Today is the first day of the festival and we’re off to a fantastic start! Sarah Gillespie and her quartet, which included the famed Gilad Atzmon on harmonica, accordian and an assortment of wind instruments, played to an enthusiastic and sold out crowd at the Corner Club. This was followed by our secret Sandi Russell performance at the Jazz Cellar at the Big Bang, which was also extremely well received. BBC Oxford broadcast live during the afternoon on location, with on-air personality Jo Thoenes interviewing Sandi, acclaimed local guitarist Pete Oxley, and jazz pianist Joe Jackson on site, and conducting phone interviews with Sophie Garner and Julian Siegel.
The Oxford Jazz Festival kicks off today with an incredible free performance at the Corner Club with Sarah Gillespie and Gilad Atzmon. The show starts at noon. If you haven’t booked a table, contact the Corner Club to see if they have any space left. Moving on from there, the Jazz Cellar at The Big Bang will host another free performance - this time with international singer Sandi Russell backed by local favourites 3bpm. This performance will be broadcast in part on BBC Oxford. Tonight, come to the Spin Jazz Club to see the fantastic Bobby Wellins backed by the amazing Spin trio of Pete Oxley, Raph Mizraki and Mark Doffman. Tickets are almost sold out, so get yours quickly.
See you at The Festival!
If you were listening to BBC Oxford today you would know that the secret location of our special FREE gig on Thursday has been announced. International jazz artist Sandi Russell will be performing at the Jazz Cellar at the Big Bang on Thursday from around 1.30pm. Sandi will be performing with local favourites 3bpm, and the BBC will be broadcasting parts of the performance live on air!
Get your free pair of tickets by being amongst the first to call The Big Bang on 01865 511441.
For more information about Sandi Russell, click here.
So we have thousands of programmes and hundreds of what I think are the coolest Festival Shirts ever made, ready and waiting at The Big Bang on 124 Walton Street, Jericho. Come and grab yours early from the restaurant and be the first to be seen in the season’s coolest clobber. I shall personally be sporting the American Cut, Long sleeve thingy with the fashionably distressed logo on the back for the whole duration of the festival because they are the knees of the bees. You could choose the polo shirt or the Long sleeve black numbers - Any are cool enough to cut a dash through Easter in Oxford.
Announcement of the surprise gig comes at 10am tomorrow, so log on to here and be among the first to work out how to get tickets….............. M
Tomorrow is the start of the week of the festival and everything is lined up suitably - programmes are springing up all over Oxford like purple paper snowdrops and seats are being snapped up at a rate of knots, particularly those for John Etheridge at the SAE, a chance to see a jazz legend in conversation and in performance. If you can’t find programmes around, then do let us know, because we have thousands to distribute.
Early forecasts for the weather aren’t that promising, but it’s not the greatest problem, as all venues are indoors and comfortable. At least it means that nobody will be thinking of heading to the coast for the Easter weekend and will stay around and make use of the cultural spectacle that will encompass Oxford.
Look forward to seeing you there, Max
We have just launched an online shop where you can buy jazz paintings and official Oxford Jazz Festival t-shirts!
Artist Ed Stokes has created a series of jazz paintings especially for the Oxford Jazz Festival. The paintings will be on display throughout the Festival at The Big Bang on Walton Street in Jericho. They are one of a kind paintings, so once they are sold, that’s it! If you are interested in purchasing one of these paintings, you might want to do so now online.
Also available in our shop are three styles of t-shirts: a long-sleeved black t-shirt, a navy long sleeve ‘college’ shirt, and an embroidered polo. Get your OxJazz merchandise before the Festival begins so you can wear your shirts to the performances!
The ferociously talented Sarah Gillespie is kicking off the Oxford Jazz Festival with a gig at the Corner Club on Thursday 9 April. And the buzz surrounding her just got even buzzier, with a 4-star review in MOJO magazine this month for her debut album Stalking Juliet.
It’s fantastic that the critics are starting to take note of her because Sarah is truly something special, and a potential Mercury Award-winner if I ever heard one. Her electic mixture of gypsy jazz, folk, country, pop, blues and Middle Eastern sounds is utterly unique, and I’d even go so far to say that she’s one of the best lyricists this country has ever produced. No, really. She’s also funny as hell and smart as a whip 
.
Don’t miss her Oxford performance with her quartet, which features her musical collaborator and the producer of Stalking Juliet, Gilad Atzmon - a man who needs no introduction. Well, hopefully he doesn’t. If you’ve been paying attention there at the back.
Some of Sarah’s press:
“A major new singer-songwriter…Sarah Gillespie is one of the most individual yet recognizable voices to emerge in some time.” All About Jazz
“A leftfield singer-songwriter…wry lyrics and sinuous melodies” John Bunjey, Mojo ****
“Gillespie’s fiery originals offer a contrasting combination of sweet folkish melodies and a lyrically witty, street-talking attitude, that transports Lou Reed and Dylan to multicultural London.” Jazzwise
“Excellent Greenwich born singer-songwriter Gillespie crafts acoustically-styled songs that shimmer with beauty while accompanying herself on finger-picked guitar. New album ‘Stalking Juliet’ mixes blues, jazz, vaudeville and gypsy swing… very much a talent to watch” Time Out
As we posted here, Oxford Jazz Festival performers Art Themen and 3BPM performed a pre-festival show at the North Wall Arts Centre.
Take a look at the video of their brilliant performances here:
(And no, I have no idea why when you type in ‘Art Themen’ and ‘North Wall’ into the search box in YouTube, you get the video for ‘That Don’t Impress Me Much’ by Shania Twain. But you do. Go on, try it.)
The programme has gone online and it’s time for a small backpat, shameless though it is!
Alissa Robinson, creator of Oxford City Guide and the creative force behind this festival has sweated blood and tears over the look of this festival and has created the finest looking programme I have ever seen. Many congratulations to her and for all the advertisers who have made it possible - You’ll find all details about the lineup of the festival including some late additions which we managed to squeeze in at the last minute.
It should be your indispensable guide to the weekend, followed up with the paper copy early next Monday Morning. Get your hands on one and use it to squeeze as much jazz into Easter weekend as you are able.
A final note - All of this has been done without any sponsorship or funding - Just out of the pockets of the three founders. If people want to get onboard and be a financial part of OJF 2010, please get in touch with any of the 3 of us. Mx
Our economy is a storm ravishing the British economic landscape and seemingly one of the key things being hit, in advance of the 2012 Olympics is the world of Culture. Jazz Festivals are falling at a rate of knots, first Brecon Jazz was announced as being in financial trouble, then the Isle of Man jazz festival is cancelled, closed followed by the Plymouth jazz festival being cancelled last week and the Isle of Wight jazz festival seeing cancellation this week.
Yet in the midst of all this gloom is one good news story; amongst the beautiful dreaming spires of Oxford, a brand new jazz festival has set out to beat the economy, by making the whole of Oxford take part, from volunteer stewards to restaurants, churches and college theatres across the city being willing to house jazz bands at either a cut price rate or by paying for the performances themselves. It has turned this festival, still in it’s inaugural year into a behemoth, with a full and exciting range of jazz in some of the most exhilarating venues imaginable, including the Oxford Union debating chamber and a converted asylum.
Performances from the leading lights of the world of jazz underpin the program which runs across the whole Easter weekend including highlights from Gwynneth Herbert, Ian Shaw, Julian Siegel and John Etheridge
See http://www.OxfordJazzFestival.com for further details
The stunning Steve Waterman played a blinding concert to a thrilled audience last night (Sat 21st march) at The North Wall Arts Centre in Summertown, Oxford. Third in the series of Elite Jazz Concerts this was also one of the ‘taster’ pre-events for the Oxford Jazz Festival and what a tasty morsel it proved to be! The quartet spooned huge helpings of tasty Jazz to an enthusiastic audience - performing an eclectic range of pieces from main stream standards to more modern Jazz features from Waterman’s latest album drawing from the music of Gerry Mulligan and Chick Corea. Discussions are now taking place to book Steve Waterman’s Quintet (or could it be a sextet) for a feature gig at the 2010 Oxford Jazz Festival.
Isle Of Wight Jazz Festival cancelled, Isle of Man Jazz Festival cancelled, Brecon Jazz in financial trouble, Plymouth Jazz Festival cancelled.
Oxford Jazz Festival brand new on the scene and heading from strength to strength through a terrifying economic market. We need every support you can give, we need you to tell everyone you know to come to Oxford, because we have a fantastic festival planned, which is going from strength to strength, but will need people to attend, so that we can return year after year.
This city has needed a festival of this sort for so many years, it feels like we are the first rain after the drought - It’s such an exciting thing to be a part of and tremendous to watch it taking shape. For Easter weekend, don’t leave Oxford - it’ll be a cultural spectacle!
Our JazzFactor competition is shaping up to be a very exciting event. We recently had an unexpected change in venue for the competition - originally scheduled for the Wesley Memorial Church, JazzFactor will now be held in the beautiful St Hugh’s College in North Oxford. We have lined up some pretty fantastic judges (more on that in days to come), and the prizes will really be worth competing for. The winners of JazzFactor will receive a paid gig at the Jazz Cellar at the Big Bang as well as a free recording session at SAE! So far we have 5 bands lined up. If you know of any jazz group under the age of 18 (must be in school) who would be interested, get in touch with us right away.
The Sunday Times Travel section will be running a feature on coming to Oxford during the Easter Holidays - keep an eye out for the article on Sunday 08 March.
We had our second festival pre-event this week with Art Themen performing with 3bpm at the North Wall. It was a fantastic show. See photos from the night.