Yesterday myself, Simeon and Andy had a meeting with Megan at LUU to finalise some bits and pieces for the Jazz and Blues society here in Leeds and I’m pleased to say it all went very well and things are looking up for us. We have a stall at freshers fair on Monday & Tuesday so we should be able to get a fair few members signed up. I’m in the process of frantically getting the website finished so that we can proudly display the URL and pop it on our fliers, and in addition trying to get some events organised so we can do well from the off. If we can make this work Jazz and Blues in Leeds University and indeed around Leeds in general is going to get a lot better.

On Monday night a group of us are going the be seeing Capri play live at a students union funk night which should be really good fun. If you want to join us, get in touch

On Sunday night I took a trip down to hi-fi club for their Sunday Joint - a jazz based club night. It was for me the last true night of freedom before the new term began after exams and marked both the beginning of one and the end of another period of hard work. Danny Gough’s band nu York State were playing and it was a fantastic night, the crowd was superb. I got a call from Danny the other night and he said it was one of the most amazing nights he had ever had and I’d definitely agree. You literally had to be there to believe how much the crowd loved the music.

Gaz is now a nu York State convert and really loves their funky style - I think they can count on his support whenever he can get to the gig! I’m meeting up with Danny next week for a drink hopefully so I shall be passing on all compliments I’ve gotten wind of. it certainly looks like they are doing well and thats a great thing.

More generally though its made me want to go back to hi-fi for the Sunday Joint. Its a vibrant atmosphere for anyone in need of some good jazz and a last blast before the start of the week. I’d recommend it to anyone.

I was sent an e-mail today about a podcast featuring Soweto Kinch, presumably in response to my review on his gig at the wardrobe. It is very insteresting to listen to and provides even more of an insight into his music and how passionate he feels about the area in which he lives. I think there is a little inspiration for us all to be gained by hearing this. I feel his music is also superb, and while unconventional in many ways, is highly enjoyable. I thoroughly recommend buying his album.

Download the podcast here

I could hradly believe it but its true. My favorite jazz club in Leeds, the Wardrobe, is closing down with the new years event highly likely to have been the last gig in the venue. I’d just like to post a message of thanks to all the staff who have worked at the venue and musicians who have played in it to make it one of the best jazz clubs I have ever been to.

I attended regularly, usually once a week on average, and saw some superb live music there not to mention experienced a great atmosphere. It will be very greatly missed by myself and the many others who attended gigs there with me.

By way of dedication to such a great venue I’m linking to all the reviews I have written about events I have been to in the Wardrobe in this post

Polar Bear
Soweto Kinch
Troy Andrews & Dennis Rollins
Capri
Marlena Shaw
Roy Ayers
The Lightnin Rods & Bourbon Y Tequila
Dada

And many more, including the great DJs and regular groups that have played at the Wardrobe on the countless nights that I’ve just been there for a few drinks or when I haven’t had the time to write a review

Please leave your messages of appreciation for the Wardrobe in comments and if you have written any reviews of your own from events you have been to at the Wardrobe I’d love to add links to them in this post as well as any links to photos and photo albums from events, contact me

UPDATE

And here they come, links to Wardrobe gig reviews from other people. I’ll add any links sent to me to the following list with a credit.

Lara Rose (Gary Williams)
Soul Vaccination (James Goodhead)

Home means many things but in my case the presence of a superb record player (A Rega Planar 3 for those in the know) is a great bonus. The other night saw me working my way through my Dad’s collection of vinyl and enjoying every second of it. There is something about the sound of a track on vinyl that you just can’t replicate, adding to that actually seeing it revolve as the sound fills the room is something very special.

An album that really caught my ear was Santana’s very first album. I must confess to never having heard it and to get the chance to listen to it at volume on vinyl was something really rather enjoyable. As the sound washed over me it increased my resolve to purchase a decent hi-fi system complete with turntable as soon as funds would allow it.

On Saturday night I headed out with Matt, Sarann, Si, Michelle and Phil to go to the Hi-Fi club Boogaloo night. While I knew what kind of music to expect I hadn’t been to one of these nights before so it was a new experience. Matt and I necked a fair few gins to start the evening off and then hit the dance floor.

Its amazing how good funky Latin influenced music is to dance to and how quickly you lose yourself in it all. The DJ wasn’t superb and he crashed a few records, but all in all it was great fun and I’d certainly go again. Others in the group seemed to enjoy it too.

At the end of the night we decided to walk home and we had the amusement that is Matt slightly drunk. I have to say that he’s a brilliant laugh in this state, especially with other folk on the street etc. The walk back was one of the most entertaining I’ve had after a club night and Sarann and Si seemed sufficiently amused as well. His impressions of Andy Bulpit (our AI22 lecturer) will without doubt go down in group history!

When we got back home we didn’t feel like just going to bed so we whipped out a bottle of Plymouth gin and proceeded to cook steak and chips and make a fair dent in the bottle. You can always tell you’re living the student life when you actually think that cooking steak and chips at 3am is an entirely logical thing to do. We ended up staying up till about 6am just chatting about random stuff which was really cool. Certainly this is something that should happen much more regularly, it really adds the icing on an already excellent night out.

Last night I went with Matt and Kat to see Mr Scruff at Stylus in Leeds union. It was an amazing night of loud funky beats and much dancing. Its a long time since the bassline has actually physically moved me across the dance floor but it certainly did so at Mr Scruff.

The venue was completely packed; Mr Scruff seems to have a cult following these days it must be said. Its not just the funky music on the decks but also the style associated with Mr Scruff - the drawings and projection screens with a unique type of artwork. After all, what other event would have big slogans like “Hold onto your trousers” before some heavy bass was on the way being projected next to the stage, not to mention big signs coming up saying “Drink tea!” and instructions on how to make the perfect cup.

The music isn’t for everyone it must be said and although there are certainly jazz influences in it all, most jazz folk wouldn’t enjoy it. Thats not to say its not worth going along, and if you want to get funky and dance the night away then it’s certainly for you. Top marks for Mr Scruff, I’ll certainly be going again!

While coding today I’ve been listening to Chris Rea a fair bit, some great music it really is. One song in particular caught my ear for the message in its lyrics so I thought I’d share them with you here. Discussion is of course, as usual, most welcome in the comments

I come home from work
I see my little girl
Shes crying on the floor
Shes been watching that tv
This aint late no, this aint even dinner time
To show them things on that screen
Whats wrong with you

You must be evil

Oh I know why you do it
Youre just looking for sensation
You got a hold of something
You tell us that its news
You dont have to show that stuff
Cant you show us some respect
You can tell us we dont need to see it
We dont need those cheap effects

You must be evil
You must be evil
I wish you were here

You dont have to show that stuff
You aint fooling no-one
You made my little girl cry
I wish you were here
We all know why you do it
Sometimes you even slow it down
Youre giving out some bad ideas here
I cant believe that you dont realise

You must be evil

Last night I took a trip out to York with Heather to see nu York State live at the Basement Bar in City Screen cinema. It was supposed to be an outing for jazz and blues society members in Leeds to meet the society in York, but it turned out the thought of travelling to York put a lot of people off.

It was a great night though, I caught up with a load of old friends from York and got to meet the new society members there for this year - its really come on in leaps and bounds since when we first started it all back in 2004. I also got a chance to have a chat with Danny Gough (lead singer and trumpeter for the band) about his soon to be released new album and how things have been going for him and the band. They’ve played a fair few gigs around the country and they seem to be progressing nicely in the music world.

The actual gig was great, good fun to dance to and enjoyed by all who attended. Although not normally into jazz funk, Heather also enjoyed it a lot. The only downside to it all was leaving the venue at about midnight knowing we had a 1 hour 30 minute trip back to Leeds ahead of us. Still, anything in the name of a good bit of jazz

Finally I struck upon a way to enjoy live jazz and make good progress with my coursework at the same time. All I needed to do was choose my venue for the SE20 coursework as the Wardrobe. That way I could go along and enjoy a bit of live music, and as long as I paid attention to what was going on at the bars and with the staff and such it would be productive too.

I went along last night to do the first stage of my fieldwork and have pretty much covered all the angles asked for in the coursework spec, even asking a friend questions to form the customer interview. Seeing as I go so often I should be able to check my diagrams quite easily too. Jazz and coursework seem to play very nicely together, I could get used to this!