Southend-on-Sea, commonly referred to as Southend, is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in south-eastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, 40 miles (64 km) east of central London. It is bordered to the north by Rochford and to the west by Castle Point. The city is one of the most densely populated places in the country outside of London. It is home to the longest pleasure pier in the world, Southend Pier, while London Southend Airport is located to the north of the city centre.
Jamie Cullum is an English jazz-pop singer, pianist, songwriter and radio presenter. Although primarily a vocalist and pianist, he also accompanies himself on other instruments, including guitar and drums. He has recorded nine studio albums, three compilation albums, one live album and twenty-four singles. Since April 2010, he has presented a weekly Tuesday evening jazz show on BBC Radio 2.
Rochford is a town and civil parish in the Rochford District in Essex, England, 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Southend-on-Sea, 43 miles (69 km) from London and 21 miles (34 km) from Chelmsford. At the 2011 census, the civil parish had a population of 8,471.
Beecroft Art Gallery is an art gallery in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. The gallery is housed in the former municipal central library that opened in 1974 in the brutalist style as part of Southend Civic Centre. The Beecroft Art Gallery has a busy programme of changing exhibitions of art, photography and fashion. On the ground floor, the gallery presents temporary exhibitions of modern and contemporary artists, focusing on the work of emerging and established local artists. On the first floor, visitors can see works from the permanent collection and exciting fashion exhibitions. In the basement of the building is the charity The Jazz Centre UK.
Cliffs Pavilion is a theatre, sports, exhibition and concert venue located on Station Road in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, England, a suburb within the city of Southend-on-Sea. It is the largest purpose-built arts venue in Essex, and the largest capacity of any theatre in the East of England. In 2006, the operation of Cliffs Pavilion, along with the Palace Theatre, were handed to HQ Theatres by Southend-on-Sea Borough Council. HQ Theatres merged with Trafalgar Entertainment in 2021. In February 2022, the Cliffs played host to He Built This City concert, a tribute to the murdered MP for Southend West Sir David Amess.
Sir John Phillip William Dankworth, CBE, also known as Johnny Dankworth, was an English jazz composer, saxophonist, clarinettist and writer of film scores. With his wife, jazz singer Dame Cleo Laine, he was a music educator and also her music director.
British jazz is a form of music derived from American jazz. It reached Britain through recordings and performers who visited the country while it was a relatively new genre, soon after the end of World War I. Jazz began to be played by British musicians from the 1930s and on a widespread basis in the 1940s, often within dance bands. From the late 1940s, British "modern jazz", highly influenced by American bebop, began to emerge and was led by figures such as Sir John Dankworth, Tony Crombie and Ronnie Scott, while Ken Colyer, George Webb and Humphrey Lyttelton played Dixieland-style Trad jazz. From the 1960s British jazz began to develop more individual characteristics and absorb a variety of influences, including British blues, as well as European and World music influences. A number of British jazz musicians have gained international reputations, although the music has remained a minority interest there.
Django Bates is a British jazz musician, composer, multi-instrumentalist, band leader and educator. He plays the piano, keyboards and the tenor horn. Bates has been described as "one of the most talented musicians Britain has produced... his work covers the entire spectrum of jazz, from early jazz through to bebop and free jazz to jazz-rock fusion."
Southend High School for Boys, also known by its initialism SHSB, is an 11–18 boys selective secondary grammar school situated along Prittlewell Chase in Prittlewell, in the north-west of Southend-on-Sea, England. It teaches students from the age of 11 through to 18 years old, and admission to the school is dependent upon their performance in selective 11+ tests set by the Consortium of Selective Schools in Essex (CSSE). It converted to Academy status on 1 February 2011, and has autonomous control over itself. Student numbers have been increasing over recent years, and, as of academic year 2023–2024, just over 1,300 students on roll, with over 420 of them in the co–educational Sixth Form.
Richard John Charles "Digby" Fairweather is a British jazz cornetist, author and broadcaster.
The Bull's Head, also known as The Bull, is a pub in Barnes in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England. It hosts live music in an attached music room that has a seated capacity of 70 people.
The Jazz Warriors were an English all-black London-based group of jazz musicians, that made its debut in 1986. The idea for the band came from the Abibi Jazz Arts, a London organization that promoted black music and black culture. The Jazz Warriors provided black British musicians with a venue to showcase their talents, which until that time was limited mostly to funk music and reggae.
The Concorde Club was launched in 1957 in Southampton by jazz aficionado Cole Mathieson, and is the oldest jazz club under the same management in the United Kingdom. Its standing in the UK jazz world has been recognised by the August 2009 award of the inaugural Blue Plaque, following a nationwide vote among jazz followers and musicians organised by the Brecon Jazz Festival. The award, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Miles Davis classic album Kind of Blue, is to honour the jazz establishment considered to have done most for the development of jazz in the United Kingdom. On August 8 2012, the club celebrated its 55th anniversary with a concert featuring the Alan Barnes All Stars during which Barnes presented an illustrated history of the Concorde. He told the capacity crowd: "There are very few businesses, let alone a jazz club, run by the same person for 55 years. Cole has done more than most to promote jazz."
The Parliamentary Jazz Awards in the United Kingdom are organised by the All Party Parliamentary Jazz Appreciation Group (APPJAG) at the Houses of Parliament in London. The group consists of over a hundred members drawn from across the UK political parties. The awards were the brainchild Bob Blizzard, a long-time enthusiast of the jazz genre who was concerned that there was a lack of national recognition for the work of jazz performers and venues across the UK. Blizzard was involved with organising and running the awards for 11 years. Also supporting the awards are Jazz Services, Jazz UK, Jazzwise, the UK Musicians' Union jazz section, and PPL.
PizzaExpress Jazz Club is a jazz club in London, England. Based in Dean Street in Soho, it is situated in the basement of a PizzaExpress restaurant, and was opened by company founder Peter Boizot in 1969. It has played host to Norah Jones, Amy Winehouse, Jamie Cullum and Walter Smith III
The National Jazz Archive is a collection of materials pertaining to jazz and blues that is kept at the Loughton Library in Essex, England. The archive was founded by British trumpeter Digby Fairweather in 1998 and contains visual and print materials from the 1920s to the present.
Zara McFarlane is a British music artist, singer, songwriter, composer, vocal coach and playwright based in East London, England. The critically acclaimed singer has released five albums under her own name. Jazzwise Magazine wrote that McFarlane, "is one of the UK’s pre-eminent jazz vocalists and composers". She is a multi - award winner, including a MOBO Awards., two Jazz FM awards and an Urban Music award.
Hans Koller is a German-born UK-based jazz pianist. His debut album Magic Mountain (1997) established him as one of the leading new jazz composers in the UK.
Leigh Folk Festival is an annual music and arts festival, established in 1992 as part of National Music Day (UK), and is held at indoor and outdoor venues in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex. The festival is known for being the largest free folk festival in the United Kingdom and it takes place on the last weekend in June. It has an eclectic mix of music programming and a wide definition of what might be considered folk. It is registered as a UK charity, devoted to "further[ing] public education and understanding of traditional and contemporary folk arts including: Music, Dance, Spoken word ".
The Music Man Project (MMP) is a UK charity founded in Southend on Sea, Essex in 2000. It provides a music education and performance service for people with learning disabilities.
