Jazz South is delighted to announce a series of online broadcasts and events taking place from 22 – 30 April 2021, celebrating jazz talent across the South of England.
Jazz South Online Fest will feature filmed and recorded performances showcasing new music by talented composers selected for Jazz South’s Breakthrough and Radar Commissioning schemes, two youth engagement projects with online workshops and gigs, plus a gig at Turner Sims Southampton on International Jazz Day.
Celebrating jazz talent, from emerging to established artists, the week-long festival offers music fans everywhere the opportunity to enjoy inspiring performances, plus workshops and other activities.
Jazz South Online Fest is a great opportunity to showcase the breadth of jazz talent from the South of England, ranging from composers at the start of their career to those who have made a name for themselves nationally and internationally. We are delighted to share new work from our Breakthrough Commission artists alongside two new works from Radar Commission artists that we were unable to broadcast last Autumn. Alongside this, two partnership projects with venues and other arts organisations in Dorset and East Sussex are offering local young people inspiration and a chance to participate in jazz projects as well as find out other roles in the music industry.
Tamsin Mendelsohn, Jazz South Manager
22 April: A partnership between 1066 Music City, De Le Warr Pavilion, Eggtooth and Jazz South will engage young people, aged 16-30, from the 1066 music city region in a one-day jazz performance, live spoken word and skills development online programme, focused around Stephen Lawrence Day. More details to be announced soon.
23-24 April: A partnership with SoundStorm Music Education Hub, Lighthouse Centre for the Arts Poole, and Soundcellar Poole will feature two days of online workshops and gigs, featuring Soweto Kinch, Greg Foat, We Are Leif, Futuristica Records and more.
25 April: Jazz South Spotlight – Kevin Le Gendre speaks to John K Miles in a special podcast about John’s Radar Commissions piece. River and Ash – Play a Mighty Groove is a reimagining of the myth of ‘Orpheus in the Underworld’ for 8-11 year olds, focussing on the themes of friendship and the power of music. It features John K Miles narrating and playing saxophone, flute and keys, with Winston Clifford on drums and Dave Manington on basses.
26 April, 8pm: Jazz South Radar Sessions – featuring Olie Brice
Jazz South presents Olie Brice (double bass), Jason Yarde (alto sax) and Nick Malcolm (trumpet) performing Olie Brice’s Fire Hills – a new composition for three free improvisers. Alongside the performance, Olie will discuss the piece in an interview with Kevin Le Gendre.
27 April, 8pm: Jazz South Breakthrough Sessions: Roella Oloro + Lucinda Fosker
Jazz South presents the Breakthrough Sessions – double bill gigs featuring brand new music from talented emerging artists selected for Jazz South’s Breakthrough Commissions. Multi-instrumentalist Roella Oloro explores the concept of a perfumer, mixing styles and influences from jazz, gospel, classical and rock. Vocalist and songwriter Lucinda Fosker presents Riverways, an aural and visual journey along the River Thames, inspired by four contrasting places along a stretch she has known and loved all her life.
28 April, 8pm: Jazz South Breakthrough Sessions: Asha Parkinson + Tim Davies
Jazz South presents the Breakthrough Sessions – double bill gigs featuring brand new music from talented emerging artists selected for Jazz South’s Breakthrough Commissions. Asha Parkinson presents Encounters, a powerful new suite for saxophone, string quartet, qanun, Arabic percussion and voice. Encounters inhabits an evocative sound world where jazz, Arabic Maqam and contemporary classical music meet with the feminist poetry of Maran Al-Masri. Tim Davies presents a suite for modular synthesiser and jazz quintet. Modular synthesis and jazz share significant common ground through their roots in improvisation, and the work explores these parallels by bringing together techniques of modular composition such as micro-sound and west coast synthesis in a jazz performance environment.
30 April: Turner Sims International Jazz Day Online Broadcast
An exclusive double bill of British jazz talent presented direct from the concert hall and hosted by journalist and broadcaster Kevin Le Gendre. For this special broadcast, saxophonist Denys Baptiste revisits music from his much heralded Edition Records release The Late Trane, which re-imagines the late period music of John Coltrane. Opening the event is one of the brightest and boldest jazz talents in the UK. Pianist and composer Rebecca Nash, leader of her own band ATLAS, performs a solo set of intimate, atmospheric sounds and specially arranged numbers from her acclaimed ATLAS debut release Peaceful King, alongside new material from her forthcoming album Redefining Element 78.
Full details on the Jazz South Online Fest can be found here