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
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 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
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.
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.
There will be a special lunchtime performance by Blake’s Heaven during the JazzFactor competition on Friday 10 April. Blake’s Heaven will start at approximately 1pm. To see this fantastic big band - a high energy, contemporary big band with the charismatic vocals of Linda Blake in blues, latin, funk, soul, rock and jazz swing styles - you must book tickets to the JazzFactor competition.
Friday’s pre-event at the North Wall Arts Centre featuring Mark Bassey with 3bpm was a huge success! Bassey had the audience under his spell with his exquisite trombone playing and his hilarious sense of humour. 3bpm supported Bassey superbly on jazz classics, Bassey originals, and their own original compositions. Check out some video from that night.
BREAKING NEWS: Announcing two new additions to the Festival Line-up: Eclectica! will be performing at St. Michael at the North Gate on Saturday, 11 April, and The Sarah Gillespie Quartet featuring Gilad Atzmon will be doing a special free lunchtime show at the Corner Club on Thursday, 9 April. Details to be put on the Events, Artists and Ticketing pages soon!