Wolverhampton’s live jazz scene gears up for spring 2024

Wolverhampton’s live jazz scene gears up for spring 2024 – Newhampton Arts Centre is set to host its most vibrant season of jazz ever and is fast becoming the go-to destination for some of the world’s best musicians – all eager to appear in this intimate, well-equipped and atmospheric performance space.

Bosses at the centre, which has a well-stocked bar and state-of-the-art sound and lighting equipment, have worked in conjunction with voluntary body Jazz At Wolverhampton to bring more stars to the city.

The spring season kicks off with a gig by Chris Batchelor’s Pigfoot on Thursday February 8 at 8pm. Endlessly creative trumpeter and composer Batchelor was a founder member of legendary, genre-busting UK big band Loose Tubes, who became the first large jazz ensemble to play at the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall in 1987. That same year, Tubes’ profile rose even higher when, on the recommendation of super-fan Joanna Lumley, they appeared on Wogan on BBC1, playing Chris’s hi-life tinged composition Sticklebacks in front of fellow guests Spike Milligan and Peter Ustinov, and around eight million TV viewers.

Chris’s irreverent, smart quartet Pigfoot, who have tackled everything from Led Zeppelin’s Black Dog to Richard Strauss’s Dance Of The Seven Veils, turn their distinctly 21st-century jazz brains to the output of Duke Ellington, delivering some wilfully lopsided and clever re-imaginings of the genius bandleader’s best work. Pigfoot also features James Allsopp on baritone sax and bass clarinet, Liam Noble on piano and keyboards and Paul Clarvis on drums and percussion.

Norwegian four-piece AADAL, comprising Michael Aadal (guitar), Andre Kassen (sax), Audun Ramo (bass) and Gunnar Saeter (drums) play at NAC on Thursday March 7. The fast-rising four-piece takes its sonic lead from Scandinavian guitar innovator Terje Rypdal, but conjures its own superb blend of Arctic melancholy, as calm then as squally as the North Sea, with hints also of the Americana soundscapes of Bill Frisell. The band’s third album Voyager, released in 2023, was very well received, UK Vibe stating: “There’s a lovely feel, with a particularly impressive meeting of minds from the guitar and sax-led melodies. The two combine really well, emotively twisting and turning their way through nine well-written original tunes.”

Trumpeter Jay Phelps leads his quartet on Friday April 26 in what is an exciting coup for NAC. Jay is a leading light of the UK scene, having emerged as an original member of the vital outfit Empirical, whose self-titled debut was Jazzwise’s 2007 album of the year. The publication wrote of the burgeoning star’s role on the Courtney Pine-produced record: “Phelps has a sound of his own. It’s peppery in places, very variedly rhythmic with glimpses of Booker Little, perhaps and Don Cherry.”

In 2008 Jay joined Amy Winehouse’s band for several months, having been approached by the iconic singer in a London park after she had admired his playing on live stages for some time. He appeared at Newhampton Arts Centre in February 2020 with Xhosa Cole, in what for many has been the all-time highlight of Jazz At NAC’s adventurous programme, but now leads his own band, consisting of Nicola Guida (keyboards), Josh Vadiveloo (bass) and Jim Bashford (drums), through some modern, groovy jazz.

Bringing the season to a tremendous close, on Friday May 31, is prodigious saxophone star Emma Rawicz. Celebrated by the Guardian for her ‘warp-speed evolution’, 21-year-old Emma was named Jazz Newcomer of the Year in the 2022 Parliamentary Jazz Awards, and has already released two albums, the self-issued Incantation and its 2023 follow-up Chroma, on the ACT label. In a four-star review, Jazzwise stated: “Chroma’s coherence owes much to Rawicz the composer and arranger, skills that may yet transcend her evident sax ability. Savour those tones!”

Emma’s first-rate band features Ivo Neame (piano), Freddie Jensen (bass) and Asaf Sirkis (drums).

NAC’s new Jazz Development Officer Steve Bradley said: “We’re delighted to unveil this eclectic, world-class programme, which will help to make our supremely well-equipped, vibey venue the best location in the region for contemporary jazz.”

Tickets can be obtained from here. Limited numbers of discounted, £10 tickets are available for under 25s, and there are reductions for all those buying for more than one gig.