The nine bands (three Scottish, six English) constituting the 2014 Made in UK jazz showcase were announced at the press launch yesterday of the Rochester Jazz Festival:

Sophie Bancroft and Tom Lyne
Euan Burton Quartet
Eska
Jonathan Gee
Mark Lockheart
Partisans
Ian Shaw
Anthony Strong
Paul Towndrow Trio

– Several of the bands will be going on after Rochester to do the Canadian festivals in Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver, Victoria, Edmonton and Saskatoon.

– Partisans and Jonathan Gee Trio will also perform at Dizzy’s at Jazz @ Lincoln Center.

– In addition, Norma Winstone will be touring as part of the programme at the instigation of the Canadian Festival Directors.

– We  are told by the organizers that a total of 40 shows are booked at present .

Full details of the centrepiece, the Rochester Made in UK Programme are here.

For reference, the Made in UK programes for 2012 and 2013 are here.

There is funding towards this from Jazz Services and Creative Scotland. Money for this scheme is very tight, and the selection method – falling into three categories was as follows:

Scotland: The Scottish Jazz Federation invited bands to apply to be considered for Rochester and these were forwarded to John Nugent (Rochester Festival Director.

England (1): Jazz Services received applications from around 90 bands applying for 3 slots. The panel shortlisted and John Nugent made the final decision.

England (2): Outside the funded programme, ESIP in discussion with John Nugent chose agent-supported bands: Ian Shaw, J.Gee & Anthony Strong.