Tourism and travel

Sheffield-based multi-instrumentalist Martin Archer wowed the Bridge audience late last year with the wildly dynamic 10-piece improvising ensemble Engine Room Favourites. Now we welcome him back with a very different but equally enthralling project, Inclusion Principle.

Formed in 2006 as the duo of Martin and Herve Perez, with percussionist Peter Fairclough becoming a permanent member in 2013, the triumvirate operate in a fluid space between electronics, nu-jazz, contemporary electroacoustic music and free improvisation. Although Archer and Perez play a similar set-up of reed instruments and laptops, their approach is very different, so the chemistry between them is capable of creating an exceptionally wide range of improvised soundscapes. Similarly the dynamics of the music can be in constant flux, ranging all the way from microtonal minimalism to beat-driven techno, via ambient pastoralism (natural recordings form part of the duo's armoury) and distinctly jazzy episodes.

Peter Fairclough fills a space in this soundscape that seems absolutely right, making brilliant use of hand percussion in the more abstract passages, while setting up driving jazz grooves when the music gets a little more funky! All in all this is music that has something for everybody, conveying a love of sound and performance that is unfailingly infectious.

Over the lunchtime of 5th December the Jazz Café will play host to a meeting of NorVol, the network of jazz promoters from across the whole of the North. When Jazz North East was asked to provide some music to follow the meeting, we didn't have to spend too much time cogitating - the Bradley Johnston Quartet seemed an ideal choice.

Guitarist Johnston has been turning heads on the Tyneside scene since he was in his mid-teens, a student on the degree course at Sage Gateshead. His talent was quickly spotted by his tutor James Birkett, and the two of them formed a popular guitar duo which applied technical flair to a journey through the history of jazz guitar.

But over the past year Bradley has started to branch out with his own quartet, delivering a mix of standards, originals, and tunes by Pat Metheny (clearly a favourite of Brad's), much of it in a gently pastoral mode but with flashes of high energy pyrotechnics. The rhythm section of pianist Pete Gilligan, bassist Paul Grainger and drummer Tim Johnston could hardly be better chosen - all versatile and vastly experienced players, they are the ideal support for Brad on his creative journey.

Our Tyneside jazz scene is not as well known around the North as it deserves, so this should be a fine demonstration to regional promoters that we have young (and not so young) talent aplenty. And for local jazz fans who haven't yet caught up with the Bradley Johnston Quartet (or have, and fancy some more), this gig is open to everybody . . . and it's free!

Fancy yourself as a Marple of Poriot? Then you're in for a treat with this unique evening of blood-curdling murder at the Black Gate!

Set in a far, far away wintry wonderland, where the usual suspects include a disgruntled reindeer and an overworked elf!

SUSPECTproductions provide the tables - you bring your own food and drinks! See if you can work out 'whodunit'...

ven amongst the rich crop of young piano players on today's UK scene, Adam Fairhall stands out as somebody quite distictive. Not just because he has carved out a distinctive stylistic niche, but because he embraces a wide range of reference points and makes them his own.

So in his solo performances idioms drawn from any period of jazz history may be blended, collided, subverted, hinted at, or played completely straight. It's a playful and witty approach that is reminiscent of the late Jaki Byard, another player whose love of piano playing from ragtime to free was always evident in his performances.

For the second half of this Lit & Phil concert Adam is joined by his bass playing brother Tim and the great free jazz drummer Paul Hession (back in the UK after a period living in Norway), operating in the no-holds-barred free jazz trio 'Markov Chain'. The outfit gave their debut performance at the 2013 Manchester Jazz Festival, and was enthusiastically reviewed by critic Mike Butler as "the orgiastic, earth-shaking, cacophonous real deal, with none of the mimsy I don't feel ready for this yet reticence that besets so much homegrown free jazz".

So, a tremendous double bill, demonstrating the continuity of jazz history, and bringing us to its earth-shattering contemporary condition.

Come along for a wonderful evening of fashion, entertainment and prizes to get you in the Christmas spirit. The event will be a celebration of the North East and all the wonderful talent it has to offer while also supporting an excellent local course.
On the night you'll have the chance to watch our fantastic show, as well as visiting our pop up shop market hall where you'll be able to browse our variety of local stalls and will have the chance to purchase items you spotted on the runway. Oh and you'll come away with your very own goodie bag too!
Our fashion show aims to promote fashion and style which is for everyone; all ages, colours, shapes and sizes. The catwalk collections will range from lovely local boutique collections, to high street favourites and outfits styled from our very own charity shop creating a glamorous spectacle of affordable fashion for all budgets.
All of the funds we raise in Gateshead stay in Gateshead meaning that the money raised from this fashion show will go back into insuring our essential services which help Gateshead's older community in a variety of ways. Money raised from this fashion show will be used to support our Winter Warmth Campaign.
In the winter months 1 older person dies every 7 minutes from cold related illness.
Our information and advice service provides advice, guidance, advocacy and benefit entitlement services to support older people getting them through the winter, safely and ensuring they are warm and well.

Purchase your tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/winter-fashion-show-tickets-18499801404

Trumpeter Loz Speyer brought an earlier version of Inner Space Music to the Cluny around ten years ago, a gig that is fondly remembered by everybody who was there. This return visit is maybe overdue, but all the more welcome for that.

In the decade since that earlier gig Loz has re-shuffled the line-up; the brilliant reedsman Chris Biscoe remains a key member of the band, but he and Loz are now joined by three outstanding members of the new, musically adventurous young generation in saxophonist Rachel Musson, bassist Olie Brice (both of them already established as Tyneside favourites), and - making his first appearance for us - drummer Gary Willcox.

The music itself draws its inspiration from a wide vista of jazz history, with perhaps the strongest influences being those of Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, and especially Ornette Coleman, framing very open improvisations within a flexible structure of melodic, catchy tunes. But despite the daring excursions into new territory, this is music that unfailingly engages the audience; in fact critic Mike Butler has descibed it as "serious fun of the first order", while Karl Dallas eulogised one of the quintet's gigs as "one of the happiest evenings I've heard in jazz for many a long night".

So, serious jazz with a smile, challenging jazz that's accessible, and brilliantly played jazz that will live long in the memory.

Come along to hear more about 'freeborn John', a local man who helped shape modern ideas about human rights during the English Civil War period. At this public lecture Professor David Walker will be celebrating John Lilburne's achievements and his relevance for contemporary debates about public democracy and human rights.

This gig, a co-promotion between Jazz North East and the Jazz Café, showcases a remarkable collaboration, firmly rooted in jazz, but touching on a wide range of other influences from folk and world music.

Metamorphic, led by Leeds-based pianist and composer Laura Cole, has been together since 2008 as a sextet, but expands to an 8-piece for this, their first visit to Tyneside. Performing a mix of originals and imaginatively restructured tunes from sources as diverse as Ornette Coleman, Jimi Hendrix and Radiohead, the all-star band has been described by critic Brian Morton as "utterly remarkable" and by pianist Alex Wilson as "getting the pulse going from the get-go".

Røyst Trio was formed back in 2002 by vocalists Kari Bleivik, Ceceilie Giskamo and Maria Jardardottir, all originating from Norway but now resident in the UK. Their a cappella performances feature extraordinary harmonic invention; each of their voices really is very different, and yet they blend beautifully, interlacing complex and fully acoustic rhythmic loops with melody and panache.

The collaboration between the two groups at this gig will include short opening 'mini-sets' from the two bands, but will mainly feature new material devised specifically for their current UK tour, seeking to explore the dynamic fusion of their musical vision, and reflecting their shared enthusiasm for texture and improvisation within a structured framework.

Now, here's something you can really sink your teeth into. Newcastle Castle is pleased to announce that we will be screening one of the scariest films of all time - F.W. Murnau's black and white silent classic Nosferatu (1922) - in the atmospheric Great Hall of the Castle Keep.
In this first-ever screen adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula, a simple real-estate transaction leads an intrepid businessman deep into the superstitious heart of Transylvania. There he encounters the otherworldly Count Orlok (portrayed by the legendary Max Schreck) in his dilapidated ancient castle...

If it's true that you can't have too much of a good thing, then it certainly applies in the case of trumpeter Laura Jurd, making her second appearance for Jazz North East this year, and her third on Tyneside within twelve months. But Laura is an artist who continues to evolve, technically and imaginatively, at an astonishing rate, so every gig is a revelation. Her superb rhythm section of Elliot Galvin, Conor Chaplin and Corrie Dick have been with her every step of the way, so the four musicians have developed an almost telepathic musical togetherness.

As if that weren't enough, for this gig they are joined by the LABtrio from Belgium, in a double bill created by the borders-busting Match & Fuse project. Pianist Bram de Looze, bassist Anneleen Boehme and drummer Lander Gyselinck have been working together since 2007, creating a musical laboratory where elements of jazz, improvisation and electronic music are fused into a constantly surprising and unfailingly uplifting mix.

The double bill arrives at the Lit & Phil on the heels of a tour of Belgium and the Netherlands, and at the end of the gig the two bands will come together to play pieces that they have created on the road.