At a packed awards ceremony last night in Jean Nouvel’s very red Serpentine Gallery Pavilion, the winner of the PRS for Music Foundation New Music Award 2010 was announced as The Organ of Corti, by liminal. An intriguing and hopefully worthy winner.
Which got LondonJazz to thinking… what would we do with £50,000? Here’s our top 5 in no particular order:
1. From Sebastian in China… Put on the world premiere of the Underwater Subtone Saxophone Choir.
2. Create a jazz version of Making the Music/New Music Award and set up a competition for new, unrecorded jazz groups to win funds for a debut album recording, money for marketing and towards a well oiled PR machine, mentoring from a well connected manager and touring cash.
3. From Fran… Have my very own one day Jazz Voice Festival at King’s Place and commission pieces from Pete Churchill and Richard Niles for my own Fantasy Swingles League, featuring Ian Shaw, Claire Martin, Anita Wardell, Michael L Roberts, Natalie Williams, Kwabena Adjepong (you may not have heard of him yet, but you will), the beatboxer Schlomo and Rachelle Ferrell (it is a fantasy after all).
4. A bit unoriginal but always needed nonetheless – provide scholarships for the jazz courses at RAM, Trinity, Guildhall and Leeds College of Music (apologies if I’ve left anyone off my list).
5. Reader’s choice… What would you do with £50,000? Answers on a postcard please….
Categories: miscellaneous
Reinstate a genuine UK-wide Jazz Awards that covers all the genres