Month: December 2022
Hothouse is now in its seventh round and we are delighted to welcome 6 of the best Manchester based jazz musicians to the fold. Featuring a Mercury nominated saxophonist to the unruly prince of electronica and one of Vini Reilly’s collaborators, click HERE to discover our artists.
We are delighted to announce that Mica Millar will be at mjf 2023, playing Band on the Wall, on Thursday 25th May.
“A star with intense emotional sincerity is born. ‘Heaven Knows’ is an outstanding debut album”
(Blues & Soul Magazine)
“There’s nothing remotely tentative about any of this. The songwriting is assured, the production consistently on the money and the voice…well that’s the whole point”
(Wall of Sound)
“Millar put on a masterful show….her audience mesmerised by an alluring vocal talent”
(Record Collector)
Releasing her debut album ‘Heaven Knows’ to critical review earlier this year, Mica Millar has quickly become the UK’s brightest new Soul star, picking up Jazz FM’s prestigious ‘Soul Act of The Year 2022’ award alongside a nomination for ‘Breakthrough Act of The Year’ and featuring on the front covers of iconic magazines like Blues & Soul and Echoes, amidst an array of five star album and live reviews, plus champions at national radio including the likes of BBC Radio 2’s Trevor Nelson and 6 Music’s Craig Charles.
Following two monumental album launch shows in September including a sold out show at the capital’s prestigious Jazz Café and a special hometown performance filling out the iconic Albert Hall, Manchester, Mica has announced her first UK tour for May 2023. She’ll be returning with her hotly-tipped seven-piece band to Jazz Cafe London on 5th May with show at Liverpool’s Epstein Theatre on 21st May, Manchester’s Band On The Wall on 25th May and The Wardrobe Leeds on 30th May presented by Manchester and Leeds Jazz Festivals with additional UK and European dates still to be announced.
More festival announcements to follow…
THEMORY is an audiovisual installation presented by Manchester Jazz Festival, drawing from the subjective and fluid forces of family and history, place and time. Telling a collective story through a collage of memories, heard and seen, the audience will be propelled through a thematic narrative, bound together by a backdrop of past and present Manchester.
The idea took root after lead band member, Piera, was given hours of video tapes from her dad of her family in rural Ukraine, which he had filmed thirty years ago. It led to conversations about the subjectivity of how memories and history become part of our lives, however indirect.
The installation is built around its audience – featuring footage collected on a local scale, THEMORY remembers what its contributors have forgotten; secondhand, long-shelved or passed down footage, photographs and audio are central to the project. An emotive score will accompany this, realised by un.procedure, using specialised sound to create an immersive environment for its audience.
More information on how you can get involved to follow!
Discover un.procedure here