Serious select Andy Champion and Chris Montague as part of Take Five Edition VIII

               

(Press release.)

Serious’ hugely successful professional development scheme Take Five will again ‘take over’ during the London Jazz Festival in association with BBC Radio 3.

This year Take Five has two reasons to celebrate.  First, we will announce the artists who will participate in Take Five Edition VIII and second, audiences will be treated to a performance by the participants in Take Five: Europe, the inaugural European edition of the scheme, which has been supported by the Culture Programme of the European Union, as well as the original funding partners for Take Five, Jerwood Charitable Foundation and PRS for Music Foundation.

Take Five: Europe Live! is a free performance that starts at 5.30pm on Saturday 17 November in the Front Room of the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre, London.  The set will showcase the talents of 10 composer-performers from France (Céline Bonacina and Benjamin Flament), the Netherlands (Oene Van Geel and Bram Stadhouders), Norway (Ole Morton Vågan and Gard Nilssen), Poland (Maciej Garbowsky and Maciej Obara) and the UK (Tom Arthurs and Fraser Fifield) with material that has been honed in workshops and performances across the continent. 

During the evening, the participants in Take Five Edition VIII will also be announced to the public. Take Five – the professional development scheme for emerging creative jazz musicians which is supported by Jerwood Charitable Foundation, PRS for Music Foundation, Arts Council England and the Musicians Benevolent Fund - is designed to give some of the UK’s most talented young jazz musicians the unique opportunity to take ‘time out’ to develop their craft.  It provides each artist with the chance to discuss, explore and strengthen all aspects of their future careers. 

The eight creative jazz musicians who have been selected for Take Five Edition VIII are:

• Yazz Ahmed (Trumpet/London)
• Andy Champion (Double Bass/Gateshead)
• Gwyneth Herbert (Voice/London)
• Cevanne Horrocks-Hopayian (Voice and Harp/Suffolk)
• Dominic Lash (Double Bass/Bristol)
• Chris Montague (Guitar/London)
• Rory Simmons (Trumpet/London)
• Paul Towndrow (Saxophones/Glasgow)

“This year’s “Take Fivers” reflect the growing diversity of the UK’s jazz scene and the continuing relevance of the unique professional development opportunity that Take Five offers.  With more applications than ever before and the extremely high quality of musicians coming forward, it was difficult to select just 8 participants. Those selected are exceptional and distinctive and I’m particularly pleased that more talented women came forward than in recent years.”  (Vanessa Reed,Executive Director, PRS for Music Foundation.

“Take Five UK Edition VIII has reignited with a bang following a resting year and the new development of Take Five Europe. Applications came from a wide field of talented, motivated players and composers; diverse both stylistically and in their geographical location. This fresh wave of new faces indicates we can feel hugely optimistic about the future of jazz. I’m delighted that Take Five continues to contribute to the development of an alumni of artists who are proving they are taking responsibility for shaping this future in the UK and Europe.”  (Shonagh Manson, Director, Jerwood Charitable Foundation)

Take Five Edition VIII will run from October 2012 to June 2013 and comprises a number of sessions under the collective areas of Talk Time, Learning Time, Focus Time, Time Out and Creative Time.  Each artist will benefit from one-to-one mentoring sessions to identify their particular areas of interest and need, as well a residential period exploring areas such as composition, performance, communications, business infrastructure and strategic direction. 

“Serious is committed to providing professional development opportunities to musicians of all ages and from all backgrounds, and we are delighted that two of our current programmes - Take Five and Take Five: Europe - are converging at the Southbank Centre on 17 November during the London Jazz Festival.  The ongoing success of Take Five in all its forms is a continuing source of pride for our organisation and we are thrilled to be working with so many inspirational and talented artists and partners - both producing and funding - on both schemes.” Claire Whitaker, Director, Serious

Previous participants in Take Five commented:

“Take Five is vital!  It is very difficult to convey how privileged I feel to be involved.  I would like to think that I am a willing learner and without even 24 hours reflection on the residency, I have a completely overhauled sense of direction, ambition and confidence in the entire enterprise of making and sharing music.  I would hope that it is also important beyond those who have participated: it stands as something aspirational for everyone and as a model that it can be done.”  (Alexander Hawkins, Edition VII, 2011)

“When you look at the people that have been through the scheme and what they’ve since gone on to achieve it’s evident that Take Five is a very important thing. For me it was invaluable for many reasons – first of all it was a massive confidence boost and an indication that people respected and enjoyed my music.  Then the Bore Place week was an amazing chance to meet people and share ideas; obviously it was invaluable to meet the amazing panellists and learn from them more about what they do in terms of the business side but also it was a great opportunity to meet and work with John Surman and the seven other musicians that I had not met before, each working in very different areas with different methods that will be artistically influential in my own work in the future.” (Ben Cottrell, Edition VII, 2011)

A panel of industry experts contributed to the selection process, taking into account the following considerations for each participant: creativity, future potential, style of music, range of influences, geography, cultural background and distinctive contribution to the community.  The panel included representatives from Jerwood Charitable Foundation, PRS for Music Foundation, Musicians Benevolent Fund and Serious, as well as Graham McKenzie (Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival), Steve Mead (Manchester Jazz Festival) and Jason Yarde (composer, saxophonist and producer).