Various venues
Durham City
June 1st - 3rd
Tickets: £10 available from buytickets.at/djazz
A festival is bringing together an eclectic mix of musicians and ensembles to challenge perceptions and blur the lines of jazz as we know it!
DJAZZ - The Durham City Jazz Festival started in 2017 to celebrates the genre in all of its forms. After attracting more than 2000 people in its first year with a mix of ticketed and free events the festival returns to excite, intrigue and entertain in equal measure.
The festival brings a fresh perspective to the world of jazz, celebrating it’s vast and varied nature. The focus is to bring together a number of different musical styles, groups, networks and audiences in the small but perfectly formed city of Durham. At only £10 for a full weekend ticket, festival-goers gain access to over 30 events ranging from intimate sets in hidden locations to big names in big venues! Think cafes, bookshops and barber shops to bars, venues and stunning historic buildings. This not only has the effect of pairing up acts with a unique environment but is part of the festival’s ambition to reach new audiences and get music lovers to try something new!
So one minute you’re watching multi-award winning alto-saxophonist and MC Soweto Kinch in the historic Durham Miners Hall, Redhills - and the next you’re in the 25 capacity Barber of Neville for an intimate set by an improv duo.
The organisers encourage anyone who is interested in live music to engage with the festival, and not to be deterred by the term ‘Jazz’.
Carlo Viglianisi says
“Jazz can be quite a loaded phrase but the truth is, jazz as a genre can be traced through almost every form of music since the 1920s. At our festival, you’ll hear everything from New Orleans street bands and gypsy jazz through to hip-hop and electro. You’ll definitely catch the best examples of jazz as you think you know it, and jazz as you don’t know it”
“Jazz can be quite a loaded phrase but the truth is, jazz as a genre can be traced through almost every form of music since the 1920s. At our festival, you’ll hear everything from New Orleans street bands and gypsy jazz through to hip-hop and electro. You’ll definitely catch the best examples of jazz as you think you know it, and jazz as you don’t know it”
Diversity also plays a big role in the festival with an emphasis on youth and gender balance. The festival brings together performers from across the region with talent from Durham University’s thriving jazz society and mixes them with national and international bands. One of the founders, Durham graduate Heather Spencer, has her own promotions company with a specialism in diversity within jazz:
“It’s impossible to ignore the gender imbalance within jazz and we work really hard to tackle that head-on - last year we had female representation in 30% of the bands playing, this year it’s 50%. Add to that the fact that we have at least a third of players under the age of 25 you can see that this isn’t a Jazz Festival in its typical form”
Taking place across multiple venues in the city audiences will experience jazz in all of its forms in a range of unique and intriguing venues.
The festival venues are:
● The Barber of Neville
● Redhills: Durham Miners Hall
● Empty Shop HQ
● Fowler’s Yard
● Jam Jah @ Alington House
● The Old Cinema Launderette
Featured acts include:
● Soweto Kinch Trio
● Paul Edis
● Early Nite
● Skeltr
● Jambone (Sage Gateshead youth jazz ensemble)
● Sloth Racket
● Riviera Quartet
Full line up is at: www.emptyshop.org /djazz
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