Serious

We've had a fairly hectic couple of months in the Serious office; somewhere in between dancing at the Barbican clubstage into the wee small hours and pitching tents in the rain at Womad, we've managed to squeeze in a couple of tours, performances at some of the UK's leading festivals, shows at Southbank Centre's Meltdown and Festival Brazil and a raft of shows at the Barbican's Blaze festival. And it's only August. We felt it was time to take stock this week, and recognise what a great couple of months it's been.

Frequent visitors of Southbank Centre over the Meltdown period, we caught a number of fantastic shows, all of which captured the essence of the festival. The highlight for me had to be Krystle Warren, whose performances at the Purcell Room had the entire audience on its feet, and whose voice and on stage persona proved once again to be utterly captivating. Krystle’s appearance in the memorable Celebration of Kate McGarrigle concert earned her a wealth of new fans, amongst them Holly Williams of the Independent, who described Krystle’s Nina Simone-esque voice  as “astonishingly powerful.” You can read the full review here.

Two of Brazil’s finest musicians, best known for their involvement in the Tropicalia movement of the 1970s, returned to their city of exile this month. First Caetano Veloso, who created a stir in the Barbican at the beginning of July (have a read of the Arts Desk review) and, last week, Gilberto Gil whose energetic show at the Royal Festival Hall brought over 2,000 people to their feet. Read the 4* review in the Guardian.

The Barbican’s Blaze Festival was even bigger and better this year. The sounds of latino, flamenco and jazz met in the form of a collaboration between Dave Holland and Pepe Habichuela, followed by a storming second set from Chano Dominguez.  Gilles Peterson and Roberto Fonseca came together live on stage for a one off London performance of their latest project, Havana Cultura. Offering a heady mix of jazz, hip hop, reggaeton and Cuban rhythms, their live show was happily married with the taste of Havana Club and demonstrated that, with the right music, the chairs in seated auditorium are redundant! The following week we were joined by Zakir Hussain, Bela Fleck and Edgar Meyer, in an evening of genre bending dialogue. Put well by the London Jazz Blog: “the sophisticated and poised music created by this trio may give the industry a headache trying to classify it, but having put the audience under its spell for the best part of two hours, sticking a label on it seemed rather beside the point.” Have a look at the full review here.

Last week, over three nights at the Hackney Empire, we danced to Balkan Gypsy music with Taraf De Haiouks, the sounds of the Congo with Staff Benda Bilili, and finally were treated to a screening of Tod Browning’s 1931 Dracula, with Philip Glass’s original score played live by the Kronos Quartet. Read the 4* Guardian review.

At Womad, last weekend, Serious certainly had a busy time of it, with six different artists performing over the course of the three days. The first night started with a bang – Staff Benda Bilili played on the main stage and were, once again, a hit. I think David Taylor of the Independent sums it up pretty well:

“The biggest buzz had to be the outstanding Staff Benda Bilili. The Congolese group, whose star is rising, lived up to all the hype. It's impossible to stand still to their set and by the final song the crowd was one mass of beaming smiles and raving limbs. And the young guy who played his own guitar-type instrument fashioned out of a tin can and a strand of electrical cable was truly stunning. It is only fitting that they were presented with the Songlines award for "best band of the year" before their encore.” Read full review.

The rest of the weekend saw performances from Krystle Warren, Salif Keita, Alim Qasimov, Mayra Andrade and Muntu Valdo. Have a read of the other reviews that came out of Womad here:

4* Evening Standard
4* Guardian
4* Telegraph

If you missed out on the live action, you can still catch the broadcasts on the BBC iplayer. You can also listen to Staff Benda Bilili on World Routes on Sunday 1 August.

Phew! Think that pretty much sums up July for us. We’re looking ahead to an exciting time, as we start to get ready for the Autumn shows. Preparation for the London Jazz Festival is in full swing, with many of the shows already on sale, and plenty to be announced soon. If you’re not doing so already, follow us on Twitter and be the first to hear the news – www.twitter.com/londonjazzfest. Or if you'd prefer to get in touch on facebook, you can find us at www.facebook.com/londonjazzfestival

That’s all from us for now!

Serious learnt with great sadness yesterday of the passing of the Barbadian trumpeter Harry Beckett. Only a month ago, Harry made what has turned out to be one of his last live appearances, as a special guest on the Big band Britannia concert at the Barbican - the warmth of the audience response when he came on stage acting as a emotional reminder that he was a highly respected and much-loved figure in British jazz. Backstage, his inimitable spirit and sense of humour was much in evidence - one of the scene's great characters.

Harry arrived in London UK in 1954. When we were researching Big Band Britannia, we realised just how central a part he'd played as British jazz evolved from the 60s to the present day.  He'd worked with just about every British composer of note - the New Jazz Orchestra, Stan Tracey, John Dankworth, Mike Gibbs, Graham Collier, John Surman, Mike Westbrook as well as with the Brotherhood of Breath and the Jazz Warriors.  Equally important, he was a talented composer and leader in his own right, and a soloist of immense range and imagination.

We're honoured to have worked with such a fine musician, and our thoughts are with his family and friends.

"I never wanted to live outside Brazil," says Gil. "But London is one of the most interesting cities in the world, and I am lucky to have lived there."

Gilberto Gil speaks to John Lewis from the Guardian about the debts to his exile under the strict Brazilian dicatorship in the 1960s. Read full article here

Gil plays at the Royal Festival Hall next Wednesday

Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra took the Barbican by storm last week, taking audiences on a whistle stop tour through Twentieth Century big band music. The buzz surrounding their arrival into the UK continued throughout the week, and the last couple of days have seen a raft of 4* reviews for the various concerts. Read below to get a taste of the week's highlights.

“It was a reminder of what a magnificent instrument Marsalis has created over the years. Does there exist anywhere in the world a band so finely balanced across every section, so virtuoso in all its individual parts, and with such an invigorating blend of discipline and joy?” The Telegraph

“The programme was varied and exemplary indeed...another heroic and successful visit to these shores by an orchestra that continues to make more inroads into the Barbican's offerings and outreach.” London Jazz

4* Guardian review

London Jazz review

4* Telegraph review

4*Evening Standard review

Wynton Marsalis and the Orchestra kick off the rest of their tour tomorrow night in Manchester, before going on to Brighton, Gateshead, Glasgow and Birmingham. For full tour details click here.

"Benda Bilili !", the film about the story of Staff Benda Bilili, was welcomed with a standing ovation on the opening night of the Cannes Film Festival, and the band went on to become one of the sensations of the event, with the world's media showering the film and the band with accolades.

Devoted to the band's extraordinary story, this is the film on which French directors Renaud Barret and Florent de la Tullaye (aka Belle Kinoise) have been working on for the past 5 years, ever since they encountered the band in Kinshasa.

The film shows the band's journey from the sidewalks of Kinshasa to the stages of large European concert halls and festivals, and features performances of many songs from Staff's popular "Très Très Fort" cd album, which came out last year on Crammed Discs (and has just won Staff Benda Bilili the Songlines Award for "Best Group of 2010").

Watch Staff Benda Bilili on CNN

Watch Staff Benda Bilili on Guardian Cannes feature

"An extraordinary film ... it will do what Ry Cooder & Wim Wenders did for the Buena Vista Club and make them (Staff Benda Bilili) world famous..." BBC Radio

"a remarkable documentary and an amazing music film" The Telegraph

"The Kinshasa social club ... the utter joy of witnessing these men realising their dreams should make this the feel-good film of the festival" The Times

Staff Benda Bilili will play at Glastonbury in June

We're delighted to announce that the first set of London Jazz Festival shows are now on sale! Visit the Festival website and be the first to get your tickets....

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London Jazz Festival in association with BBC Radio 3

The winners of the Sony Radio Academy Awards 2010 were announced on Monday. All in the Serious office were eagerly awaiting the results. We're thrilled to announce that the 2009 London Jazz Festival in association with BBC Radio 3 won the bronze award for the Best Live Event Coverage. Congratulations go to BBC Radio 3, BBC Scotland, BBC Wales, Unique the production company & Somethin' Else for BBC Radio 3!

Great news for the London Jazz Festival!

The 2009 London Jazz Festival in assocation with BBC Radio 3 has been nominated for the "Best Live Event Coverage" in this year's Sony Radio Academy Awards. Credit for the nomination goes to BBC Radio 3, BBC Scotland, BBC Wales, Unique Production Co & Somethin' Else for BBC Radio 3.

View all of the nominees here

The winner is due to be announced on Monday. We'll keep you posted...

Konono No.1 go out on the road this weekend with their new project Assume Crash Position!

See below for a selection of 4* reviews for the new album

Mojo / Narc / Songlines Page One - Two / Stool Pigeon

Last month the Scottish Arts Council announced the winners of the Creative Scotland Vital Spark Awards. The winners were selected by a panel of creative experts to receive a share of the £500,000 Vital Spark Fund to develop innovative collaborative projects that will enable creative practitioners to work on new collaborations across a range of art forms and disciplines.

The successful projects include a collaboration involving previous Jazz CPD Scotland participant, composer and musician Raymond MacDonald, who will collaborate with visual artist Martin Boyce and film director David MacKenzie on a project that experiments with new forms of work that will adapt to gallery, concert hall and cinema spaces.

The inspiration for the project came to Raymond while he was taking part in Jazz CPD Scotland and Serious is thrilled that his participation in this artist development programme provided the springboard for this achievement.  The Creative Scotland Vital Spark Award will provide a significant boost to Raymond’s practice and career and we are proud to see that the information and opportunities provided through Jazz CPD Scotland have produced such a tangible result. 

"Jazz CPD Scotland gave me the chance to think about my music in fresh ways, the space to develop new ideas and to discuss my work with leading music industry experts.  One of these ideas percolated away and then fed directly into this Creative Scotland Vital Spark project that involves a collaboration with a film maker and a visual artist and will take my work into new areas and to new audiences."  (Raymond MacDonald)

For more information see the Scottish Arts Council website 

Download Scottish Herald feature here

Download Scotsman feature here

Read more about Jazz CPD Scotland

Still firming up plans for your bank holiday weekend? Kick start the fun on Thursday night, with three live bands at the King's Cross Social Club. Nu-jazz-meets-soul collective Brotherly mix edgy beats with soul inflected keyboards and basslines, giving them a distinct flavour in these days of safe and pre-packaged pop stars. Vocalist Heidi Vogel, who boasts collaborations with the Brand New Heavies, Eska Mtungwazi, Isaac Hayes and the Cinematic Orchestra, brings a deeply sensual sophistication to her harmonically rich, Brazilian-tinged music. Acoustic soulster Kersha Bailey completes this exciting bill of emerging talent.

Thursday 29 April, Kings Cross Social Club, 8pm
Tickets are just £5 + bkg in advance. More info

Fancy winning a pair of tickets? You just need to answer the following question... 

Which award were Brotherly nominated for, following their acclaimed performance at Maida Vale Studios?

Email your answer to amy.coombe@serious.org.uk by 6pm on Monday. Two winners will be selected at random.

Despite major disruptions to flights into the UK, Iranian superstar Ebi Hamedi made it over on Saturday, and Serious sent vehicles all over Europe over the weekend to collect his musicians. The Royal Albert Hall show on Tuesday will still go ahead.

A determined jazz diva Dee Dee Bridgewater spent fourteen hours in a cramped minibus, driving from Stuttgart to London on Thursday evening, and played a triumphant show at the Barbican on Friday. Unable to travel on to her next tour destination, she will play two special shows at Ronnie Scott’s tonight and tomorrow, replacing the Wallace Roney Quintet, who are unable to make it into the UK.

Salif Keita played to a packed house at the Barbican a couple of weeks ago. The Winkball team were at the venue before and after the performance, asking the audience what they thought of the show. The feedback was fantastic! Have a listen to what they had to say here.

Read 4* Evening Standard review here

“Keita arrived like the superstar he is, enigmatic in white suit, white Panama hat and dark glasses; dropping to his knees before his mic-stand for dramatic effect. But the best thing about him was his voice. A grainy and searing tenor, its power continues to drop jaws, cause goosebumps.” Evening Standard

Atmospheric art-pop exemplars Sweet Billy Pilgrim open for Rokia Traore at Koko on Tuesday 27 April. They're offering a free download of Kalypso from their latest album, Twice Born Men. Download it here.

In celebration of Record Store Day this Saturday 17 April, Sweet Billy Pilgrim are releasing a limited edition very special vinyl singles. You can buy these from participating independent record stores. Click here for the full list to see if there's one near you.

At the end of March, our learning team were out and about in West Sussex and London with Cleveland Watkiss, one of the UKs foremost jazz singers. Their mission: to inspire teachers and young music leaders to get all children and young people singing. Our workshops are part of Sing Up – the national campaign to spread the joys and benefits of singing through schools and their local communities. We updated you over the course of the week on the team’s progress. Due to a hectic couple of weeks in the Serious office, it’s taken a little longer than planned to post the second installment, but we thought you’d still be keen to read about the final three days of the project, plus some great feedback from some of the participants...

Day three: 

Our final day in West Sussex finished on a high note.  We were in a primary school working with a great choir group in the morning and in the afternoon visited a secondary school. 

Day four:  

In London schools. 

The morning went well although the students took a little more coercing to engage.  Once warmed up, they were happy to participate, but where it would take say 10 mins to engage a younger audience, these students sat on the side lines until half way through the workshop.  The dynamic in secondary schools is quite different to primary school, where children on the whole are a lot more fearless when it comes to trying new things.  In secondary schools, past a certain age, you can see students really wanting to have fun - but not quite being able to relax enough to really do so.  Nevertheless, happy with the outcome.  The teacher would love us to go back and I feel we have made good groundwork in a school that has not had much support from external music providers.

The secondary school in the afternoon was a very interesting challenge for us.  We were greeted by police patrolling the corridors.  Quite a surreal set up too, working in a large hall / turned gym with a proper boxing ring in the middle of it!  Harder work this afternoon, but this is precisely where activity like Sing Up needs to take place.  Glad we managed to make an impact.

Day five:

The last day of our tour today.   We reached just over 100 young people in 3 workshops.  The last session, a 1 hour workshop with 54 children in a Tottenham primary school was lots of fun and very loud!  A great end to a very positive week. 

A few quotes from the people involved ....

"Thank you once again for a fantastic workshop; as well as motivating our talented singers it really was a powerful experience for our student who is finding school life very difficult and she actually spoke to many of our senior staff later in the day full of positive comments about school, her feeling like she was starting to belong and having the opportunity to be a part of such amazing experiences. So thank you again." London

"Here's a BIG THANK YOU from me to you and all the guys for making the sessions so inspirational, insightful and a joy. I hope to work with you again soon." West Sussex

"The children thoroughly enjoyed their experience - interesting to watch the tense little bodies at the start, gradually relaxing and enjoying the experience as Cleveland and Tara worked with them." London

Our learning team is out and about in West Sussex and London this week with Cleveland Watkiss, one of the UKs foremost jazz singers. Their mission: to inspire teachers and young music leaders to get all children and young people singing. Our workshops are part of Sing Up – the national campaign to spread the joys and benefits of singing through schools and their local communities. Our learning coordinator Nadine has been checking in every evening, giving us a brief insight into each day’s activities....

Day One

A successful first day in Crawley.  We have been in a secondary school all day , working with a mix of students from years 7-11 (aged 11 - 16).  It was a really interesting group to work with. We had 29 students for the day - it was supposed to be a group of 20, but after a performance to a wider audience asked if they could stay on... I wonder if it was because they had double science as an alternative?!!

The day went very smoothly with lots of warm up and improvisation activities – all very pleased.

Day Two

A really positive day working with an all boys group in the morning and all girls in the afternoon at another Crawley secondary school.  Both groups were completely on the ball. The boys have formed their own barbershop choir and performed for us, which was fun - did a take on Run by Snow Patrol!

The school is amazing...really takes music seriously.

Great story of the day: we'd been told that one girl wouldn't be participating in the workshop but would come in and watch, as although she liked music, she was extremely shy. Pleased to say by the end of the workshop she took scat solos in front of the class and led sections with the younger students. Teacher nearly in tears...me too!

After a half day with each group, year 7 children joined us all for the last 30 mins where the two groups led them through exercises they'd learnt...really worked well. Only day two but so far all good...

We'll keep you updated on the rest of the week's proceedings.

Charlie Gillett meant so much to the people who met him, read him and above all heard him on the radio, the medium where his disarming warmth came across best of all.

He had the gift of conveying all his many enthusiasms with a freshness that was infectious. He loved musicians and artists with an unforced passion, and was a great interviewer because he used his knowledge, rather than just displaying it. He was a fundamentally gentle man, but he could be wickedly funny when he sent up pretension. Charlie loved the directness of early rock 'n' roll, and as he found out about African and Latin musics, he kept the excitement of a man forever making precious new discoveries.

At Serious, we were lucky enough to work with him many times. He introduced us to Mariza's music when she first came over to play a tiny club for his BBC London radio programme, and delighted in her success as she went on to reach large audiences across the world. Mariza never forgot his support, and was delighted that he was still playing her music on one of his very last radio programmes. The last live show that we did with Charlie was last December's Aurelio Martinez concert at Union Chapel. He'd been ill for a while, but that night he rallied, and he was in his element, playing music for people to dance to, and enthusing about the first UK show by Aurelio, one of the hundreds of artists he'd championed on the radio for many years.

We feel honoured to have worked with him and he will be greatly missed by all his friends at Serious.

Read Guardian obituary from Richard Williams

A real treat for anyone who enjoys animation – the world premiere of Maska – a short film by award-winning animators the Quay Brothers will be screened in the 1st half of the ‘Tomasz Stanko plays Komeda’ event at the Barbican on Saturday 27 March. Maska is based on a story by Polish writer Stanislaw Lem, who is best known for his novel Solaris, with music by Krzysztof Penderecki.

In the 2nd half of the night the Tomasz Stanko Quintet will play music from Komeda’s film scores to a back-drop visuals.  Yeast Culture taken on the challenge of remixing some of these seminal films into live visuals which will be integrated with footage of the live performance on stage.

Maska synopsis:

‘It’ is created piece by piece, limb by limb, and then with a sudden ‘rush of gender’ takes the shape of an automaton disguised as a beautiful female Duenna sent on a mission into a courtly kingdom to mercilessly track down a prince and kill him. Although she is programmed to kill, she is also capable simultaneously of questioning this programation and it is this friction between the soul and the machine that keeps one suspended between belief and disbelief.

 Part of the Polish Film Festiwal Kinoteka  

It was fantastic to see Claire, one of our three Directors, included in the Cultural Leadership Programme's 'Women to Watch' list. Featuring 50 female leaders, directors, producers and curators from across the UK, the list celebrates women who are already making a huge contribution to the rich cultural life of the UK. Congratulations Claire!

For the full story visit the Cultural Leadership website or download the press release here.

EAST Festival drew to a close yesterday evening. The Serious team were out in force over the weekend, and managed to catch some of the highlights on video.

On Saturday afternoon, Song East (Kami Thompson, Alisdair Roberts and Muntu Valdo) played to a packed crowd at Cafe Oto. Muntu asked everyone in the audience to join him in singing the Cameroonion Sawa blues. It was a sight that would have brought a smile to the saddest of faces, seeing a hundred people (including quite a few of the Serious team!) try to imitate Muntu's sounds...

Also performing was singer/songwriter Kami Thompson. If you've not seen or heard her before, try to catch her live. (She'll be opening for Portico Quartet at Warwick Arts Centre on Sunday 20 March.) Here's a clip of her performing at Cafe Oto.

On Sunday afternoon, in spite of the sunshine, plenty of people steered clear of the parks, and came to the East to catch the London Gyspy Orchestra, Soweto Kinch and Sweet Billy Pilgrim. English alt-folk exemplars Sweet Billy Pilgrim charmed the audience with their amusing anecdotes, and played a charged set featuring songs from their debut album Twice Born Men.

Song East began last night at Toynbee Studios, with performances from folk visionary Alasdair Roberts, Cameroonian blues exemplar Muntu Valdo and beguiling singer-songwriter Kami Thompson. The intimate setting of the studios provided the perfect stage for the three vocalists, who performed a series of solo sets interspersed with original collaborations. Last night wasn't your only chance to catch them in action. Song East takes place from today until Tuesday, so if you're at a loose end over the weekend, head over to East London and take advantage of what EAST festival has to offer. All gigs are free. Just turn up early to make sure you get in!

Go to the Serious website for more info about where the gigs are taking place.

Check out video footage of Muntu Valdo's performance.

“I’m like a pig sniffing for truffles” -  Nik Barstch quotes Stravinsky during a recent interview with Sebastian Scotney at LondonJazz. Find out what prompted this remark, what inspires Nik,  his local club back home and the connection with Japanese Samurai.

Read the full interview here

Bartsch plays at the ICA on Friday 12 March as part of a UK tour.

Have a listen to the Kings Place podcast featuring an interview with Andy Sheppard, who talks about his upcoming show in Jazz Scene Europe.

Jazz Scene Europe takes place at Kings Place from Wednesday 17 to Saturday 20 March.

“There was a gasp of wonder at the Barbican when he unveiled the “orchestrion” — a wall of flashing percussion instruments linked up to guitars, bass, an acoustic piano, marimba and other bizarre contraptions, many of them custom-built.”  (David Sinclair, The Times)

Jazzwise, Stephen Graham  http://www.jazzwisemagazine.com/component/content/11130?task=view

London Jazz, Rod Fogg http://londonjazz.blogspot.com/2010/02/review-pat-metheny-orchestrion.html

The Telegraph, Ivan Hewitt http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/live-music-reviews/7215032/Pet-Methenys-Orchestrion-at-the-Barbican-review.html

The Times, David Sinclair http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/live_reviews/article7023768.ece

All of us at Serious were saddened by the death of Sir John Dankworth at the weekend.  He was undoubtedly a massive figure in the evolution of jazz not only in this country, but throughout the world.  His invariably high standards as instrumentalist, composer and bandleader, his deep commitment to music education, and his advocacy for jazz and all that it stands for will continue as an inspiration for generations to come.

His appearance alongside Dame Cleo Laine at last year’s London Jazz Festival will remain in the memory for many years.  

Playing saxophone and clarinet with a sound and beauty that defied failing health, this was a performance that proved that the greatest musicians never lose their creative spark and rapport with their audience.  Prior to the concert itself, he had spent many hours enthusiastically moulding and preparing the music – often from his hospital bed - for a programme that was characteristically imaginative and wide-ranging, and which celebrated his extraordinary partnership with Cleo in tremendous style.  

Another example of his apparently inexhaustible appetite for music – only a couple of years ago, we saw him lead a two-hour workshop with the teenaged musicians of Jambone, the youth jazz orchestra based at  The Sage Gateshead, the morning after playing a 3 hour concert and, ever-generous with his time, a couple of hours talking into the night with guests of the Gateshead International Jazz Festival.       

We all feel privileged to have had the opportunity to work with such a talented musician and a wonderful man. 

All of us here would like to extend our deepest sympathy to Cleo, Jacqui and Alec.