We had a day to rest out feet last Sunday before we were up dancing again on Monday night, this time to the dizzying Motown grooves of Ben l’Oncle Soul at KOKO.

His Queen Elizabeth Hall concert as part of the 2011 London Jazz Festival was an unexpected highlight of the entire fortnight and made many of us ridiculously excited about his return. And boy did he deliver. Playing Brighton Dome and then London, he and his band took it up a gear from last November with incredible vocals, slick instrumentals and outrageously cool dance moves that left the audience grinning from ear to ear long into the night.

Winkball were there to talk to the crowds and bottle some of the happiness – take a look at this.

John Aizlewood of the Evening Standard was won over to such a degree that this 4* review popped up later in the week:

“He and his all-male octet were an all-smiling, supertight soul revue. They had Staxian power, thrilling staccato handclapping, fake endings and a sojourn — sans security — through the crowd.” Full review

The Africa Channel were also in attendence and have just posted this review. 

A few of our favourite pics from the evening by photographer Anthony Keiler are below. For more, visit our Flickr site here.

© Anthony Keiler www.anthonykeiler.com

Anyone who wandered into the Barbican foyers last Saturday night and listened in through a crack in the concert hall doors could be forgiven for thinking they’d chanced across a South African township party happening right there within those four walls. Why? Because on that chilly spring night Hugh Masekela was in town, bringing his homeland vividly to life and whipping the sold-out crowd into a frenzy of dancing, whooping and general glee.

Here are a few highlights from the press reviews that have sprung up over the past week:

“Backed by an explosive young band, Hugh Masekela blew the roof off a packed Barbican Hall...unforgettable.” Len Phelan, The Morning Star. Full review

“Masekela's sheer charisma and warmth managed to apply the Extreme Defrost setting to a British audience. He does it in a way probably no other human being can.” Sebastian Scotney, London Jazz. Full review

“The Barbican crowd lapped it up when he teased them for their English reserve, in an absurd English accent. So by the time Masekela shouted “Stand up!”, not a single person remained seated.” Howard Male, The Arts Desk. Full review

"The former anti-apartheid campaigner spoke at one point of the suffering in the world, saying how fortunate we all were to be there in the comfort and safety of the Barbican. With him on the stage, how right he was.” Tom Marshall, North London Newspapers. Full review

Opening the show was singer Zara McFarlane, recently signed to Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood Recordings, whose beautiful contemporary jazz is completed by a delicious undercurrent of soul. We caught up with her after the show...

First off, congratulations on a great performance. Did you enjoy playing to a sold-out Barbican audience?

Wow I did not know that it was sold out! It was an absolutely fantastic night.

Have you performed alongside Hugh Masekela before?

Yes a few times. I worked with him at the Barbican in 2004 with Jazz Jamaica and also at the Roundhouse a few years ago.

Do you look up to him as an inspiring musician?

Hugh has got such a great spirit. He is a real legend and has been through so much and come out on top with a positive demeanour and great lust for life. I feel blessed to have met him so many times and he is definitely a real inspiration both musically and as an individual.

We’d all be very happy if we could achieve what Hugh has achieved in his lifetime, but what is the main aspiration you have for your career?

Right now I would just like to be able to share my experiences through the music I make and I hope that it may help, inspire or uplift people even on the basic level of helping them enjoy their day. I think as I develop and grow as an individual and musician hopefully I will be able to do much more through my music.

Who are the particular people or artists who have had a big influence on you so far?

Nina Simone, Sarah Vaughan, Dianne Reeves, Bob Marley, Luther Vandross, to name a few...

Saturday’s show was celebrating the start of Commonwealth Week; to what extent does your Jamaican heritage impact your musical style?

Alot! Although you may not instantly recognise this influence in the music, as my debut album is not a reggae album. The driving factors when I start writing often tend to be bass and drum parts, which are the most prominent aspects in reggae music. Also I love syncopated rhythmical ideas whether that be in the melody, time signature, bass or drum parts, which is also an important aspect of Caribbean music.

We heard some songs from your debut Brownwood album, Until Tomorrow; what was the inspiration behind that body of work?

This album is really a collection of material that I have developed and worked on over the last few years. Some of the songs speak from personal experience while others are more story-led, but I think they are all tied together within the jazz idiom. The main inspiration is really sharing stories of life experiences that I relate to very strongly and I hope others can too.

Serious for one can’t wait to see what’s next for you...can you give us any clues?

I have a few recording projects in the pipeline but all in the very early stages... some are more inspired by my heritage. With regards to live performances I shall be touring Europe in the coming months with this debut album so I am very excited about that right now. 

All images by John Williams Photography. For more, visit our Flickr site here. 

Last year we made way for the ever-charming Ben l’Oncle Soul at the 2011 London Jazz Festival and boy did he explode onto the scene. Ben, his supreme backing vocalists/dancers (aka the Soulwash boys) and sumptuous band whipped the sold-out crowd into an unrivalled frenzy. With a buzz in the air, not a single person in the Queen Elizabeth Hall remained in their seat.

So…you can understand why we here at Serious are just a little bit excited that Ben l’Oncle Soul is back in Britain for another two performances this weekend. We took the opportunity to grab five minutes with the man himself to ask a couple of questions about his return:

1. Are you excited about returning to Britain?

Yes. I love it there, the vibe is so Soul. Great audiences, great concerts, every time.

2. What do you like about performing in London, and what can Londoners expect from you this time around, after your amazing show at last year’s London Jazz Festival?

I feel like there is a wide culture of Soul music here. They'll be 9 of us on stage, still dancing, still having fun. We have worked on the show since last November, so we may have some surprises in store for you guys..

3. Before playing London on Monday you’re visiting the British seaside at the weekend to perform at Brighton Dome: have you packed your swimming trunks?

No! I've been to Brighton once, it's a beautiful city, I'm glad to be going back there.

Brighton will be first up to experience the Soul magic on Sunday 11 March. Tickets are disappearing like gold dust, so we would recommend getting your mitts on them sharpish. After some sea-side air, we welcome him back to the big smoke where he’ll play London’s KOKO on Monday 12 March. Great music, beverages and dancing all on a Monday…what better way to start the week?

And we aren’t the only ones buzzing about his return. Check out the array of press that has popped up over the last few weeks…

Ben chatted to Clive Davis for a feature in the Sunday Times a couple of weekends ago, and Clive called him…

“one of the most charismatic live performers in Europe. The singer’s concerts are an exhilarating homage to Stax and Motown, the horn riffs blaring, the band members’ dance steps executed with the precision of the Temptations circa 1965.”

...a compliment indeed. He also took to the airwaves last week in an interview with French Radio London (he was, quite literally, about to take off, recording the interview from the airport). For any French linguists out there, have a listen to this here link - et profiter de!

You may recently have come across a version of The White Stripes' Seven Nation Army by a certain x-factor runner up. Biased we may be, but we are still much in love with Ben's version of this song, and still can't stop watching his amazing performance of it on Later with Jools Holland - if you haven't watched it you should, so click here! The Sunday Times quoted Ben on this subject just recently and he responded: “it’s rather sad for the music industry that someone would show such lack of ideas… Well if he likes karaoke so much, why not? But at least acknowledge where it all came from!” 

French Music UK published a brilliant little article on the matter, which is well worth a read - click here. 

Because we're in the mood to celebrate, we've got some goodies to give away. To WIN a signed poster of Ben l’Oncle Soul and a copy of his latest album just email seriouscompetitons@gmail.com by Tuesday 13 March with the answer to the following question:

 As part of which festival did Ben l'Oncle Soul last play in the UK? 

All images by Kalimba. 

Saturday night’s show at the Barbican proved that classical music need no longer be confined to the concert hall, and that Fazer fanatics accustomed to the surrounds of the O2 could feel equally at home on the other side of the river, in the previously unfamiliar setting of the Barbican centre. The 1800-strong crowd, ranging from kids aged five, through to adults 55+, piled into the Barbican hall at 7.30pm, set to witness Urban Classic – a spectacular mash-up of musical cultures, in which the 85-piece BBC Symphony Orchestra came together with four leading artists from the urban scene, under the baton of conductor Jules Buckley.

Beats & Pieces Big Band launched their new album Big Ideas just over a week ago at Ronnie Scott's, on Monday 20 February. You may remember that, at the end of January, we invited you all to post suggestions of a pop song that you'd like to see scored for big band. Yes? Good. Because this is the chance to witness the outcome. Chris Corbishley - a former member of Young and Serious - was at the venue filming the winning track in its entirety. 

We're not going to tell you the name of the track. That would be too predictable. Instead, we're going to ask you to guess. Send the name of the track, and the artist, to seriouscompetitions@gmail.com by Tuesday 6 March to be in with a chance of winning a signed copy of the new album, which hasn't even hit the shops yet.

Beats & Pieces are on tour now. Click here to find out more.

Last year Jules Buckley - co-founder/director of the Heritage Orchestra and Principal Guest Conductor with Holland’s Metropole Orkest – took time out from his country-wide tour with comedian Tim Minchin and the aforementioned Heritage Orchestra to join forces with Felix Buxton of Basement Jaxx and arrange some of the dance duo’s greatest hits for orchestra. The collaboration culminated in a spectacular live show, which premiered in Eindhoven and played to two packed houses at the Barbican last summer.

This year, Buckley continues with his quest to bring orchestral music to new audiences, and give artists a new arena for exploring their own artistic vision. The project in question? Urban Classic – a collaboration between the BBC Symphony Orchestra and leading artists from the UK’s urban music scene – Fazer (from Ndubz), Ms Dynamite, Devlin and Skepta, featuring arrangements by Ayanna and Jason Yarde. They’ll be joined on stage by Kenrick “H2o” Sandy, co-artistic director and founder of Olivier Award winning Boy Blue Entertainment.

In an interview with Emma Love of The Independent, Buckley states: “it really is a culture clash and for me, that's what the project is about. Taking artists from different musical worlds and putting them together with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and saying, 'let's get cosy, let's make some music'. What you have to remember is that for artists such as Skepta, whose whole sound started out as one man using a laptop to make these fat grooves, hearing a 90-piece orchestra realise his string quartet ideas is pretty cool." Read the interview in full here.

Rehearsals for the project have been in full swing since January, and are continuing as we speak. Take a peek at these clips, filmed last month at Maida Vale studios.

The concert takes place this Saturday 3 March at the Barbican at 7.30pm. Tickets are now sold out but there may be returns, available from 7pm at the box office on the night of the show. You can also catch it live in a special programme presented by Trevor Nelson and MistaJam on BBC Radio 1 and 1 Xtra from 7pm.

Urban Classic is produced by the Barbican and the BBC Symphony Orchestra in association with Bigga Fish and Serious with support from Create. Part of London 2012 Festival.

Last week, the ten artists participating in Take Five: Europe travelled out to the wilds of Kent to spend a week within the beautiful setting of Bore Place, which is a study centre and fully operational organic farm (serving delicious home grown and local produce) on the outskirts of Sevenoaks. The purpose? A bespoke week-long residency designed to assist the artists with the development of their professional future. The programme was shaped around one-on-one interviews with each of the participants, in which they volunteered their thoughts on the skills/areas they wished to explore through the scheme. The result of these consultations was a jam-packed schedule, offering a variety of workshops, seminars and panel discussions led by professionals from across the European music industry. The week also saw a number of new musical collaborations between the artists, which will have a performance outcome at the major jazz festivals of the five participating European countries, including the London Jazz Festival this November.

Martel Ollerenshaw (who produces the project) wrote a short journal at the close of each day, to give us a brief insight into the activities taking place.

Day 1

Monday was a day of international travel, arrival at Bore Place, trying to find the strongest internet connection (a real challenge) and discussion about jazz in Europe.

The following words were used to describe everyone’s feelings about music: memory, love, emotion, beauty, creativity, silence, time, freedom, intention, joy, imagination, sharing, motivation, expression, passion, spirit and a sensibility relating to the beauty of classical expression.

Francesco Martinelli – the Director of the Sienna Jazz Archive - was in the hot seat in the after dinner ‘In Conversation with...’ slot, giving us all a very interesting insight into the history of jazz in Europe.

Great food (as usual at Bore Place) and very good company. Gearing up to be a big week.

Day 2

It’s all go here at Bore Place with a group photograph, a warm-up and two new works (by Oene van Geel and Benjamin Flament) rehearsed and premiered before lunch!

After lunch there was an informative session on the many and varied forms of funding available to musicians in Europe from Andrea Gancs (Hungary), Olivier Bernard (SACEM, France) and Diana Spiegelberg (UK), followed by a much praised session from solicitor Gillian Baxter (UK) on the importance of contracts and protecting your rights.

The after dinner slot was a lively discussion about the recording industry – past, present and future – from Wulf Muller (Spain) and ACT label boss Siggi Loch (Germany).

Good weather, great food – helps everyone concentrate, I’m sure.

Day 3

Spoke too soon about the good weather - Day 3 at Bore Place was cold and wet. Better weather is predicted for the rest of the week - fingers crossed.

Regardless of this, all is well with Take Five: Europe. A practical focus to Day 3 saw three new works rehearsed and premiered (by Maciej Obara, Ole Morten Vågan and Fraser Fifield) - the latter featuring Fraser's spectacular bagpipes. 

The artists worked with performance coach Mary McCusker to enhance their non-musical performance techniques and heard two quite radical approaches to distribution and creating, developing and maintaining an audience for your work (Scott Cohen, Co-Founder of The Orchard) and learning about music, being a musician and teaching music (Erling Aksdal, Head of Music, University of Science & Technology in Trondheim).

We said adieu to Emile Holba who's been here taking photographs of everyone and to several visitors from France, Germany and Spain.

Day 4

Action packed day at Bore Place with visitors travelling in from Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Norway, Poland and even from that well known European city, Chicago! There were sessions on Agency & Management (with Ellen Windholz from jazzbrain and James Wright from Elastic Artists), Broadcasting (Peggy Sutton from Somethin' Else/Jazz on 3 and Sebastien Vidal from TSF Jazz) and programming (Annamaija Saarela from Jazz on the Beach and Wim Wabbes from Vooruit Kunstencentrum).

Three more new works were rehearsed and premiered by Marciej Garbowski, Bram Stadhouders and Tom Arthurs - and an exciting plan was developed late in the evening for performances at the Take Five: Europe partner festivals: Jazz sous les Pommiers (France); North Sea Jazz Festival (Netherlands); Molde International Jazz Festival (Norway); London Jazz Festival (UK) and Jazztopad (Poland). 

We are all a bit wired from the intensity of the residency but it was nice to have some sun today and to feel that a lot will be achieved by Saturday.

Days 5 & 6

Day 5 at Take Five: Europe concentrated on communicating with audiences and we had presentations from Lucinda Hilbery (offline), Howard Wilmot (online) and Emily Alexander (copywriting – biographies, performance information and press releases).

The latter part of the day concentrated on a ‘pitching’ exercise where artists worked in pairs to find money/resource for their creative ideas. The artists took this very seriously and made some good pitches to the three prospective (but fictional) funders: Piotr Turkiewicz from Jazztopad; Jan Ole Otnaes from Molde International Jazz Festival and Sander Grande from North Sea Jazz Festival.

The rest of the residency was devoted to making music – on Friday the final two pieces were unveiled (Celine Bonacina and Gard Nilssen) and on Saturday morning (Day 6) the core team was treated to a concert of all the music that had been rehearsed and performed during the week. Some really good pieces played at a very high level. All positive for their live appearances at Jazz sous le Pommiers, North Sea Jazz Festival, Molde International Jazz Festival, London Jazz Festival and Jazztopad across the rest of the year.

John Cumming (Director, Serious) has summed up the week in a few words and has a number of people he would like to thank for their part in making the residency such a success.

“It’s an intense week, both for participants and the core team - the energy and commitment that David Francis, John Surman, Mary McCusker, Bill Strode, the translators – David and Naomi Buck, Nigel Green (and of course our favourite chef, Andrew) put into the week is matched by our own team – especially Martel, Hal, Michelle, and everyone else involved from the Serious side. Big round of thanks.”

Our intrepid photographer Emile Holba was in residence over the first couple of days, so we’ll have some photos to share later this week.

Ronnie Scott’s hosted the London debut of Mancunian big band Beats & Pieces last summer, in a double bill with Kairos 4tet, as part of their Brit Jazz Fest. The venue was packed to the rafters and, if you hadn’t booked a ticket in advance, there was not chance of getting in – not for love nor money. Beats & Pieces earned many new fans that night. Among them, John L.Walters, Clive Davis and Jack Massarik. It was no surprise, therefore, that their return visit to the venue last Monday, this time as headliners, was sold out weeks in advance, and had both critics and audiences hankering for tickets on the night. This visit marked the launch of their new album, Big Ideas, which is out on March 12 on EPFI records - an independent label co-founded and managed by three of the band members (and distributed by Proper Note), and marked the third date of their spring tour.* And Big the impact of the gig certainly has been. It seems the who’s-who of London jazz critics were out in force that night, as we’ve since seen enough stars to populate a clear night sky, in the Guardian, Times, Telegraph, Evening Standard, Jazzwise and the London Jazz blog. Here are some of the press highlights:

“What really marked this gig as something special was its sheer generosity. The ideas and moods came thick and fast, each one so brilliantly vivid that you wanted it to go on, even while enjoying the leap to something new. This band’s achievement is already astonishing, but they’ll surely go further.” ***** Ivan Hewett, The Telegraph. Full review

“On its current tour's stopover at Ronnie Scott's it proved that last year's startling debut there was no fluke. Over the last 12 months, the band has generated enough home-grown material to keep audiences on the edge of their seats across two long sets; it attacks its music with even more infectious zip.” ***** John Fordham, The Guardian. Full review

“Their rich ensemble sound, delivered with the disciplined power of a fervent brass band, is this orchestra's real signature. And also the true definition of Northern Soul.” **** Jack Massarik, Evening Standard. Full review

“You couldn’t help come away with the thought that big is most definitely back.” Stephen Graham, Jazzwise. Full review

"The band is tops in terms of cohesive blend, pitching and negotiating the many tricky technical passages presented to them. A first rate ensemble indeed.”  Frank Griffith, London Jazz. Full review

We didn’t want you all to miss out on the action. And we know that lots of you are eagerly anticipating the results of the competition we ran on the blog a few weeks ago. So we filmed the winning track, and will be posting it up within the next 48 hours. We’re not going to reveal the name of the track. That would be too predictable, surely? Instead we’re going to ask you to guess. And be in with the chance of winning a glitzy prize. Watch this space.

The band are going on to play the Sage Gateshead, the Queens Theatre in Barnstaple, Hay and Bath Festivals and Warwick Arts Centre. Hay, Bath and Warwick are not yet on sale, but will be within the next few weeks. Click here for full tour information. 

*the UK tour is supported by Arts Council England and the PRS For Music Foundation

We are calling out to all of you who play the saxophone. If you want to get involved and be a part of the London 2012 Olympics and all its festivities, AND have the opportunity to play alongside world renowned saxophonist Andy Sheppard just keep on reading…

Saxophone Massive is searching for 200 saxophonists of all ages and abilities – amateurs, teachers and beginners – to join jazz saxophonist Andy Sheppard and other internationally-acclaimed players in a momentous performance at London’s iconic Somerset House.

The performance forms part of BT River of Music, which takes part on 21/22 July 2012 and forms a major part of the London Festival 2012, the culmination of the Cultural Olympiad. BT River of Music is a weekend of spectacular performances, that will represent all 205 Olympic and Paralympic nations at landmark sites along the River Thames.

In order for this project to be truly pan-European, we are looking to recruit at least one player with cultural roots in each of Europe’s 49 countries, ideally who now are resident in the UK. If you are interested in participating in this exciting event, you will need to be available for rehearsals on Sundays in June and July 2012 as well as the performance during the weekend of 21/22 July.

For a taster of what you could be part of, please watch this video snapshot of a performance of Saxophone Massive in Norwich.

If you would like to register your interest in the Saxophone Massive, or simply would like to find out more, please email claire.furlong@serious.org.uk.

Alternatively if you know of someone who might be interested in taking part, please do forward this information on.

Please note this is an unpaid project.

This event is being created and produced by Serious for the London 2012 Festival with significant funding support from the National Lottery through the Olympic Lottery Distributor, Arts Council England and British Council. The BT River of Music participatory programme has received additional funding support from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and the City Bridge Trust. 

Esperanza Spalding’s story is an impressive one. She found her love for music at an early age. By the age of five, she had essentially taught herself to play the violin well enough to land a spot in The Chamber Music Society of Oregon, whom she played with for 10 years. During this time, she also discovered the bass. Suddenly, playing classical music in a community orchestra wasn’t enough for Esperanza. Before long she was a regular on the local club circuit and ,at 16, left high school for good to study music at Portland State University – which made her the youngest bass player in the programme. Three years later, she moved to the opposite coast, to Berklee College of Music, where she had the opportunity to play with Stanley Clarke, Pat Metheny, Patti Austin and Joe Lovano, among others and to become, at 20, the youngest member of the teaching faculty at the college.

Her journey as a solo artist began with the release of her debut album Esperanza in 2008, which went straight to the top Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz chart. The years since have seen her play sell-out shows across the globe, pip Justin Bieber to the post for the Best New Artist award at last year’s Grammys, and gain an ever-increasing pool of fans, among audience members and even the most hard-nosed of critics. We brought her to London last year to play two sell-out shows at the Barbican, with Chamber Music Society – a project that saw her explore the classical influences of her early years. This year’s release Radio Music Society, tips a hat to her 16-year old self, playing blues, funk and hip-hop on the club circuit in Portland, and sees her combine her jazz roots with pop, soul and r&b. If you’ve only seen Esperanza in a concert hall setting before, this is your chance to see the soulstress in a different guise. Don your dancing shoes, and join us at KOKO on Mon 28 May. Tickets are only £25. That’s no too far shy of a week's worth of coffees. Wouldn’t you agree that this’d be pennies better spent? 

In the meantime, have a read of a short interview with Esperanza, who