Thanks to funding from Aberdeen Inspired, the Aberdeen Jazz Festival will expand to run for 11 days in 2018 and will bring its special atmosphere – “one of the most impressive events organised in Aberdeen” - to a host of new venues throughout the city centre.
Title sponsors Aberdeen Inspired join Aberdeen City Council as major supporters, and thanks to their help the Jazz Festival is destined to increase its audiences by 25% and to become as one of the major Jazz Festivals in the UK, attracting increasing numbers of Aberdonians and visitors to the city to enjoy the amazing vibe that the Festival creates.
Quality and excitement are key factors in the Festival’s success, and 2018 sees an increase in both. The record sales of 2017 especially to a younger audience, has encouraged the organisers to commit to extra events, and not just to maintain the standards set in 2017, but to improve on them with a variety of features that will thrill audiences.
The Festival kicks off on Thursday, March 8 (International Women’s Day) with one of the UK’s leading female jazz musicians, Georgina Jackson collaborating with Aberdeen Jazz Orchestra. Whilst award winning singer Alison Affleck performs at The Carmelite Hotel.
A new highlight of the first weekend will be a “Blues Afternoon” (Saturday, March 10) with top class blues acts performing simultaneously in Belmont Filmhouse Café , Café Drummond and The Tippling House. Audiences will be able to experience different bands and venues for a single rover ticket.
Jazz On the Green on Sunday, March 11 will be further expanded to include the courtyard at The Academy and the entrance to Union Square alongside the existing atmospheric programme in the Green, St Nicholas Street, The Carmelite, The Tunnels, Belmont Filmhouse, Café Drummond and Union Square. The city centre will be jam packed with live music from the city’s best jazz, blues, swing and big bands.
Operating though weekdays will give us the chance to introduce new features including a jazz dinner safari (one course in each venue) in Carmelite, Molly’s Bistro and Musa. The acclaimed Pasadena Roof Orchestra play at Queen’s Cross Church offering a very special show “Puttin’ On The Ritz”.
A second highlight will be the “West End Jazz Trail” featuring a range of singers and funky bands performing simultaneously in venues such as McGinty’s, Park Inn, Soul and Glentanar Bar on Sunday, March 18 which also sees the final night Gala concert at His Majesty’s Theatre. This will be a starry event, celebrating the music of Ella Fitzgerald led by star singer Seonaid Aitken with the Groove Merchant Big Band.
The iconic Blue Lamp plays host to a programme which showcases American pianist Myra Melford’s latest band Snowy Egret; our cover star American saxophonist, Camille Thurman; MOBO award winners Zoe Rahman and Soweto Kinch as well as Scottish stars Colin Steele and Graeme Stephen and up and coming pianist, Fergus McCreadie’s trio. Ona Onabule delivers some old school soul.
American saxophonists Andy Middleton and Scott Hamilton headline the bill at Carmelite which also includes a Dinner Jazz concert with Lorna Reid and an Intoxicating afternoon tea with close harmony group: The Vintage Girls.
Raising the roof at The Lemon Tree, Riot Jazz Brass Band get the party started with the New Orleans funk;
London Afrobeat Collective deliver some steamy African soul funk. Whilst at Assembly swing dancers get to strut their stuff to Alison Affleck’s Copper Cats.
Adrian Watson chief executive of Aberdeen Inspired said “Aberdeen Jazz Festival is one of the jewels in Aberdeen’s crown and we are delighted to increase our support to help it expand to 11 days, to 22 venues and attracting more visitors, benefiting both the public and the city centre businesses. This reaffirms our commitment to our businesses and the wider public, that we not only want to bring new bold, fresh and ambitious festivals into the city centre, but to develop and grow those already on the calendar that have proved popular and given the city a real dividend back”
Neil Gibbons, chair of Aberdeen Jazz Festival says, the new expanded Festival offers an even better celebration of jazz music by increasing the number and breadth of acts which remember our past, revel in the music of now, and showcase new directions and younger players”.
Featuring 35 concerts, performers from two continents and live music over 11 days, we invite audiences to come along and join the biggest ever Aberdeen Jazz Festival!
London Afrobeat Collective
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