This morning’s piece in the Guardian about Sir Nicholas Kenyon’s plans for Barbican makes it 100% official. The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra is to have a residency at the Barbican. I am going to the Press launch tonight and see what more there is to say….
UPDATE Thursday 12th March, following Press Briefing: The LCJO residency will start in 2010, and more details will be announced in July. LCJO have a It was officially confirmed that this will also involve a direct collaboration with the Vortex.
Meanwhile it was confirmed that LCJO (with two Brits Joe Temperley and Elliott Mason) will be at the Barbican this year on July 24th rounding up Barbican Jazz (July 7th -24th) . Full details of Barbican Jazz are not yet available, but the series will also include a tribute to Nina Simone, and Medeski , Martin and Wood in a programme of John Zorn’s music.
The Barbican management were very upbeat indeed on audience trends for the current year. Sir Nicholas Kenyon singled out the creativity and the innovative capacity of Associate Producer Serious. Which was nice to hear.
UPDATE : Later the same day: PRESS RELEASE: The first residency takes place in June 2010 with three concerts, including one at the Hackney Empire. The concerts will be accompanied by workshops and a film season at the Barbican, discussions at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, jam sessions at the Vortex Jazz Club in Dalston and supper dance events at other East London venues. There will also be outreach work in the Olympic host boroughs of East London. The Jazz at Lincoln Center residencies are part of a long-term commitment to the development of Jazz in East London by the Barbican and its partners.
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Jazz at the Lincold Centre is hardly innovative. Further more with UK jazz musicians finding it hard going how much is this residency going to cost. Surley there could have been a far more exciting project that involved European musicians, the likes of Terence Blanchard and UK musicians. The problem is there has been a complete lack of consultation. Nicholas Kenyons track record on jazz leaves a lot to be desired and this project just reinforces that view. One only has to look at his tenure at Radio 3 and then the Proms.