Following the success of its inaugural launch last year, the popular Sunday Jazz Weekender is set for a welcome return to Teesside, this time bringing with it a six-month-long programme of critically acclaimed performers to play live at Middlesbrough Town Hall.
Kickstarting with a Sunday Jazz Special on Sunday 27th October and programmed by Ros Rigby (OBE), founder of Gateshead International Jazz Festival at Sage Gateshead and of the Europe Jazz Network, this year’s festival will showcase the best talent from the North East of England and across the UK, including soloists such as pianist Gwilym Simcock and large-scale, heavyweight line-ups such as the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra.
This time around, there will be two main events in the Main Hall. The award-winning Scottish National Jazz Orchestra – complete with pianist Brian Kellock – will perform the music of jazz legends Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Fats Waller from 7.30 pm, preceded by three stellar acts: husband and wife duo Zoe Gilby & Andy Champion, Tommy Smith (saxophonist & OBE award winner) & Brian Kellock (Scottish international jazz ambassador), as well as Gwilym Simcock, who continues to travel the world as a member of the quartet of US jazz-guitar legend Pat Metheny.
Lead programmer Ros Rigby said: “The Middlesbrough Jazz Weekender last year was just one weekend of music, and the first event of its kind in the town for 40 years, but the Sunday Jazz Series now gives us a chance to bring a wider range of some of the most exciting and enjoyable jazz artists from across the UK to the Town Hall”.
The inaugural event in the series on Sunday 27 October will be followed on Sunday 17 November with a concert featuring the Michael Brecker and Barry White inspired Binker Golding Band, the Leeds-based electronic-soul quartet Noya Rao and modern jazz pioneers Francis Tulip Quartet.
This article was produced with the assistance of the promoter.
