Venues & Clubs
Note: I only recommend venues I've been to, so if your favourite's not here, don't let that put you off.
The Vortex. Intimate venue in London's Dalston, run as a not-for-profit venture by local volunteers, which hosts some fantastic music with gigs most nights. Its location makes it a pain in the arse for me to get to, so I've seen many great bands here over the years, though often not caught all of the last set! Highly recommended if you're in the area. It's under threat of closure - help out by purchasing some rather interesting digital downloads, donated by artists who've played at the club to help keep it alive.
Colchester Arts Centre Jazz Club. Great little club in England's oldest recorded town. The Arts Centre is an old church that now hosts all manner of arty stuff, including this regular (at least monthly) Sunday night jazz club. There's usually a good crowd, which produces a wonderful atmosphere to go with the fabulous acoustics. The programme ranges from mainstream to distinctly more out there - I find myself here a few times a year for the latter.
Fleece Jazz. You're unlikely to hear anything better this far out in the sticks. Taking its name from its former village pub home, this club runs from a hotel/golf resort/spa in the wilds of Constable country, along the Suffolk/Essex border. What the new venue lacks in jazz club ambiance, it makes up for in the quality of the regular friday night performances, which belie its remoteness. Another one I'm a frequent flyer to. The hotel does deals on accommodation+gig packages if you want to make a night of it.Kings Place. Slick multi-purpose conference centre near Kings Cross station, which hosts a range of performance art. It has a strong jazz programme throughout the year, with two halls - one with allocated seating, one with a sit-wherever-you-can 'general admission', which I quite like. You can also get food on site, and/or sit in the bar and watch the ducks/flotsam on the Regent's Canal. Three things I particularly like about this venue: generally very reasonable ticket prices; great acoustics; early evening programming, so I can see the whole gig and still make it onto the last train!
Jazz In The Round is the monthly jazz session at the Cockpit Theatre hosted by Jez Nelson of Jazz FM's Something Else fame (see below). It's an unusual venue, with the stage in the centre of the room, surrounded on all four sides by audience seating. As such, it's got a uniquely intimate vibe. JITR usually features relatively short sets by at least a couple of acts - good value for money and it's only ten minutes' walk from Marylebone Station. I recommend The Globe pub, just down Lisson Grove from the Cockpit, which does great beer and Peruvian food if you fancy a bite on your way to the gig - as I invariably do.
Labels
There are some great independent record labels offering cutting edge jazz right now. In particular I recommend:
Edition. "A British Independent Jazz Record Label with a European Sensibility and Global Presence." Produces some truly unmissable Brit and Euro jazz, with Verneri Pohjola, Dinosaur, Elliot Galvin and Eyolf Dale (to name but a few) among the wealth of talent. Owned and run by Dave Stapleton, keyboardist of various bands including Slowly Rolling Camera.
Gondwana. Trumpet maestro Matthew Halsall's own label. Home to some great bands like Mammal Hands and GoGo Penguin, as well as the man himself's output.
Jazz: Refreshed. Promotion outfit and now a label too. Home to some great acts at the vanguard of the sometimes achingly-trendy New London Jazz Scene - so includes the likes of Nerija and Maisha, and crossovers into dance territory. As promoters they're fond of putting on gigs across the other side of London from me at very short notice - grrrr!
Naim. 'Independent. Uncompromising. Eclectic.' Wiltshire indie, home of Yazz Ahmed, Get The Blessing and other noteworthies.
Naim. 'Independent. Uncompromising. Eclectic.' Wiltshire indie, home of Yazz Ahmed, Get The Blessing and other noteworthies.
Whirlwind. US bassist Michael Janisch's UK-based label. It has "an eclectic catalog of adventurous and visceral music that spans genres, is rooted in originality and has key emphasis on the improvised." Indeed. Current output includes the likes of Tori Freestone, Matt Ridley, Cloudmakers and Henry Spencer, as well as Mr Janisch's own, highly recommended releases as leader.
Miscellany
Bandcamp offers some great and less great collections to browse, and a means to purchase them in a variety of formats. Good for picking up new releases from several of the labels mentioned above, and for following your artists of choice. Also has a monthly, rather odiously titled, "The Best Jazz on Bandcamp" blog, in which you can discover the occasional gem among the compiler's personal tastes. You can even check out my small but select collection of purchases via Bandcamp, and my ever expanding wishlist if you like.
Cosmic Jazz. Endearingly quirky (and sometimes clunky) weekly online radio show based out here in the badlands, and available on catchup (though sometimes not until a while later). Usually hosted by the wonderful Derek Merrill, whose passion for music shines through his occasional technological befuddlement. Offers an eclectic mix - some old, some new, some that stretch any definition of jazz - but all of it cosmic.
Gondwana Radio, hosted on Worldwide FM, is Gondwana Records' boss Matthew Halsall's laid-back monthly showcase of ... music he's into at the moment, I guess. Available live or on catchup. It's more or less equal parts of the label's own output and other material. You'll find quite a lot of it electronica here, and the general vibe is what we used to call ambient or chill-out back in the time when such compartmentalising seemed important to me. Showing my age here, I've no idea what the contemporary moniker is.
Something Else is Jez Nelson's wonderfully eclectic late Sunday night show on Jazz FM. I'm not a huge fan of the station generally, but this is three hours of top-quality stuff. Since the revamp there's also a full tracklist so, if something really bites you, you can track it down later. Unless you can sit up 'til 1am on a school night, go to the JazzFM radio player, find Sunday and you can catch up from there.
Discogs. Looking for something specific? You'll probably find it listed on this uber-database of recorded output. It's where collectors of all persuasions tend to catalogue their stuff. It'll estimate how much yours is all worth for you, which could end up being a pleasant surprise or a depressing shock - either way, don't let your long-suffering partner access your account! And a tip: if you find that latest release you've just bought isn't yet listed, think long and hard before you add it as a new release. The process is a major thrash unless you love data input and share the database designers' particular taste in anoraks, so I usually wait 'til some other sucker has done the hard work for me. You can also trade vinyl and CDs internationally on Discogs, so it's a good place to buy rarities. The occasional bargain pops up here and there too, and you can set up a want list to get notified when that obscure release you've been looking for comes up for sale.
Gondwana Radio, hosted on Worldwide FM, is Gondwana Records' boss Matthew Halsall's laid-back monthly showcase of ... music he's into at the moment, I guess. Available live or on catchup. It's more or less equal parts of the label's own output and other material. You'll find quite a lot of it electronica here, and the general vibe is what we used to call ambient or chill-out back in the time when such compartmentalising seemed important to me. Showing my age here, I've no idea what the contemporary moniker is.
Something Else is Jez Nelson's wonderfully eclectic late Sunday night show on Jazz FM. I'm not a huge fan of the station generally, but this is three hours of top-quality stuff. Since the revamp there's also a full tracklist so, if something really bites you, you can track it down later. Unless you can sit up 'til 1am on a school night, go to the JazzFM radio player, find Sunday and you can catch up from there.
Discogs. Looking for something specific? You'll probably find it listed on this uber-database of recorded output. It's where collectors of all persuasions tend to catalogue their stuff. It'll estimate how much yours is all worth for you, which could end up being a pleasant surprise or a depressing shock - either way, don't let your long-suffering partner access your account! And a tip: if you find that latest release you've just bought isn't yet listed, think long and hard before you add it as a new release. The process is a major thrash unless you love data input and share the database designers' particular taste in anoraks, so I usually wait 'til some other sucker has done the hard work for me. You can also trade vinyl and CDs internationally on Discogs, so it's a good place to buy rarities. The occasional bargain pops up here and there too, and you can set up a want list to get notified when that obscure release you've been looking for comes up for sale.
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