Phil Meadows Group:

On the 17th July we are proud to be welcomed to the Manchester Jazz Festival. Originally a local to Manchester I grew up attending this every

year with my father so I am extremely excited to be able to come up from London to perform in it once more. We’re on at 11:45am in the Festival Pavillion which is to be in town hall square. It’s free to come and see us play and we would love to see you there. MJF is a fantastic supporter of original music and manages to make around 70% of its gigs free to the public so go and see what other fantastic things are going on!

 http://www.manchesterjazz.com/

On top of this we will be at the Lancaster Jazz Festival headlining on Sunday 23rd September! I was fortunate enough to play last year with 3point1 and this is a festival with a beautiful atmosphere and a great sense of community. It won’t be too expensive and a ticket is for the whole day! We’re on stage at 8pm.

http://www.lancasterjazz.com/

National Youth Jazz Orchestra:

The release of the BBC Proms programme gives me a great aire

of excitement and anticipation as on the 10th August NYJO will be taking to the stage in the Albert Hall performing as

part of the internationally renowned concert series. We have a cracking programme for you featuring some fantastic music from the likes of Kenny Wheeler, Duke Ellington as well as some music written by the band! We’re even going to be joined by Tim Garland as he performs his brand new commission with us. If this isn’t exciting enough, two days later we take the trip to the Snape Maltings to perform at the incredible Aldeburgh Festival in what is sure to be another fantastic night of big band music!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms

http://www.aldeburgh.co.uk/events/category/35

I wanted to start my latest post by saying thank you to all the people who made March such a fantastic month! For those of you who I met, caught up with or saw from the stage; thank you very much for your support, it’s greatly appreciated! As always, if you want me to blog about anything in particular be it a musical or not just drop me an e-mail or comment on this post!

A Few March Highlights…..

I had a fantastic time with the ‘Phil Meadows Group’ at Matt and Phreds and an equally inspiring time returning to my former place of study, Leeds College of Music where I had the opportunity to both host a work

shop and perform with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra as part of the Leeds International Jazz Education Conference. It was amazing to see so many familiar faces and educators from around the world come together in a truly inspiring conference for all involved!

The day before Leeds, NYJO also had the honour and privilege to perform for her majesty the Queen as part of the diamond jubilee celebrations, a truly once in a lifetime experience.

What i’ve been checking out…..

Madeleine Peyroux is a singer who you may already know about but until recently had avoided my radar – too much bebop I think! But thanks to good friend, great musician and all round nice guy Chris Whiter I have been introduced to her music and have fallen in love with the voice. If you haven’t already you really should check out this video, and let me know what you think!

Upcoming in April:

Towards the end of April there are a couple of gigs that are going to be a lot of fun and if you’re in and around London it would be great to see you. First up is something a little different: On the 17th I will joining the incredible Joe Armon-Jones, Jack Polley and Olly Sarker playing some heavy grooves inspired by a whole host of hip-hop artists including the groundbreaking DJ, drummer and producer J-Dilla! This is going to be happening at Oliver’s in Greenwich, kicking off at 9pm for the cost of £5/3.

I’ll also be returning to the Vortex in Dalston with NYJO on the 22nd as part of their monthly residency. We’ll be performing some commissions that you’ll only hear performed by the band as well as some classic big band arrangements by the likes of Thad Jones and Neil Hefty in what promises to be a great gig. Kicks off at 4pm and is £5 for all 22 of us.

So March is upon us and 2012 appears to be moving rather quickly. I just wanted to take a moment to both try and lighten up your day and to  let you know about a few things I am doing this month.

‘How are you going to lighten up my day?’ I hear you ask. Well, just click the picture below and all will be revealed:

This website is one of the coolest things I have seen on the internet in a while and without realising will pass more time than you probably wanted to. Let me know what you think, if you like it, I might keep posting little musical things when and if I find them! Thanks to Mike Soper and the help of lady luck in finding this amazing site.

Upcoming gigs:

Moving on to some rather exciting end of March gigs, it would be fantastic to meet/catch up with you if you could make it to one. I’m going to be in three of the major UK cities so get your diaries out now:

On the 22nd I am taking the Phil Meadows Group up to Matt and Phreds in Manchester on our first ever northern date. It’s kicking off at 10pm and its free entry. With this being the case you can pre-book tables and this is advisable. It’s been a while since i’ve played in Manchester and it would be great to see some friendly faces as I introduce you to some musicians less familiar with the Manchester jazz scene.

I am also incredibly exited to be performing twice with the National Youth
Jazz Orchestra, a group which I have enjoyed playing with throughout February and hopefully will continue to do so. First up a gig at Valentines Park in Redbridge for the Royal Diamond Jubilee on the 29th. This is an early gig kicking off at 10am, but if you fancy listening to some jazz and spotting some royalty then this is the place to be. I’m not sure if there is  cover charge but I will let you know as soon as I do.

The other National Youth Jazz Orchestra gig this month is one close to my
heart, performing at my former place of study at The Venue, Leeds College of Music. This is for the Leeds International Jazz Conference and kicks off at 7pm with tickets priced at £10/£8. I am really looking forward to going back to LCoM and I know there will be a lot of amazing musicians and friendly faces every corner I turn.

I’m delighted to be able to confirm three gigs in the North of England over the next few months with the new Phil Meadows Group and wanted you to be the first to know! I hope you can make it to one and help us spread the word. We’re all very excited.

First up is one of my favourite jazz clubs, the fantastic Matt and Phreds in Manchester on March 22nd. I haven’t played here for a few months and can’t wait to make a return to a club i’ve been going to and playing at for years! It kicks off at 10pm and is free entry. But do book a table as this place can get very busy.

Next comes a very special performance. We’re going to be paying tribute to the great, iconic jazz supremo Charlie Parker at the Bridgewater Hall on the lunchtime of 15th June. It’s going to contain some hard swinging be-bop with a touch of the contemporary as we add our own take to his phenomenal music! Another free entry performance.

Finally for those of you further North and further East we will be
performing at Schmazz in Newcastle on the 31st July. Kicking off at 8:00pm we’ll be back performing our original material for the small price of £7/£5/£3 depending on your circumstances. It will be the first time i’ve played in this fantastic city and it would be lovely to see as many of you there as possible!

We’re looking forward to visiting these two northern cities and can’t wait to meet or catch up with you! Do come down and do say hello! For more details on these performances click here.

Thankyou!

I just wanted to take a moment to thank all of you who made the trip to Oliver’s Jazz Club for the launch of the Phil Meadows Group. We had a fantastic night and it was incredible to see so many people there, apologies go to those who couldn’t fit into the main room. We’re now busy planning a recording and getting some more dates in the diary. We already have one booked in 2013, so watch out Bradford!

More information can be found on the group here and here are a few (very) rough recordings from the gig for those of you who missed it:

So it’s 2012 and what a year to be in! It has a lot of potential to be something rather spectacular for us all and this post is to introduce or remind you of some people up and down the country who are going to be up to all sorts of fantastic things throughout 2012.

For me it kicks off with the launch of the brand new ‘Phil Meadows Group’ on the 9th January at Olivers in Greenwich! If you can make it, we would love you to come down and see what we’ve been up to! (Click here for the event page)

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LondonJazz - Sebastian Scotney’s fantastic comprehensive guide to Jazz in London has become the place to look to see both what people are saying and what is happening in the capital! One of my favourites!

Efpi Records – Based in Manchester and ran by Anton Hunter and Ben Cottrell they’ve brought you Beats and Pieces, HAQ and Trio Riot and are set to be bigger, better and sprouting more incredible creative music throughout 2012!

British Jazz Blog – Josh Jennings’ comprehensive guide to all that is happening on the UK Jazz scene. One of my favourites, regularly updated with fantastic previews, reviews and all the latest news on what is happening in our very own thriving jazz community.

Chaos Collective - New on the London scene, Chaos Collective are a group of talented musicians bringing their brand of original, improvised music to you! Lead by the fantastic Laura Jurd, Elliot Galvin and Corrie Dick these guys are worth keeping your eyes peeled for!

The Jazz Mann – Ian Mann’s fantastic website covering the best jazz in (mostly) the UK. Lots and lots of interesting articles, reviews and features on all things Jazz. One of my favourites!

Jack Davies - Trumpeter, Composer, Bandleader, Organiser, Blogger and all-round good guy Jack has always got something interesting to say, play and promote. His blog is a particular favourite of mine, well worth keeping up with!

The Social Jazz - Blog of jazz fanatic, kind soul and social media demon Sandra Nicholls Marcy. This is a great read for all musicians wanting to know how to get the most coverage for whatever they do! Lots of articles here to help lots of musicians. Could this lady be much nicer? I think not!

Cobweb Collective - This Birmingham based collective have been hosting some of the best gigs in Birmingham over the past few years and have regular jazz club residencies all over the City! They create some pretty fantastic groups too!

Abram Wilson – Trumpeter, Composer and Educator, this is a man always up to something interesting and consistently posting about the things he loves and cares about!

SE Collective - Based in Deptford, this new collective of creative musicians are hosting some of the best gigs in London and creating some of the finest groups too! Their blog gets updated with listings of whats to come as well as videos of past gigs, well worth watching!

As always it’s a jam session and I am joined by an incredible house band containing three of my favourite musicians: Mark Donlon (Piano), Pete Turner (Double Bass) and Marek Dorcik on Drums.

We’re going to be playing some of our favourite tunes in the first setbefore it opens out and everyone is welcome to get up and play! It’s free entry and starts between 9-9:30pm and goes on until the early hours of the morning.

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Phil Meadows – Laura Jurd – Elliot Galvin

Conor Chaplin – Corrie Dick

 Introducing a brand new group featuring some of the UK’s finest up-and-coming jazz talents. Based in London the group performs an array of original compositions written by bandleader Phil Meadows. Combining a cocktail of influences this group appeal to a host of audiences with a passion for improvisation, beauty and groove. Complex, powerful and emotive one minute; thoughtful, delicate and beautiful the next. Think Miles Davis meets Bartok with a helping hand from the ECM record label.

Click here to meet the band

3point1 at The Yardbird

Thank you to all who came to see my trio 3point1 at Seven Arts in Leeds (with Stuart McCallum) and the Yardbird in Birmingham. We had a great time meeting some fantastic people and playing the music we love. If you missed the mailing list, just send an e-mail entitles ‘mailing list’ to phil@philmeadowsmusic.co.uk and i’ll add you to the list for monthly-ish updates.

For those who attended or just those who want to know what’s going on in these fantastic cities here are the links to the organisers, they both host some fantastic gigs all year around and are definitely worth keeping an eye on. Just click on the names below:

Seven Jazz – Leeds | The Cobweb Collective – Birmingham

In Leeds we are joined by a great friend and incredible guitarist Stuart McCallum of Cinematic Orchestra fame. It’s been a while since we’ve played in either city and we’re looking forward to catching up with old friends, playing some great tunes and meeting some fantastic new people. We would love to see you there! Here’s the information:

2oth November:1-4pm £5/4 (students)
Seven Arts Centre, Chapel Allerton, Leeds

Click here for facebook event page

24th November: 9pm £Free
The Yardbird, Birmingham

Click here for facebook event page

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