Exclusive! First Names Announced for the JazzLeeds Festival 2018
20–24 July 2018
Our second JazzLeeds festival is going to be a bit bigger than the first! We’ve grown from that one day in Millennium Square in August last year to five days this year at the Wardrobe, Leeds College of Music and TWO days in Millennium Square. We’re featuring international stars but also featuring some of the musicians and stories from this great city of Leeds.
- Topping the bill at JazzLeeds Festival 18 is Soweto Kinch – saxman, rapper, BBC jazz broadcaster – at the Wardrobe on Friday evening 20 July
- International jazz star (and former stand up comedian!) Ian Shawwill be here with his trio with music from his new album Shine Sister Shine at the College of music on the afternoon of Sunday 22 July
- A special double header celebrating the new wave of British jazz with women’s band “Nerija” - from the Jazz Warriors and trumpeter Chris Batchelor’s band “Pigfoot”for the jazz party
- Jazz Galore with Leeds favourites Atlantic Crossover, US saxman Greg Abatewith his quartet, Leeds pianist Jamil Sheriff with his tribute to playwright Bill Naughton “Raefe’s Dilemma” and rising Northern Jazz Stars “Tetes de Pois” and “Archipelago”
- New StreamJazz Improv with Matthew Bourne, Shatner’s Bassoon and more
- Festival Fringe at the “Busk Stop” inLands Lane, in Millennium Squareand late night jam session at the Domino
Three festival highlights you shouldn't miss!
“Celebrating The Duke” -Alan Barnes EllingtoniansOctet :Sunday evening 22 July at Leeds College of Music
A celebration of the Duke’s music sixty years after Duke Ellington met the Queen in Leeds on Saturday, October 18, 1958. The Queen and the Duke were guests of honour at the finale of the Leeds Centenary Music Festival. The Duke sent Her Majesty a copy of his 1959 composition as a gift and it remains one of his most remarkable, but least well-known, works “The Queens Suite”. It will feature in the Ellington Celebration concert at the festival with music by saxman Alan Barnes and his eight piece “Ellingtonians” band.
“New Briggate Blues”: Monday evening 23 July The Carriageworks
Studio 20 was the Leeds main 1950’s jazz club on New Briggate run by tuba player Bob Barclay. Over the years it featured musicians like bluesman Jimmy Rushing, traditional jazz legend Ken Colyer, vocalist and raconteur George Melly, and sax legends Tubby Hayes and Ronnie Scott. Studio 20 also features in some of the crime novels written by Leeds crime writer Chris Nickson. Chris has written a jazz play as a commission to be performed at the festival about Studio 20 , directed by Ray Brown and featuring the jazz vocals of Jennie Smith
'Celebrating XeroSlingsby': Tuesday evening 24 July at the Wardrobe
Curated by Sally Coe this event is about the late Matthew Coe who become the leader of punk-jazz band XeroSlingsby during the 1980’s. He formed a band called XeroSlingsby And The Works with bass player Louis Colan and drummer Gene Velocette. The idea was to present free jazz with punk-type brevity and was remarkably successful: the “Works” became part of the ‘punkjazz’ flowering in England that included Blurt, Rip, Rig And Panic and Pigbag. Baritone saxophonist Alan Wilkinson and drummer Paul Hession readily acknowledge their debt to Slingsby’s inspirational belief in musical communication.
Earlybird festival tickets are now on sale - priced £90 (until April 30th)
Visit or call 07544 352594 for more details
Looking forward to seeing you all!!
Steve Crocker
Festival Organiser, JazzLeeds
Parliamentary Jazz Awards WinnerJazz Venue of the Year 2016
Note to editors
Who are JazzLeeds? – we are a new jazz charity organisation in the city, passionately run by volunteers. We started off ten years ago in Chapel Allerton at Seven Jazz but now we want the city to have a proper growing jazz festival, so that by 2023, the big Leeds Cultural Celebration we will be bigger, better and more international!