The music and visuals from the fantastic collaboration between More Music's community jazz workshop, Orbit and the LJF Photographers Created for Lancaster Jazz Festival 2012.

In case you weren't there (where were you?) you can watch the whole Deep Cabaret performance below - filmed by Shawn Blezzard who's also performing.

2012 has been a great year for us and it's only our second one so that's pretty good going. Whey!

At the close of 2011's festival we had a year-round volunteer festival team of 4, now that's swelled to 9 with loads of other volunteers and members that come and help out during the festival itself - a huge heartfelt thank you to everyone who has given up their spare time for no money, no promise of food, no really nice cosy benefits or anything like that but have come anyway and helped because they want to see a jazz festival in Lancaster and they believe that what we're doing year-round is worth supporting. THANK YOU!

It would be wrong to say that the entire festival was completely successful in everything that it set out to do – no event or project ever goes completely according to plan – but the vast majority of it was absolutely fantastic. I loved the music and all the artists, I loved the enthusiasm around the festival from people in town, I loved how some events were absolutely packed to the rafters, I loved talking to audience members who had travelled into Lancaster for the first time and were enjoying every minute of it, I loved talking to Trio Libero post performance and hearing their praise for the Lancaster audience. 

We have some things to tweak, some things to rethink completely, some things to leave exactly as they are. We’re about to enter into a month or so of evaluation and you can help us with this – if you have any comments, suggestions, criticisms, reviews, thoughts or ideas please get in touch with us by using the contact form or on facebook or twitter or come see us at our next meeting. We do take on board everything that gets said to us and it really does inform what we do. 

During the Thinking with Jazz Symposium (which was awesome) I got asked why I did this, why put a year’s worth of work into a jazz festival for free? (I didn’t even get free entry to Trio Libero) And I said that I didn’t know. That’s not strictly true. I know that music has a great power to pull communities together so that they can do greater things, I know that I am stupidly passionate about music and the ways in which it works, I know that Lancaster’s a nice place to be and I know that contemporary jazz isn’t all weird and enjoyed by middle aged men with beards (although some of it is and that’s brilliant). If we can build something that even in the smallest way inspires, or allows an artist to develop or try new things, or brings a tiny group of people together so that they can go do amazing things then we’ll have done something that’s worth doing. Maybe that’s why I, or the team do it? All I know is that it’s definitely not what Steve Lewis said.

A huge massive enormous thanks to all these people that made it happen:

Dave Shooter, Jen Benson, Lucy Banks – the very scary festival team

Nick Gebhardt, David Fatkin, Paul Froggatt, Kathyrn MacDoanld, Pete Hyde – our lovely trustees who are only scary occassionally

Alan, Amanda, Annie, Arthur, Barrie, Ben, Chris, Darren, Eliza, Graham, Rick, Ruth, Sam, Steve, Victor – the people that made it all happen!

Everyone at The Borough, The Dukes and More Music. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

The lovely managers, landlords and staff at St Nicholas Arcade, The Stonewell Tavern, Lancaster Baptist Church, LICA, The Gregson.

All of our artists!!!

And to everyone that supported us – THANK YOU – see you next year! 

- Matt Robinson - Festival Director

What an awesome night last night! TRIO LIBERO'S music was just achingly beautiful and talking to the band afterwards - they truly enjoyed the gig and the audience - massive thank you to all that came.

Today is the final day and we go out with a huge amount of music and workshops at the Gregson Centre, with workshops from 10am and then performances from 2pm. We've got great local bands doing new things, critically acclaimed quintets and mercury prize nominated trios. Tickets are just £10 from 2pm which is a bargain (regardless of how much you come and see!)

10am Boogie-Along (workshop for ages 1-4)
11am Jazzin' About (workshop for ages 5-7)
12pm Off the Rails Gigshop (workshop)
2pm Local Heroes feat. Off the Rails (Created for Lancaster Jazz Festival 2012)
2.45pm ACV
3.45pm Palladium
4.45pm Adverse Camber
5.25pm Roller Trio (Mercury Prize Nominated)
6.25pm Burst Horns
6.55pm Stuart McCallum
8pm Phil Meadows Group 

See you all there!

Matt Robinson - Festival Director

We've worked for the best part of a year to bring three of the best musicians in the world to Lancaster and that day is today! From 7.30pm at The Dukes - TRIO LIBERO - Andy Sheppard/Michel Benita/Seb Rochford. I've listened to their album countless times since we booked them and it is truly brilliant - musically accessible whilst subtly complex and just beautiful. Its going to be great tonight and there are tickets still available ( http://dukes-lancaster.org/music/trio-libero) - we'd love to sell it out and put Lancaster on the 'jazz map' (apologies for the cheese just then)

That's not the only thing today - we have a whole afternoon of bands in the garden at The Borough with Grammy nominated Neil C Young and !POPiJAZZ! - a project created for Lancaster Jazz Festival 2012 as well as the fantastic Eliza Ramsey Trio and Billionaires.

Moving to The Dukes for 6pm with the Matt Anderson Quartet - from Leeds and a truly great player (I went to college with Matt and he was always way ahead of anything most of us were doing). Then TRIO LIBERO and finally a post show jam session at the Golden Lion. The fantastic Swerve Trio are the house band (if you heard them earlier in the week you'll know how good they are) - bring an instrument and sit in with them - they'll happily move aside or help you out - whatever you want to do.

It's going to be a great day and even the sun in shinning!

See you later!

Matt Robinson - Festival Director

So a night off tonight - time to sleep and get excited about the main festival weekend which all starts tomorrow!

FRIDAY 21ST SEPTEMBER

We've got our all day jazz symposium. Some of the best musicians, critics, academics in the jazz world at LICA talking jazz, improvisation and culture, it's going to be fascinating. It's free and open to anyone (there's also coffee and lunch).
More info here http://www.lancasterjazz.com/thinking-with-jazz-a-one-day-symposium.html

From 6pm local legends the SUN STREET STOMPERS are in the Dukes Bar playing a completely acoustic set (it's also free!) http://www.lancasterjazz.com/sun-street-stompers.html

And from 9pm we've got our very own speakeasy at the Robert Gillow. If you're a musician come and play - if you ain't, come and drink martini's (another free event!) http://www.lancasterjazz.com/the-gillow-speakeasy.html


If you haven't already there's still a few TRIO LIBERO tickets left from here http://dukes-lancaster.org/music/trio-libero


See you there!

Matt Robinson - Festival Director

We're super excited about tonight. Created for Lancaster Jazz Festival 2012 - DEEP CABARET presents 'CHEERIO' - TOP TEN TIPS FOR A GOOD DEATH.The sequel to a fabulous work from Manchester Jazz Festival a few years ago it's got some top musicians, great songs and fantastic sounds.

"Sequeling 2005's near legendary Top Ten Sex Tips, Cheerio will feature players and material drawn from Orchestre DC Dansette, Deep Cabaret 3, DC Vox and Deep Clutter with words taken from sources as varied as Buddhist meditations and BBC sitcoms. Re-mastered for a group of instant improvisers, with live samples fed back into the mix and a parallel film shot by Wired In maestro Richard Davis, it will become a meditation on landscape, death and meaning; a moving but optimistic take on "knowing, not knowing and sort-of-knowing".

Steve Lewis has been blogging throughout the rehearsal process - follow whats happened on the LJF blog (www.lancasterjazz.com/news.html)

And if that wasn't enough we've also managed to tear STEPHEN GREW away from world tours with Evan Parker to do a solo piano set.

LANCASTER BAPTIST CHURCH, NELSON STREET, LANCASTER (next to the town hall), 7.30PM, £5

See you there!

Matt Robinson - Festival Director

Last night was fantastic! Huge thanks to the NO GOOD BEATNICKS and to everyone who came to listen! Onto day 2...
Some blisteringly good young talent tonight at the 3rd Morecambe Jazz Club with the LRGS BIG BAND and YOUTH ORBIT. Also a brand new work for Lancaster Jazz Festival 2012 - a collaboration between the LJF Photographers (Pete Hyde, Barrie Marshall, Graham Wynne) and More Music's ORBIT JAZZ. It's all taking place in the newly refurbished home of More Music, The Hothouse (13-17 Devonshire Road, Morecambe. LA3 1QT), which has just been upgraded this week with new PA and gear, from 7.30pm. All of this is just £3 (or £1 if you're still at school and tell us you're coming here www.lancasterjazz.com/jnradvance.html)
See you there!

Matt Robinson - Festival Director

Lancaster Jazz Festival Starts Today!
We're out onto the streets of Lancaster between 12 and 3.30pm with a whole host of great local musicians vying for your spare change before we launch Lancaster Jazz Festival 2012 tonight, 9.30pm, at the Stonewell Tavern with Manchester's NO GOOD BEATNICKS. It's going to be a great night - you HAVE to be there!

For more info on anything happening at Lancaster Jazz Festival head over to our website www.lancasterjazz.com

Keep up to date with us by following us on facebook or twitter and get involved by using the hashtag #lancasterjazz
www.facebook.com/lancasterjazz
www.twitter.com/lancasterjazz

And if you haven't already get your tickets for Trio Libero next saturday here http://www.dukes-lancaster.org/music/trio-libero - its going to be incredible.

Cheers and see you soon!

Matt Robinson - Festival Director