelled him to great heights, and has seen him perform with alongside such international luminaries as John Scofield, Joe Lovano and Kurt Elling as part of the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, as well as the likes of Martin Speake, Trish Clowes, Martin Kershaw and many others.

“[The group] delivered a sophisticated, impressionistic set that boiled up with hard-hitting solos...” – Jazzwise, live review

END

Damon Brown/Martin Zenker Quintet

The above band has received a Jazz Services National Touring Support Scheme grant for their new tour.

Pic: Peter Hutchinson

Line-up:

Damon Brown - trumpet

Michael Lutzeier - baritone saxophone

Paul Kirby - piano

Martin Zenker – double bass

Andreas Nebauer - drums

uk.myspace.com/damonbrownjazz

Damon Brown is an established player on the UK scene with many years of experience working as a leader and sideman, but this particular group has its origins much further afield.  Bassist Martin Zenker has held a professorship in Jazz in Seoul, South Korea, for the past three years.  His association with Damon came about after a mutual friend suggested they perform together, and in 2010 Damon made the trip out to perform with him.  The resulting concerts cemented a musical friendship that bears fruit to this day, with Martin visiting the UK regularly to perform with Damon’s groups.

After deciding in 2011 to collaborate on a joint project, the group has made inroads to the European scene, especially with forays into Germany.  Baritone saxophonist Michael Lutzeier is a leading figure on the contemporary German scene, and his contribution to a 2012 South Korean tour cemented his inclusion in the group.  With the ensemble completed by Paul Kirby on piano and Andreas Nebauer on drums, Damon draws on his past experience as a lyrical hard-bop aficionado and his more cutting-edge work with APPJAG Award winning group Killer Shrimp to offer listeners a truly sumptuous musical feast for the ears.

“On a good night he is one of the world's finest players, and last night was such a one. Fluent, impassioned and technically superb” – Evening Standard (live review)

“…a world-class musician.” – Camden New Journal

“…a supremely fluent soloist” – The Jazzmann online

END

Compassionate Dictatorship

The above band has received a Jazz Services National Touring Support Scheme grant for their new tour.

Line-up:

Jez Franks - guitar

Tori Freestone - sax

Jasper Høiby – double bass

James Maddren - drums

www.compassionatedictatorship.co.uk

Described as “catching the current wave of Brit Jazz” by Jazzwise magazine, this group evolved out of the long standing collaboration between Jez Franks on guitar and Tori Freestone on saxophone.  The quartet is completed by bassist Jasper Høiby and drummer James Maddren, both of whom have proved their individual and combined worth in a great number of top UK-based groups.  Together, their overall sound is melodically centred but with an occasional raucous, jagged edge, and the band’s impressive improvisations swirl around a core that is built on effortlessly cohesive and rock-solid foundations.

 Compassionate Dictatorship has toured extensively since the release of their debut album Coup D'Etat (2007), honing and developing their sound and releasing a second album, Cash Cows, in 2010 to rave reviews.  They’re now promoting their third album, Entertaining Tyrants, which is soon to be released on the Jellymould Jazz label.

Jez Franks - guitar

Jez Franks took up the guitar age 15 and attended Leeds College of Music acquiring a 1st on the Jazz Course, plus the College’s Jazz Guitar Prize.  As well as leading his own trio and co-leading ‘Compassionate Dictatorship’ he has played, recorded and toured with a variety of ensembles in jazz, pop and world music including F-ire Collective member Tom Arthurs’ ‘Centripede’, Russell Van den Berg, Asaf Sirkis’ ‘Inner Noise’, ‘Centreline’, Rick Astley, Koby Israelite, Gerard Presencer and Johnny Mayor (Indo-jazz fusion) with recordings for Babel, 33 records and FMR and performances for Jazz on 3 and various festivals and tours all over the UK and Europe.

Tori Freestone - sax

Tori Freestone attended the Leeds College Undergrad and Guildhall Postgrad jazz courses and was regional finalist of Young Jazz Musician of the Year in ’96.  She has played saxes/flutes/violin with many groups in varying styles including NYJO, the Creative Jazz Orchestra, the LJO, Andy Sheppard, Rory Simmons’ ‘Fringe Magnetic’, the Ivo Neame Quintet and Large Ensemble, Neil Yates, country legend Lee Hazlewood, and ‘Orquesta Timbala’ with performances including the London, Cork, Jersey, Haskovo (Bulgaria), Elb (Germany), Brecon and Cheltenham Jazz Festivals, Ronnie Scotts, the QEH and RFH mainstages, and recordings for Edition, FMR and the loop record labels and for Jazz on 3 and BBC radio 2.

Jasper Høiby – double bass

Jasper Hoiby was born in Copenhagen and moved to the UK to study at the Royal Academy of Music.  He is now one of the most exciting and in demand talents on the current London scene.  A member of the Loop Collective and an associate of the F-IRE Collective, Høiby is also involved with many of the most influential names in modern European jazz and is making a name for himself with his piano trio, Phronesis.  Since their debut album in 2007 the trio have sold more than 11,000 songs as downloads in the US and Europe. Hoiby also performs with a number of other high-profile projects as an in-demand collaborator including Jim Hart’s Gemini, the Mark Lockheart group, the Ivo Neame Quintet and Rory Simmons’ Fringe Magnetic. He has recorded on the Babel. Loop and Edition labels and for jazz on 3 and performed at festivals and venues all over the UK, Europe and the US.

James Maddren - drums

James Maddren was born and brought up in Christ's Hospital School in Horsham. Whilst still at school James travelled to London to study with one of Europe’s top multi-instrumentalist Jim Hart.  He then went on to study jazz percussion with Martin France as his drum tutor at the Royal Academy of Music, leaving with a first class honours and the principal’s award for outstanding studentship.  He has played with many artists and ensembles including the Gwilym Simcock trio, Kit Downes Trio, Marc Copland/Stan Sulzmann Quartet the Mark McKnight Organ Quartet featuring Seamus Blake, Ivo Neame Quaret, Phil Donkin, Will Vinson, Martin Speake quartet, Phronesis, Jonathan Bratoeff quartet and Tangent with performances at festivals and venues all over the UK, Europe and the States.

“A vital example of UK musicians embracing and incorporating both free jazz and rock elements into an edgy, risk taking approach to their music” - Jazzwise

“With their guitar/saxophone front line ‘Compassionate Dictatorship’ are sometimes reminiscent of the brilliant ‘Partisans’, a comparison that is reinforced with their tricky, complex, yet thoroughly accessible music.” – The Jazzmann

END

Ant Law Quartet

The above band has received a Jazz Services National Touring Support Scheme grant for their new tour.

Line-up:

Ant Law - guitar

Michael Chillingworth – saxophone

Tom Farmer – double bass

James Maddren - drums

www.antlaw.co.uk 

Guitarist Ant Law was a scholar at both Edinburgh University and Berklee College of Music until moving to London in 2008.  Upon arrival he quickly picked up some high profile session work with a variety of mainstream artists such as Mica Paris and members of Incognito and Level 42, and kept a relatively low profile on the jazz circuit while touring internationally, composing and practicing intensely as he did so.

 A pioneer of the ‘perfect fourths’ tuning system for the guitar, Ant is now a highly enticing presence within the country’s young jazz movement.  He makes regular trips to New York to study with his heroes Ben Monder, Lage Lund, Adam Rogers, Gilad Hekselman, Tim Miller, and significantly Ari Hoenig, with their collective influences audible in his music.  But with his debut album Entanglement - showcased on this tour and funded in part by the Jazz Services Recording Support Scheme - he plants his flag on home ground with great assurance, technical ability, and melodic and rhythmic flair.

Michael Chillingworth – saxophone

Michael Chillingworth has worked with many fine musicians including Kit Downes, Jim Hart, Stan Sulzmann, Gareth Lockrane, Julian Siegel, John Taylor, Josh Morrison, Sam Lasserson, Calum Gourlay and many others.  He has appeared on several records, notably the late and sadly missed Richard Turner’s Round Trip on F-ire Records, Andrea DiBiase’s Oltremare Quartet on Babel and the Jack Davies Big Band.  When not performing Michael teaches in several schools in London as well as privately.  He is currently based in North West London.

Thomas Farmer – double bass

Thomas took his first piano lessons aged 4 and continued rapidly through to Grade 8, but gravitated towards the bass in his teens, and the instrument has taken him to some great heights.  He has been a prominent figure in several well established groups, including the National Youth Jazz Orchestra, Empirical, the Heritage Orchestra, Tomorrow’s Warriors.  He also studied under John Patitucci, Rufus Reid, Mike Gibbs, Kenny Wheeler and Branford Marsalis and performed with Martin Speake, Brian Abrahams, Brian Edwards, Martin Hathaway, Shabaka Hutching’s Splay and Femi Temowo.

James Maddren – drums

Maddren is quickly becoming something of an inescapable presence on the scene, and can always be relied upon to provide a rock-solid backdrop for whichever group he plays with.  He is well known for his versatility and ability, and has performed regularly with the likes of Gwilym Simcock, Kit Downes, Marc Copland/Stan Sulzman, Mark McKnight, Ivo Neame, Phil Donkin, Martin Speake, Phronesis, Trish Clowes and many more.

"Exceptional musicianship" – Record Collector

“[Ant Law’s] fretboard manoeuvres effected an almost uniform raising of audience eyebrows” - The Herald

"Would make Slash take to his knees and beg for mercy" - The Journal

END

Jazz Services has received the following press release from the PRS For Music Foundation, who are today launching the first ever UK-wide New Music Biennial, presenting a series of brand new music commissions to audiences across the UK in 2014.

From today organisations can apply for up to £20,000 to commission and perform new work across all genres.

The text of the press release is below, and it can be downloaded on the link following the release.
 

PRS for Music Foundation is proud to announce the launch of the first ever UK-wide New Music Biennial, presenting a series of brand new music commissions to audiences across the UK in 2014. Organisations from all over the country are invited to submit ideas for commissions that they would like to realise with a UK based composer. Beginning in January 2014, the first edition of the New Music Biennial has been developed in partnership with Creative Scotland, Arts Council England and British Council. It will support and promote up to twenty new commissions which will be performed across the length and breadth of the UK as Scotland prepares to celebrate the Commonwealth Games. These commissions will be brought together across two weekend events hosted by London’s Southbank Centre (4-6 July) and Glasgow UNESCO City of Music (2–4 August) in the summer of 2014, coinciding with the city’s hosting of the Commonwealth Games. 

The call for proposals opens today. Cultural and creative organisations, festivals, ensembles, promoters and venues from England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are invited to present ideas for new work. As this first edition of the New Music Biennial coincides with Scotland’s hosting of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, it will have an international focus, connecting with the Commonwealth and beyond. Applicants to the New Music Biennial are invited to present their own, unique interpretation of this international dimension – whether a conceptual realisation or collaboration with partners overseas. Any musical genre will be considered. A panel of experts, chaired by Roger Wright, Controller BBC Radio 3 and Director, BBC Proms, will select the 20 works following the deadline for applications on March 4. All selected works will premiere in 2014 and be featured on BBC Radio 3.

The New Music Biennial builds on the success of New Music 20x12, a music commissioning programme that saw more than 250,000 people experience new work from leading figures in the fields of contemporary classical, jazz and folk music. Composers including Mark-Anthony Turnage, Sally Beamish, Jason Yarde, Emily Howard, Julian Joseph, Sheema Mukherjee, Howard Skempton, Anna Meredith and Graham Fitkin were commissioned for the exciting programme and were brought together with a wide array of organisations and performers in a weekend celebration at Southbank Centre which was a highlight of the Cultural Olympiad. Rambert Dance Company, actress Juliet Stephenson, the OAE, Music in Prisons and performance poet Ian McMillan are just a few of the many artists who were involved in New Music 20x12. The New Music 20x12 works were made available to people through a variety of ways - over 120 concerts, downloads from NMC Recordings (www.nmcrec.co.uk), BBC Radio 3 broadcasts and films on The Space (www.thespace.org), the new digital arts service developed by Arts Council England in partnership with the BBC.

Vanessa Reed, Executive Director of PRS for Music Foundation, said:

“We’re delighted to launch the first ever New Music Biennial which will present high-quality new music to more people than ever before. Its combination of a UK-wide commissioning programme, open call for submissions and presentation of new music across a broad range of genres, means that there’s no other initiative of this kind in the UK. We’re grateful to Creative Scotland, Arts Council England and the British Council for enabling us to present the New Music Biennial 2014 as Glasgow welcomes visitors from across the world.”

Iain Munro, Director of Creative Development at Creative Scotland commented:

“Creative Scotland is proud to be working with these partners for the 2014 New Music Biennial. Judging by the success of New Music 20x12, the commissions in 2014 will be works by talented composers from across the musical spectrum, presented by organisations who may be established or new commissioners, and performed to audiences throughout the UK by a wide array of talented musicians.” 

Roger Wright, Controller BBC Radio 3 and Director BBC Proms, said: 

“This is a great opportunity to showcase the vibrancy and quality of the UK’s new music scene across a number of genres and I’m thrilled that, as the home of classical music, BBC Radio 3 will broadcast each of the new works.” 

Anna Meredith, composer who participated in New Music 20x12 said: “I loved being part of New Music 20x12. It gave me a platform to try something new and bold for my own commission. I'd love to see what new music and ideas can be developed through the New Music Biennial and it’s a great idea to create this following the success of 20x12”

New Music Biennial is a PRS for Music Foundation initiative, in partnership with Creative Scotland, Arts Council England and the British Council. It is presented in collaboration with BBC Radio 3, NMC Recordings, Southbank Centre and Glasgow UNESCO City of Music. Additional support has been given by John S. Cohen Foundation, Jillian Barker and David Cohen, who initiated New Music 20x12, Arts Council Wales and Arts Council Northern Ireland. 

More information about the New Music Biennial open call can be found on our website - www.prsformusicfoundation.com/Partnerships/Flagship-Programmes/New-Music-Biennial/

For more information about New Music Biennial contact Sarah Thirtle  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or Talia Hull This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

- ENDS -

Voting is now open for the 2013 All Party Parliamentary Jazz Appreciation Group Awards!  Just use the form below to nominate your choices for the nine categories in this years awards.  The eventual winners will be selected from these nominations by the awards' judging panel, and the final winners will be announced at a ceremony at the House of Commons on Wednesday 8th May.

Please note: voting closes at 12 noon on Monday 4th February 2013

The Parliamentary Jazz Awards is organised by the All Party Parliamentary Jazz Appreciation Group (APPJAG), and supported by PPL in conjunction with Jazz Services, Jazz UK, Jazzwise, and the Jazz Section of the Musicians’ Union.

This report has been written by Esther Briggs who spent the summer of 2011 on a work placement at Jazz Services.  Esther updated the first report on jazz in the media (2008) which was commissioned from the University of Westminster by Jazz Services.  The report compares the actual press coverage of a range of musics, including jazz, with the level of coverage that might be expected if the newspapers under scrutiny based their coverage on their readers’ actual musical tastes as indicated by the standard media research sources used by the industry.

Chris Hodgkins, Director Jazz Services

October 2012

To download Esther's report, please click the link below.

2012 is drawing to a close and the eyes of the European jazz scene are already turning to next year's JazzAhead conference in Germany.  Held from the 25th - 28th April in the town of Bremen, the conference is one of the largest of its kind and brings together industry professionals from across the jazz spectrum, with musicians and managers, promoters and PRs, agents and A&R men and many others all gathering for a weekend of heads-down networking.

As ever, a variety of bands are performing during the event, and this year we're pleased to see the UK represented by the Beats & Pieces Big Band, Zoe Rahman and Django Bates, all of whom will perfom during the European Jazz Meeting on the 27th April.

Jazz Services will have a stand at the event as usual, and invitations are open to interested parties who'd like to participate as co-exhibitors.  Updated info is now available on the JazzAhead page of our International section, along with the form to complete and send back.  

http://www.jazzservices.org.uk/index.php/international-showcase-menu/jazz-services-at-jazzahead