Jazz @ the NLT in November

November is Jazz Festival month, and we have another really strong selection of bands for you.

The first gig of November features one of our favourite bands, the great duo of Paul Clarvis and Liam Noble (check out their album Starry Starry Night), alongside Southbound - made up of myself, Rob Cope on tenor, Tom Taylor on piano and Jon Ormston on drums.

Our first jazz festival gig is on the 13th features the star pianist Ivo Neame and his trio (Andrea DiBiase and Dave Hamblett) and my own band, Flea Circus - fresh from our debut album recording!

For the second LJF gig we welcome pianist and composer Hans Koller's quartet - an awesome line up including Percy Pursglove on bass / trumpet, François Théberge on tenor and Jeff Williams on drums. The first set will be from pianist Tom Taylor's brand new Octet with Josh Arcoleo on tenor, amongst others.

Finally, for the last gig of the month Dave Manington presents his Riff Raff band - with Brigitte Beraha (voice), Tom Challenger (tenor), Rob Updegraff (guitar), Ivo Neame (piano), Tim Giles (drums) and a new stellar duo from vibes player Lewis Wright and Kit Downes on piano.

As usual, we're on every Sunday, doors 7.30pm and a bargain £5 entry.

November:

6- Liam Noble / Paul Clarvis + Southbound

LONDON JAZZ FESTIVAL:

13 - Ivo Neame Trio + Jack Davies' Flea Circus

20 - Hans Koller Quartet + Tom Taylor Octet

27- Dave Manington's 'Riff Raff' + Kit Downes / Lewis Wright

LondonJazz: London Jazz Festival preview

My preview of the London Jazz Festival is up on the LondonJazz Blog.

Jazz @ the NLT Podcasts: Chris Batchelor

Our latest podcast is from the great trumpet player Chris Batchelor.

His trio is appearing this Sunday at the NLT, alongside Nadim Teimoori's ensemble which includes many of the younger jazz scene's brightest lights.

Subscribe to the podcasts, free, here.

Great idea?

The contract with a single "creative communications agency" to come up with the ideas for the recent "GREAT Britain" advertising campaign cost £600,000.

This is the initial contract only - and doesn't cover launch costs, or further developments of the campaign.

Some perspective: the best funded NPO for jazz is Serious, which will receive £449,302 in 2012/13.

Perhaps the DCMS should spend a bit more on the things they think are so great, rather than cutting the Arts Council's budget by 30%.

Jazz @ the NLT Podcasts: Tom Taylor / Tom Harrison

Our first joint NLT podcast comes from pianist Tom Taylor and saxophonist Tom Harrison ahead of their gig this Sunday. Also playing is a new trio led by Mike Chillingworth.

Subscribe to the podcasts free here, or simply stream on iTunes website.

LondonJazz: Big bands

My latest post on LondonJazz is about the young big band scene in the UK - disagree with John Fordham, they are not a rarity!

A response from the Arts Council

In reply to my questions about the Arts Council's relatively small cut to its travel and food spend following a 30% total budget cut and the general imbalance in Grants for the Arts and RFO / National Portfolio funding, the Arts Council have sent me this response:

"The Arts Council is committed to supporting the development of jazz in England and believes it has an important role to play in delivering our strategy for the arts ‘Achieving great art for everyone’. We are currently undertaking conversations with the national portfolio organisations to ensure that over the next period we address some of the key development needs in jazz, particularly in relation to developing artists and audiences across the country.

There has been significant investment in jazz through Grants for the Arts, however there is scope for the Arts Council and its funded organisations to promote the opportunities available to artists and organisations through this scheme. There is potential for the jazz sector to work more collaboratively and strategically with the wider arts sector to raise awareness of jazz (particularly new British jazz talent) and develop opportunities for artists to progress their careers within the UK market.

The Arts Council is working with the jazz sector in the North area to support a coherent approach to jazz development across the area from 2012/13 onwards. We are working with sector stakeholders to develop a suitable proposal for this during 11/12. The Arts Council will invest at least £4,236,943 in specialist jazz organisations through the national portfolio from 2012-15. These include Jazz Services, Serious (London Jazz Festival), Tomorrow’s Warriors, Manchester Jazz Festival. This represents 2% of our funding to music organisations. In the context of an overall cut to our budget of 30%, our investment in organisations entirely focussed on jazz has reduced by 6%.

Beyond these core jazz organisations we also fund a significant number of cross-artform venues and festivals who present major jazz programmes. These include Cheltenham Festivals, Barbican Centre, Bath Festivals, Band on the Wall. Over the past 3 years we have invested £1,968,571 in jazz through Grants for the arts. These include awards to Marsden Jazz Festival, East Midlands Jazz for organisational development, Kenny Wheeler 80^thbirthday tour. Around a third of Grants for the Arts applications were successful in 2010/11; around 40% of applications for jazz were successful.

All Arts Council expenditure with third parties is procured in line with government policy and regulations on public procurement to help ensure value for money. As you will see from the figures you have quoted this represents a 22.86% reduction in travel and food spending from 2009/10 to 2010/11 which is over and above the 15% reduction in admin expenditure requirement that was given to the Arts Council as part of our 2007 CSR spending settlement."

While it is interesting to note the success rate of jazz Grant for the Arts applications, in 2010 the Grants for Arts for jazz were just 13% of the total amount for classical music, opera and jazz.

LondonJazz blog

My first "thought piece" for LondonJazz is now up, stay tuned for more!

Jazz @ the NLT Podcasts: Nick Smart

Trumpeter Nick Smart is our latest NLT podcaster, and is playing at the NLT this coming Sunday. He talks about his band, Jazz Mantanzas, and the process of fusing Cuban and jazz music. Subscribe to the podcasts, free, here.

Quick note: Instead of All in One Helmet this Sunday, we have James Gardiner-Bateman's 'Demon Hell-Riders', featuring a burning (sorry) line-up of Josh Arcoleo, Alex Garnett, Lewis Wright, Calum Gourlay and James Maddren.

Jazz @ the NLT Podcasts: Dave Hamblett

Our latest podcast is with drummer Dave Hamblett ahead of his sextet's gig tomorrow, alongside Ryan Trebilcock's 'Holler'.

Subscribe to the podcasts on iTunes, free.

Arts Council still spending £1m a year on travel and food

Last year saw a cut of 30% to Arts Council England's total budget, however, in the year following this announcement, there was just a 22% reduction in ACE's food and travel spending.

Total Arts Council England travel and food spending:

2009/10 - £1,254,896

2010/11 - £967,925

Travel and catering spending fell, while "subsistence" almost doubled to £79,448 from £41,795.

The total amount spent by the Arts Council on jazz is £1,170,000.

This year it was also announced that Jazz Services will have its budget reduced by a huge 30.3%.

Jazz @ the NLT in October

October's Jazz @ the NLT started brilliantly last night with the first ever outing for Trish Clowes' 'The Odd Trio', and a set from pianist Alcyona Mick and drummer Paul Clarvis.

Next week (the 9th) we welcome bassist Ryan Trebilcock's 'Holler', with an unmissable line up of George Crowley on reeds, Lewis Wright on vibes, Hannes Riepler on guitar and Josh Morrison on drums. The other band will be the award winning drummer Dave Hamblett's Sextet, featuring a similarly starry band of Ivo Neame on piano, Josh Arcoleo and Joe Wright on tenors, Alex Munk on guitar and Calum Gourlay on bass.

On the 16th trumpeter and Head of Jazz at the Royal Academy Nick Smart returns with his stunning cuban / jazz outfit 'Jazz Mantanzas'. The first set will come from the brilliant alto player James Gardiner-Bateman's All in One Helmet, which comprises Freddie Gavita on trumpet, Pete Randall on bass and James Maddren on drums.

For the 23rd October we have two brand new bands fronted by alto players, one led by Mike Chillingworth and Josh Morrison, and the other a quartet featuring Tom Harrison, Tom Taylor, James Opstad and Dave Hamblett.

We're very excited to say the last gig of the month will be from trumpeter Chris Batchelor's band, with a first set from powerful tenor player Nadim Teimoori's eight-piece ensemble.

Hope you agree this looks set to be an amazing month of gigs, and don't forget to subscribe to our free podcasts on iTunes with band leaders talking about their music.

October

2 - Alcyona Mick / Paul Clarvis + Trish Clowes' Odd Trio

9 - Dave Hamblett Sextet + Holler

16 - Nick Smart's Jazz Matanzas + All in One Helmet

23 - Mike Chillingworth / Josh Morrison band + Tom Harrison Quartet

30 - Chris Batchelor Group + Nadim Teimoori Ensemble

As ever, doors 7.30pm, £5 entry.