Exploring Jazz in Wolverhampton: Insights from the Jazz Development Officer

Interview with Steve Bradley, our Jazz Development & Programme Officer at Newhampton Arts Centre (NAC) – We are thrilled to present an exclusive interview with Steve, our dedicated Jazz Development & Programme Officer. Steve has graciously agreed to share insights into his role, passion for jazz, and exciting upcoming initiatives. Why now, you ask? Because Steve has just reached the magical milestone of 1,000 followers on the Jazz at NAC Facebook page! This exponential growth is a testament to his hard work, creativity, and the vibrant community of jazz enthusiasts he has helped cultivate. An achievement we can only dream of matching! So, without further ado, let’s dive into the world of jazz in Wolverhampton with the man who’s making it all happen at NAC.

Can you tell us about your role and what a typical day looks like for you?

I started my role as Jazz Development & Programme Officer at NAC in November 2023, employed by the volunteer body Jazz At Wolverhampton, which has been putting on brilliant gigs in the city – previously at the Arena Theatre – for many years. These excellent volunteers secured an Arts Council England grant, which required the creation of this role. My job is to provide an exciting line-up of gigs, to increase our reach to the wider public and to promote performances. Given my background as a news journalist and jazz fanatic, writing entertaining daily posts about upcoming gigs is pretty much second nature to me. I tend to pen pieces for Facebook and Instagram before I get out of bed, based largely on phone interviews I carry out with future headliners. I also source, through a good network of photographers I know, superb pictures to use in conjunction with these posts. Quality control is at the heart of everything I try to do. That is made easier by the fact that I work with the extraordinary marketing team of Stacey and Suzanne, who provide skilful and classy leaflets and web design. I distribute flyers around the city, and liaise closely with artists, through making initial contact, then in the run-up to their appearance here and on the evening of the show.

Thanks, Steve! It’s always a pleasure to work with you, especially given your passion and the high-quality information you provide! What sparked your passion for jazz, and how did it lead you to this position?

I think I can credit Carlos Santana. As a teenage listener, I’d branched out beyond prog-rock to these long-form instrumental jams, and after hearing his album Swing Of Delight, which featured Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams, a whole new world offered itself up to me – one that still appears to me to be limitless. These four musicians were members of Miles Davis’s legendary 60s quintet – quite possibly the best band ever – and led me onto the vast Miles catalogue. From there, Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane were a short step, but a giant stride, away, in a number of captivating directions. Oh, and through Shorter, I got into Weather Report, who demonstrated that electronica could have a role in jazz, and opened new windows for me. By this time, in the 80s, a high-profile British jazz scene was developing, and I devoured the thrilling music of Loose Tubes, Courtney Pine and Andy Sheppard among others. I was smitten. Over the subsequent 30-plus years this love affair turned into an enduring, endlessly exciting marriage, my interests taking in the genre’s many winding tentacles and enchanting diversions and innovations. As a news reporter, I wrote about jazz as often as I could persuade my editors it was wise to allow me to; I attended hundreds, thousands of gigs, mostly in my home city of Birmingham, and all in all, I ended up with a somewhat encyclopaedic knowledge of the subject, although I still deny nerdship! A few years ago I started writing a book – yet to be finished – about the aforementioned Loose Tubes, a band of such a size (21-piece) and evolving membership that it led me to having a bulging book of jazz contacts – members, those who influenced the group, those influenced by them, their contemporaries, those who worked with the band’s constituent parts later, etc. So when this job came up, I just had to apply for it!

It’s fascinating how Carlos Santana’s music opened the door to such a rich jazz journey! And Steve, you deny being a nerd, but we think your encyclopaedic knowledge says otherwise! As you step into this role, what are some of the initiatives or programmes you’re most excited to introduce to our audience?

Honestly, everything about this job excites me! I have loved making strong links this year with Royal Birmingham Conservatoire’s jazz department, and offering a platform in our on-site café SNAC to some astonishing new groups based there, of which there seems to be a limitless supply. I feel that we have forged an unshakeable relationship. May it continue to flourish! We have had two stunning gigs in the New Horizons marquee this summer, the first a Block Party with the Conservatoire’s blistering Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra, who went down an absolute bomb, generating a level of euphoria that culminated in the people of Whitmore Reans and beyond doing an impromptu conga around the tent! The second was a gig (booked by my predecessors) with brilliant composer-pianist Ivo Neame and his 12-piece band Dodeka, whose delightfully devilish music was preceded by workshops with young people from the Black Country’s music services – a valuable, meaningful experience all round. In both cases, what a joy it was to see jazz reaching new people. I look forward to bringing an eclectic range of high-profile artists to the main theatre – they’ll want to come because of the vibe, the quality of the venue and the attention to detail that goes into our promotion of gigs. I’m also hugely committed to encouraging artists to deliver workshops for our wider community, with both Alice Zawadzki and Robert Mitchell booked to do just this in the autumn.

An impromptu conga line! Now that’s a measure of success! Can’t wait to see more surprises like that for jazz in Wolverhampton. Looking ahead to the next season, what performances or projects are you particularly eager for jazz in Wolverhampton audiences to experience?

All of them! This starts with the ingeniously restrained, highly melodic improvisations of the Espen Eriksen Trio on September 12, extraordinary violinist-vocalist Alice Zawadzki leading her beautiful trio through works from her ECM debut Za Górami, released the day before her September 26 gig, the fiercely intelligent, super-strength piano inventions of Robert Mitchell on October 3, the fiery, rhythmically supple innovations of renowned supergroup Empirical on November 7, and the spellbinding and enlightening transformations of the Joni-Mingus songbook by vocalist Imogen Ryall, saxophonist Julian Nicholas and band on December 12. Oh, and the Sunday afternoon student gigs by Giulia Marro (September 29), Ben Shankland (October 27) and Juliane Deil Quartet (November 24). I think that covers it!

Mark your calendars, folks! This line-up sounds too good to miss – especially if you enjoy being musically spellbound! Reflecting on past events, which jazz performance at NAC has resonated with you the most, and why?

The programming has been of a very high quality, but I particularly loved Zoe Rahman’s solo piano gig in March 2019, in which she held all of us in the palm of her hand with the bewitching shapes of her music. At the other end of the spectrum, there was the joyous evening of crackling, irrepressible electricity from saxophonist Xhosa Cole and trumpeter Jay Phelps, whose musical fireworks created an almighty buzz in the packed room in February 2020. Those two, yes. But all of them, really. Norwegian quartet AADAL, of whom very few of us were aware, gave us a real stormer in March this year. Sometimes the unexpected in jazz can be the best – this was an evening brimming with the joy of new discovery.

Keep the surprises coming! What do you think makes NAC a special venue for jazz enthusiasts and newcomers alike?

It reminds me of Ronnie Scott’s! Really it does. But cheaper, and less cramped! With the cabaret seating, excellent sound and lighting, and superb crew, we get an extraordinary atmosphere when the 100-capacity room is heaving – and the integrated bar in the corner of the room adds another dimension to the experience. How great not having to traipse in and out for drinks! Those who come to our gigs always seem to want to come back – and the artists love it too.

For someone who has never attended a jazz event at NAC, what would you say to encourage them to give it a try?

For the non-believers, forget the cheap clichés of cartoonish scat-singing and aimlessly meandering solos – this is vibrant, endlessly varied, superbly performed music, delivered by widely acclaimed, genuinely world-class artists. The autumn programme could scarcely be more eclectic than it is, and its many nuances will provide thrills aplenty for all-comers. And if you’re already a jazz fan, what are you waiting for?

We agree and you can find all the jazz gigs linked below! How do you see the jazz programme evolving in the coming years?

I want NAC to become the place to be for the world’s best jazz artists – or at least for those who relish playing to a vibey room full of 100 people. I want us to genuinely represent the diversity inherent in the genre, and to reach out constantly to new, younger audiences reflecting the magnificently multicultural make-up of our city, while keeping our wonderful existing supporters happy – nay, overjoyed!

Ambitious and inclusive – we love it, Steve! Here’s to a vibrant future filled with the best jazz around!

Images by Brian Homer

To see all our jazz programme, right here in Wolverhampton, click the image below: