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Date: Saturday 17 May

José Dias: 25 in 25 Portuguese Revolution Revisited

mjf @ First Street (HOME Stage)

José Dias guitar & samples / Maria Fonseca trumpet / Juliana Mendonça bass / Johnny Hunter drums 

José Dias is a Portuguese musician based in Manchester. His widely acclaimed solo album, “After Silence, Vol.1” (Clean Feed 2019) was hailed ‘an introspective masterpiece’ (All About Jazz) and listed as both one of the best albums of 2019 by Giornale della Musica and the essential Portuguese Jazz Album of the New Century by Improvisando.  

As a composer, he has scored music for animation, film and television, as well as theatre and contemporary dance. His music is strongly inspired by the visual arts and literature. 

25 in 25/Portuguese Revolution Revisited is a commission from the Manchester Portuguese Consulate commemorating the 50th anniversary of the democratic revolution of April 25th. On the morning of April 25, 1974, two specific songs were broadcast on national radio as covert signals for the coup that successfully overthrew a 41-year dictatorship. This event marked the beginning of a liberation process that received overwhelming public support and saw the restoration of democracy and freedom of speech.  

It is these songs that Dias’ quartet, which includes two fast-rising musicians from Lisbon visiting especially for this concert, aims to reinterpret. The quartet will creatively reinterpret those songs, blending improvisation and archival sounds from that historic day. 

mjf acknowledges the generous support of the Portuguese Consul, Manchester in making this event possible 

 

 

 

Date: saturday 17 may

Time: 12:30 pm - 1:00 pm

Time: 2:10 pm - 3:00 pm

Price: Free

Thanda & Friends

mjf @ First Street (ask Garden Stage)

Thanda Gumede voice / Rory A Green guitar / Simeon Walker piano / Fergus Quill double bass

Thandanani Gumede is known as Thanda (pronounced like “Tanda”), for short—a Zulu name that means Love One Another. He is an award-winning vocalist and a multi-disciplinary artist of dual Zulu and Xhosa heritage, hailing from Durban, in South Africa.  

His performance will include a very special appearance from the Olympias choir, made up of families and young people from the Olympias music group. 

Thanda Gumede 

Thanda made his U.K. debut at the inaugural ‘Nelson Mandela Day’ which was officiated by the United Nations, in London. Thereafter, his base became the North of England where he now works as a vastly experienced African music workshop leader & versatile performer with UK Refugee Status. He is also an Opera North pilot Resonance alumnus; Jazz North Northern Line alumnus; mjf Hothouse (2019) & mjf Level Up alumnus (2021). As of November 2024, Thanda has joined the Board of Directors at Manchester Jazz Festival. 

Musically, Thanda draws inspiration from his heritage, amalgamated with: 

Jazz, Neo-Soul and Gospel amongst other contemporary styles, and beautifully punctuated by the signature click sounds of the southern Bantu languages. He collaborates with musicians across different styles and traditions including Indian and European Classical, Pop, Jazz, African Traditional and Gospel.  

His work ranges from specialised Vocal Tuition to Embodied Auto-Ethnography, Arts Industry Consultations as well as being a contributing author of ‘Books Without Borders’ which was commissioned by the University of Leeds (as part of the Arts and Humanities Research Council Project: ETHER) published in September 2024. 

Accolades and notable appearances include: 

– a Parliamentary Jazz Award — Ensemble of the Year 2023 with Ubunye 

– an exclusive performance for Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II and 43 members of the British Royal Family at Buckingham Palace (Royal Enclosure) 

– Warner Classics commissioned performance for the late Emeritus, Bishop Desmond Tutu, alongside the prodigious cellists: Abel Selaocoe & the x19 Grammy Award winner, Yo-Yo Ma 

– BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall 

– as well as appearances on SKY 1, BBC Radio & BBC TV, SABC 1 and ITV (scheduled appearance on Channel 5 in December 2024) 

– The Opera North Howard Assembly Room, Jazz Festival, manchester jazz festival, Buxton Jazz & Blues Festival and the Theatre Royale in London, West End —to name but a few. 

Olympias Choir

Olympias Music Foundation is an award-winning music charity based in Manchester. Olympias work to champion diversity in music – from instrumental lessons for children on free-school meals, to community choirs for diverse women and school children and believe that everyone should be given the opportunity to participate in music. 

Date: saturday 17 may

Time: 2:15 pm - 3:10 pm

Price: Free

Ferg’s Imaginary Big Band

mjf @ First Street (House of Social Main Stage)

mjf partners with Jazz North to present a showcase of the latest northern artists to be selected for the groundbreaking touring programme Northern Line. 

Ferg’s Imaginary Big Band is an organic and fluid ensemble of young jazz musicians drawn from across both Leeds and the wider UK jazz scene. The band’s origins were as an informal five-piece Sun Ra tribute project but quickly grew into a dynamic 25+ strong musical force with a reputation for energetic live performances and experimental arrangements. 

Winners of 2023 The Peter Whittingham Jazz Award and returning to mjf after their raucous showstopping gig at mjf2023, they have since played shows at Leeds, Lancaster and London Jazz Festivals and Love Supreme. 

Date: saturday 17 may

Time: 7:45 pm - 9:00 pm

Price: Free

mjf2025 piano trail walking tour with FMWT

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Corn Exchange

After two years of sold-out tours, Free Manchester Walking Tours are back, following manchester jazz festival’s famous piano trail across the city centre… 

A first for Manchester: a walking tour accompanied by live band, Sherpa K! 

Free Manchester Walking Tours are going to follow manchester jazz festival’s famous piano trail across the city centre, exploring the fabulous interiors of Manchester’s theatres, art galleries and music venues, as well as uncovering secret street art and learning about the origins of a famous Manchester fruit drink and its artists. There are two piano trail walking tours with an additional tour taking place Sunday 18 May from 12pm-2pm. 

Sherpa K

(Joshua Val Martin, Josh Dawson, Adam Summers, David Martin and Jez Dolan)

Meet Sherpa K – the makers of art-folk with a knowing twink; boasting a musical arsenal from saxophone and flute to piano and double bass, the five Sherpas are on a mission to confuse, charm, and promote universal joy.  

Please note tickets go off sale for this event via mjf at 11am on the day of the trail. 

WHERE TO MEET AND WHEN 

Meet Josh near the piano inside the Corn Exchange. The tour will start promptly at 12pm and last approximately for 2 hours. Wear comfortable shoes and bring water! 

FREE MANCHESTER WALKING TOURS: 

Free Manchester Walking Tours (www.fmwt.co.uk) was set up nearly a decade ago, by storyteller, History MA graduate and Mancunian Josh. They’ve since grown into a small team dedicated to sharing Manchester’s story with the world. They run a tour every day at 11am from the Alan Turing Memorial, as well as offering specialised LGBT+ and Northern Quarter walking tours. 

Kids go free, but please select a ticket, one per child attending. Please note children under the age of 14 must be accompanied by an adult. 

Date: saturday 17 may

Time: 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm

Price: £10 for adults, free for children

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Mojo

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Matt and Phreds

Felipe Schrieberg vocals, bass, lap steel guitar / Tomek Kruk bass, guitar, lap steel guitar / Michal Mantaj keyboards, accordion / Piotr Augustynowicz guitar / Igor Augustynowicz drums 

Mojo is a new five-piece band hailing from the Trójmiasto (Tri-City) region of Poland, bringing a heady high-energy sound inspired by American influences and vintage grooves, spiced up with a contemporary Polish touch. Their on-stage energy leads to the best kind of wild gigs, creating an intimate connection between band and audience throughout the performance. 

Mojo blends together influences of Cajun, soul and rhythm and blues – music that would shake the rafters in barrelhouse piano bars, Memphis clubs and Louisiana’s Fais Dodos – with the mischief often found in traditional Polish folk music. Intense, tight grooves, infectious riffs and the natural chemistry of a band made up of deeply experienced performers results in a potent brew perfect for a late-night party. 

Call 0161 273 5495 to reserve a table.

 

Date: saturday 17 may

Time: 9:30 pm - 12:30 am

Price: from £7

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M&Ps Music Quiz

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Matt and Phreds

Matt & Phred’s Quiz: where the whole quiz is the music round! 

Prepare to be enchanted by the hilarity of our quizmaster, Jonathan Mayor, and the sensational virtuosity of our pianist, Tom Sharp. Get ready for an adrenaline-fuelled experience filled with wildly interactive rounds, made for music enthusiasts and comedy lovers alike. 

Forget everything you know about how quizzes usually work. Leave behind the mundane world of paper and apps – here, each team wields a horn, their ultimate ‘fastest finger first’ buzzer! With Jonathan Mayor at the helm, doling out points with flair and wit, the M&P Quiz transcends mere trivia and becomes a fully-fledged game show extravaganza! 

Gather your mates, round up your family, and prepare for an afternoon of uproarious laughter and thrilling music challenges. With hugely varied music rounds that range from delightfully easy to devilishly tricky, there’s something for everyone to revel in. Trust us, this isn’t just fun – it’s an unforgettable adventure into the heart of musical merriment. 

And, of course, it wouldn’t be a quiz without a prize: the winning team will receive a £50 bar tab, to be redeemed at any time at M&P’s! 

Tickets are £5 per person, purchased through Skiddle. You will be automatically allocated a stage-side table, so make sure you book all your party’s tickets under the same name.

If tickets for your group size are unavailable/unlisted, but there is availability for other group sizes, please call Matt & Phred’s on 0161 273 5495 and we may be able to re-allocate availability to suit your group.

Note that your team may be allocated a high table with bar stools. If you have a disability making this not suitable, please call Matt & Phred’s on 0161 273 5495.

This event is strictly for over-18’s due to licensing. Attendees who are under 18 will not be eligible for a refund.

Doors: 1pm, Quiz: 2-4pm (3 x 30-minute sections, plus breaks).

Date: saturday 17 may

Time: 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Price: £5

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Dan Burnett

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Matt and Phreds

Dan Burnett / vocals & piano 

Dan Burnett is a singer, songwriter, and freelance multi-instrumentalist with influences stemming from soul, acoustic, and blues. His songs will take you on emotional journeys about life, love, and heartbreak. 

Dan is also a library music composer for film and TV, having co-written and recorded music featured on ‘Stolen’ (Nicolas Cage), and ‘Supernatural’ (USA TV series), among many others. Since 2014, Dan has been an international endorser of Kawai Pianos. 

Expect to hear Dan’s favourites from his musical upbringing in soul, blues and funk, along with his absolutely mesmerising original material, which is a firm favourite at M&P’s during mjf week. 

Doors: 5:00 pm

Date: saturday 17 may

Time: 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm

Price: Free

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Yoshizawa

mjf @ First Street (HOME Stage)

Amelie Yoshizawa drums / Ernie Moore flute / Henry Skinner guitar / Callum Greenway keys / Ruben Maric synth bass 

Yoshizawa is an eerie prog band who create refreshing musical landscapes to connect and communicate with their audiences. Through their playing they bring new conversation to a wide range of music. Their performances deliver a whole truckload of energy, with driving drums and synth bass underpinning soaring flutes and guitars.  Bandleader Amelie Yoshizawa writes without words in order to express and create voices for the working class in art.  

With their debut EP having launched late last year and performances including The Royal Albert Hall (with orchestra) and ‘We Out Here’ behind them, their mjf debut is sure to raise the roof. 

Date: saturday 17 may

Time: 6:45 pm - 7:30 pm

Price: Free

Jascha Bingham Trio

mjf @ First Street (HOME Stage)

Jascha Bingham piano / Sean Blake double bass / Adam Scott drums

Winner of the Bucharest International Jazz Competition in 2024, and active on the jazz scene in the north of England, the Jascha Bingham Trio aims to reconceptualise and explore jazz standards and originals through a creative and emotional improvisational process. Within performances, the trio continuously focuses on exploring new improvisational pathways and emphasising emotional expression through nuance, sensitivity and musical communication.  

Alongside fellow young players from Leeds Conservatoire, highlighting the sheer talent flourishing in our next generation of players, Jascha takes inspiration from the Keith Jarrett’s classic trio format, as well as incorporating stylistic elements from Brad Mehldau and Bill Evans. 

Date: saturday 17 may

Time: 4:30 pm - 5:25 pm

Price: Free

Yazz Ahmed Quartet: A Paradise in the Hold

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RNCM Theatre

Yazz Ahmed trumpet & flugelhorn / Ralph Wyld vibraphone / Dave Manington bass / Josh Blackmore drums 

Through her music, British-Bahraini trumpet player Yazz Ahmed seeks to blur the lines between jazz and electronic sound design, bringing together the sounds of her mixed heritage in what has been described as ‘psychedelic Arabic jazz, intoxicating and compelling’.  

Her career is studded with high profile collaborations, which have seen her record and perform with Radiohead, Lee Scratch Perry, Transglobal Underground, Arturo O’Farrill, Natacha Atlas, and Obongjayar, including a world tour with These New Puritans.  

It was Yazz’s self-released debut album, Finding My Way Home (2011), that saw her first explorations of Arabic music and introduced her as an innovative performer and composer, leading Jazzwise magazine to mark her out as ‘one to watch’. However, it was her second album, La Saboteuse, (Naim Records, 2017), that made a global impact, clocking up multiple rave reviews and making many ‘best of 2017’ lists around the world, including Jazz Album of the Year in The Wire magazine, and achieving the number 18 spot in Bandcamp’s top 100 albums (all genres). 

Ahmed began A Paradise in the Hold’s creation back in 2014 on a research trip in Bahrain, during her Jazzlines Fellowship. She’d trawl local bookshops looking for poems and lyrical inspiration. Many came from wedding songs, which were “a lot about beauty and connecting beauty with nature,” she says. Deepening her connection to the tradition, her grandfather even sang her some songs from his own wedding day. At the same time, she became fascinated by the celebratory music of women’s drumming circles and how they contrasted with the work songs of the pearl divers. The latter dangerous pursuit has since ceased, though the divers’ sorrowful music – sung and clapped in a polyrhythmic style known as fijiri – lives on. 

“They were songs that encouraged the fishermen to stay in good spirits, or songs about missing your loved ones…it gave me an opportunity to connect on a deeper level with the music that I grew up with as a child but didn’t really embrace at the time.” – Yazz Ahmed on her newest album, A Paradise in the Hold.  

“Rich, powerful, colourful, exciting, and highly evocative. Ahmed’s most ambitious and most successful work to date has the feel of a ‘major statement’ about it.” –thejazzmann.com 

Photography Credit: Alex Bex 

 

Date: saturday 17 may

Time: 8:00 pm - 9:30 pm

Price: £20

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