Jazz in Wales

News about gigs, festivals, famous names, new artists and more compiled by DJ Andy Roberts in Cardiff, Wales. Send your updates to andy @ jazzinwales.co.uk

Monday, March 31, 2008

Jazz Connection playlist 31 March 2008

Here's what I played on the Jazz Connection on Monday 31 March on Radio Cardiff 98.7FM:

Jazz Warriors – Abolition Day
Alan Barnes – Yeah!
Killer Shrimp – Walking On
Gareth Roberts Quintet – Mop Dancing
Oliver Nelson – 125th St and 7th Avenue
Geoff Eales – Armando's Rhumba
Whiskey River - Voodoo Chile
Sophie Milman – Matchmaker, Matchmaker
Cachao – La Trompeta Y La Flauta
Ian Shaw – A Good and Simple Man
King Django – Friend
Chris Barber – Lead Me On


Hear the show right now at
www.jazz-connection.co.uk

The next show will be on Monday 14 April at 8pm - let me know if you have any gig info or CDs for airplay on the programme.

Friday, March 28, 2008

No reprieve for theJazz

Digital radio station theJazz will close at midnight on Monday 31 March, parent company GCap has confirmed.

There were hopes of a reprieve after sister station Planet Rock was given a month's stay of execution pending talks with potential bidders.

But a message on www.thejazz.com confirms that the station - whose programmes have already been replaced by continuous music - will close barely a year after its launch on Christmas Day 2006.

"As you may be aware, theJazz is due to close at the end of March. We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support of theJazz over the past 15 months.

"We will remain on air until March 31, and we remain committed to supporting jazz music and the musicians who make it."

Sister station Classic FM has introduced a nightly jazz show from midnight till 2am, and a rolling jazz music stream is available online at myclassicfm.com to registered users of the website.

Meanwhile rival radio group GMG has offered to relaunch Jazz FM on digital radio in London and North West England, on condition that regulator Ofcom agrees to drop the remaining requirements to broadcast jazz on its former Jazz FM stations - now known as Smooth Radio - in those areas.

In response, Ofcom says it'll consider the request to change the station formats on their own merits, without any reference to new stations which it says have yet to be formally proposed.

The regulator is inviting public comment on the Jazz FM proposals until April 11 - full details can be found at www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/smoothfmformat/

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Women in Jazz lottery grant

Swansea-based Women in Jazz have been awarded a Project Planning grant of £44,700 from Heritage Lottery Fund to take forward plans to relocate the organisation and safeguard the extensive collection of archive material.

Women in Jazz was established in 1986 to ensure a central place for women in the past, present and future of jazz highlighting the suppressed history of women in jazz. Its archive includes recordings, writings, costumes, equipment and instruments

Plans to move to new premises are a priority for the organisation as existing space is no longer appropriate for the preservation and care of the collection.

The Heritage Lottery Fund grant will fund essential planning work which will inform the future care and management of the collection as well as research the potential for attracting visitors to a fully accredited museum, with appropriate training, education and access plans.

Women in Jazz have just appointed Abby Sohn as Project Planning Officer, a post also funded by Heritage Lottery Fund.


Abby has previously worked in museum conservation for institutions such as the Smithsonian Institute, National Museum of the American Indian, Bronx, New York and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. She has also worked in Wales as a conservator at the National History Museum at St Fagans, Nantgarw Collections Centre, Big Pit National Coal Museum and the National Wool Museum.

Jennifer Stewart, Heritage Lottery Fund Manager for Wales, said: "Saving historic records is important as they provide such a useful tool for anyone who wants to explore their past.


"This grant will help Women in Jazz make future plans to ensure that their extensive archive is given the care it deserves."

See www.womeninjazzswansea.org.uk for more about the organisation.

Monday, March 17, 2008

Jazz Connection playlist 17 March 2008

Here's what I played on the Jazz Connection on Monday 17 March on Radio Cardiff:

Dirty Dozen Brass Band ft Dr John – It's All Over Now
Empirical – Blessings
Lizz Wright – Coming Home
Clark Tracey Quartet – Seven Steps To Heaven
Ska Cubano – Cumbia En Do Menor (Spiritual South remix)
The Amigos – Gypsymania
Brad Mehldau Trio – Wonderwall
John Coltrane Quartet – Blues Minor
Dianne Reeves – Just My Imagination
Lionel Hampton – Psychedelic Sally

Hear the programme right now via my Jazz Connection radio page - and keep sending me your gig info and CDs for use in future shows.

Thursday, March 06, 2008

Steve Waterman Big Band Jazz Course

Places are still available on Steve Waterman's contemporary Big Band Jazz Course at the Diplomat Hotel, Llanelli, from April 4 to 6.

Trombonists and bass guitarists are especially welcome - the course costs £280 which includes all tuition, accommodation and food.

See
www.swjo.co.uk for details.

Wonderbrass meets King Django

South Wales's biggest, boldest, funky jazz band Wonderbrass is joining forces with American ska star King Django.

He's flying in for a week of rehearsals and recording sessions culminating in two keynote gigs:

Sunday 13 April - Newport TJs
Monday 14 April - Cardiff Clwb Ifor Bach

Check the websites at www.kingdjango.com and www.wonderbrass.org.uk for more details.

Monday, March 03, 2008

Glamorgan drops Jazz Summer School

The University of Glamorgan has dropped the jazz course from its annual summer school due to funding issues.

Jazz has been an integral part of the summer school for more than thirty years, with its roots in the Barry Summer Schools founded by Pat Evans, and developed by Tony Oxley and Gordon Beck.

In a statement, the university said: "We are sorry to disappoint you this year with no jazz provision.

"The public monies that fund the summer school is linked to widening access and student progression onto our Treforest campus.

"It is with great regret that we have been unable to identify such a path with respect to some elements of the summer school curriculum, including the Jazz provision.

"As such, this subject has been deleted from the brochure for the summer of 2008."

Thanks to Derek Roberts for alerting me to this - he's naturally very disappointed by the news.

"This is a very sad day for the development of jazz in Wales and the UK as a whole," he says.

"This course has been run in Wales for over 30 years, and the cream of British jazz has passed through the doors, as tutors and students.

"Anything you can do to bring the University to account and persuade them to reconsider would be greatly appreciated."

Derek says the jazz summer school organisers are trying to set up an alternative at Trinity College in London.

But it'll be scant comfort to the many students from Wales - myself included - who've been taught on our own doorstep by some of the leading figures on the UK jazz scene - Dave Wickens, Bobby Wellins, Pete Churchill, Liane Carroll, Chris Bachelor, Stan Sulzmann and countless others.

For details of Glamorgan Summer School, see the website at www.glam.ac.uk/summerschool or phone 01443 482828.

Jazz Connection playlist 3 March 2008

Here's what I played on the Jazz Connection on Monday 3 March on Radio Cardiff:

Mingus Big Band – Moanin'
Barb Jungr – The Times They Are A-Changin'
Acoustic Ladyland – Red Sky
Plumstead Radical Club – The Coast Is Clear
Burum – Marwnad Yr Ehedydd (The Lark's Lament)
Miles Davis – Someday My Prince Will Come
Barry Adamson – The Beaten Side of Town
Graham Watkins Trio ft Clare Hingott – It's All Right With Me
Janusz Carmello – When The Jazz Is Swinging In
Young Holt Unlimited – Ain't There Something Money Can't Buy


If you missed the show you can hear it via the Jazz Connection radio page.

The next show is on Monday 17 March - keep sending me your gig info and CDs for airplay.

Saturday, March 01, 2008

Janusz Carmello on tour

Polish trumpeter Janusz Carmello is visiting Wales for a short tour.

His style is influenced by Clifford Brown and Freddie Hubbard, and he's worked with Charles Mingus, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis and many others in his forty year career.

Here's where you can see Janusz with the John Gibbon Trio:

Weds 12 March - Pembroke House Hotel, Haverfordwest
Thurs 13 March - Cafe Jazz, Cardiff
Fri 14 March - Sebastopol Social Club, Pontypool
Sat 15 March - Gwernyfed High School, nr Hay-on-Wye
Sun 16 March - Cripple Creek Inn, Raglan

For more about Janusz, see the profile on the Span Arts website.

I'll be playing a track by him on my Jazz Connection show on Radio Cardiff this coming Monday 3 March at 8pm.