Ingrid Jensen in Marienne Trudel’s quintet  Jazzahead April 2015

Sebastian writes: 


This has to be good news. The Northern Voluntary Jazz Promoters Network (NORVOL JAZZ), which represents around thirty jazz venues in the North of England, in partnership with a new organnisation Apollo Jazz Network, have just been awarded over £32,000 by Arts Council England.

Their joint project “involves establishing a touring network for live jazz.” Apollo Norvol will organize three tours in the period of the grant which runs for just over a year from early 2016 until March 2017. The first tour is in May 2016 and will feature Canadian-born, Brooklyn-resident trumpeter Ingrid Jensen. The tours will also involve workshops and masterclasses.

Trumpeter/organizer Kim Macari, who is managing the scheme, writes: “I am delighted to receive this support from Arts Council England. It has been over a year of development and discussion for a project which is ambitious and large-scale and it’s fantastic that we are now able to roll it out.”

It is a sign of the leverage which arts funding can deliver when harnessing the volunteer networks which flourish in UK jazz.

Norvol/ Apollo have just had this news, and we will update this post with a link to the dedicated website for the tours and network – once it is there…