I'd like to urge fans, musicians and promoters of all forms of jazz in the north east to attend tonight's Public Meeting - The Future of Contemporary Jazz in the North East of England - held at the Lit and Phil, 23 Westgate Rd, Newcastle. Several jazz people involved in the wider spectrum of our music have told me that they won't be going because of the insertion of "Contemporary" in the heading. This is unfortunate as, personally, I think this gives them all the more reason to attend and let their voices be heard.
To put it another way, it's no good complaining about your MP if you didn't bother to vote.
The meeting, which is chaired by Chris Hodgkins of Jazz Services, starts at 7:00pm. The bar will be open - always conducive to free speech - and afterwards there will be a set by Zoe Gilby and Andy Champion.
Lance.
2 comments :
Sorry I missed the event, but I fervently hope that contemporary jazz isn't confused with non-idiomatic free improvisation. The amount of subsidy per head swallowed up by that particular fringe interest makes the Greek Olympics look like a long-term bargain...
es Zoe was brilliant, and so was Andy. He gets better and better and this is because he works hard, in two senses: 1) he does a lot of gigs (and practice I guess) and 2) his fingers work hard on the strings.
As a bassist myself I am really impressed by his technique – precise left hand placement all over the finger board, good articulation in the thumb position (ie the high notes), strong attacking right hand, the ability to play fast without losing focus, plus creativity, sensitivity and humour.
As a result the Zoe/Andy combination of vocal and double bass and is a fully rounded performance. You don’t feel you’re missing a piano or guitar or drums or anything else.
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