THURSDAY MAY 21

8pm

Live music from Ed Kainyek Hidden Gems quartet

A look at what’s to come this weekend

Feature on some of the mjf hothouse artists you’ll hear from this festival, featuring Thanda Gumede, Francine Luce, Sarah Heneghan, Lara Jones, ad Faye MacCalman

9pm

Live music from Jenna G & George King

mjf originals 25@25 – Interviews, memories and archive footage from commissioned artists over the years, featuring Maja Bugge, Ben Cottrell and Mike Hall

Specially commissioned piece on Olivia Moore by filmmaker Antony Barkworth Knight

10- 11pm

Live music from Kirsty Almeida

FRIDAY MAY 22

Streamed on mjf Facebook and YouTube

12 – 3pm

At home with Nikki Iles – Interview, insights and expert tips into pianist and composer’s Nikki Iles

Live music from Nani direct from her Amsterdam living room

Efpi Presents – New music and chat from artists from Efpi record label featuring Ben Cottrell and Johnny Hunter

5 – 7pm

mjf introduces Round Table – We ask the experts to review the latest releases from Yaatri, Beyond Albedo and Nishla Smith

A look back at live music at Manchester favourites Matt & Phreds

7 – 9pm

mjf originals 25@25 – Interviews, memories and archive footage from commissioned artists over the years, featuring Olivia Moore, George King and Matt Owens

The best of mjf2019 – performances from Equilibrium, Werkha and Roller Trio

Music from Nikki Iles Jazz Orchestra

9 – 10.45pm

Online premiere of moving biopic Richard Turner: A Life in Music, introduced by Dr Andy Willis, Prof. Film Studies Professor at the Uni of Salford, and director Rob Cope

SATURDAY MAY 23

Streamed on mjf Facebook and YouTube

12 – 3pm
At home with Byron Wallen – Interview, insights and expert tips

A live living room concert from Ben Cipolla

Efpi Presents – New music and chat from artists from Efpi record label featuring Ben Cottrell, Graham South and Gemma Bass

5 – 7pm

mjf introduces Round Table – We ask the experts to review the latest releases from Tara Cunningham Quartet, Major Ruse and Archipelago

Music from Vula Viel – At home with Bex Birch and her gyil, plus gig footage from her band

mjf originals 25@25 – Interviews, memories and archive footage from commissioned artists over the years, featuring Mike Walker, Stuart McCallum and Anton Hunter

Mike Walker: Ropes in concert

9 – 10pm

The Future of Live Music in Lockdown. Join mjf chair Dr Kirsty Fairclough as she leads a lively panel discussion on the future of gigging with special guests Sacha Lord (Warehouse project/ Parklife), Richard Leese (Manchester City Council), Michelle Kuypers (North Sea Jazz Festival), Rioghnach Connolly (artist) and Yemi Bolatiwa (artist). Submit your questions live on Facebook during this Question Time-style event

10 – 11.00pm

Both Sides of Africa – Catch the full performance our mjf2019 original commission with Nani Noam Vazana and Able Selaocoe

SUNDAY MAY 24

Watch live on United We Stream

12 – 4.30pm

Live music and specially recorded performances from mjf hothouse artists, Ubunye feat. Thanda Gumede, Yaatri, Sarah Heneghan, Lara Jones, Archipelago, and Nishla Smith and Tom Harris

Specially recorded performance from Lewis Wright and Kit Downes

Specially commissioned pieces by filmmaker Antony Barkworth Knight featuring Rioghnagh Connolly and John Ellis

Interviews and discussion with recent graduates of mjf hothouse, including Faye MacCalman, Sarah Heneghan and Lara Jones

4.30 – 8pm

John Helliwell: The story so far… An interview with the Supertramp legend himself

The best of mjf2019 – performances from Sarah Tandy Quintet, Skeltr and Jason Singh and the Adivasi Quintet

Join a quartet of live musicians featuring Jose Dias and Adam Fairhall as they improvise live music to silent film footage of Manchester in the 1910s

mjf originals 25@25 – Interviews, memories and archive footage from commissioned artists over the years, featuring John Ellis, Andy Stamatakis Brown and Esther Swift

8 – 9.30pm

Specially commissioned piece by filmmaker Antony Barkworth Knight featuring 808 State’s Graham Massey

Music from mjf hothouse artist Francine Luce

Premiere of the full performance of mjf2019 original commission and festival opener Mancunity by Andy Scott, introduced with a short interview with the composer

9.30 – 10.30pm

Festival finale and live music from Baked a la Ska, the super charged ska monsters on a rampage through the dancefloors of the UK

Music and film premieres, unseen archive footage and live concerts from stages and living rooms across the north west will all feature in Manchester Jazz Festival’s 25th online anniversary.

mjf2020: Jazz Unlocked, produced in partnership with Jazz North, will stream across the festival’s social channels from May 21 – 24.

The festival’s opening and closing days will also see live music, special features and new recordings streamed with United We Stream, the newly launched GMCA streaming platform set up to support the region’s night time economy and Greater Manchester’s Mayor’s charity Nordoff Robbins.

The festival team can now reveal mjf2020: Jazz Unlocked will feature:

• A series of specially staged, socially distanced live sets from Baked a la Ska, Kirsty Almeida, Jenna G and George King, Ed Kainyek Hidden Gems Quartet, and the latest acts from mjf’s bespoke artist development scheme hothouse: Archipelago, Ubunye ft. Thanda Gumede, Power Out by Sarah Heneghan, and Lara Jones: EnsŌ.

• Live streams from the living rooms, gardens and balconies of Nani Noam Vazana, Ben Cipolla and Nishla Smith & Tom Harris.

• Exclusive new artist interviews and previously unseen footage looking back at 25 years of mjf originals commissions, featuring Mike Walker, John Ellis, Esther Swift and many others.

• Features from Manchester-based Efpi Records with new music and discussion on improvised music made under lockdown.

• Online premieres of Rob Cope’s moving biopic of trumpeter Richard Turner: A Life in Music and a brand new feature film of Mancunity, mjf2019’s opener and original commission by Andy Scott.

• A collection of features from filmmaker Antony Barkworth Knight’s Counterpoint series, spotlighting the creative genius of 808 State’s Graham Massey, HoneyFEET’s Rioghnagh Connolly, Cinematic Orchestra’s John Ellis and Unfurl’s Olivia Moore.

Many more acts, features and artist video launches are still to be announced.

Broadcasts will run from 8pm – 11pm on 21 May, throughout the days on 22 and 23 May and from 12noon to 11pm on Sunday 24 May, across the mjf, Jazz North and UWS platforms.

Manchester’s longest running music festival had been due to mark its first quarter century this May but was forced to halt its physical gigs as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold.

All artists originally contracted to play mjf2020 were paid in full and the festival are now including as many of them as possible in the online line-up, for audiences to enjoy in their own homes.

For more information on Jazz North head to their website, Twitter or Facebook.

On 21 & 24 May, you can also watch the stream on United We Stream’s website, Twitter and Facebook.