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Venue: mjf @ First Street (ask Garden Stage)

Cup Noods

mjf @ First Street (ask Garden Stage)

Personnel and instrument(s) – Leslie Wink a.k.a Cup Noods Piano & DJ  

Cup Noods is a space-inspired poet, DJ and jazz pianist. Part of the mjf Soundcheck development programme in 2024, focusing on bringing improvisation to unique performances, they ad lib on the keys whilst DJing, taking listeners on an ethereal crossing through the cosmos in a never-ending jam – with groovy house at its core. Cup Noods proves that even a bog-standard four-on-the-floor beat can facilitate jazz’s freedom of expression.

Cup Noods is also a music facilitator and a co-founder of “Manchester DJs”, working closely with Reform Radio to develop local artists’ careers.

Date: saturday 17 may

Time: 6:45 pm - 7:40 pm

Price: Free

Trees.R.Good

mjf @ First Street (ask Garden Stage)

Personnel and instrument(s) – Xaris Alexandratos tenor saxophone & bass / Nathan Stoker trumpet / Roz Fearnehough trombone / Georgia Clark keys / Izzy MacMahon drums / Emilio Yañez Ruíz percussion & bird whistles 

Trees.R.Good is on a mission: to bring jazz-infused electronica to the service of nature.  

Celebrating the vinyl release of their first EP ‘Trees Are Good’, the 6-piece live band turn into whistleblowers with an immersive musical exploration of trees. Weaving percussion, horns, bass and synths, they reveal the subtle cues nature offers us to think differently about the way we live, use, exploit and often pollute our surroundings.  

From the depth of the forest floor to the tip of trees’ canopy, Trees.R.Good reminds us not to take nature’s fragile balance for granted but to rekindle listeners to our very own essence: nature itself.  

Join them at manchester jazz festival’s 30th Anniversary for an afternoon to pause, reflect and wonder – and be the first to get your hands on a limited- edition “Jade Green 12” Vinyl of Trees.R.Good’s first-ever EP. 

Date: saturday 17 may

Time: 4:30 pm - 5:25 pm

Price: Free

Deep Cabaret Un

mjf @ First Street (ask Garden Stage)

Personnel and instrument(s) – Steve Lewis voice & guitar  

Deep Cabaret has been Lewis’ shapeshifting brand since mjf commissioned ‘Top Ten Sex Tips’ from him in 2005. After curating the brilliant band that made ‘Matchless’ (2019) and ‘beWILDer, World As Kin: Songs of Attention and Reciprocity’ (2021), 2025 finds Lewis exploring his solo work through his show ‘How Terribly Strange.’

A deep dive into listening to, improvising alongside, and playing with nature has guided a shift from the ego- to the eco-centric in his music-making. ‘How Terribly Strange’ shares this very personal, animistic response to the environmental crisis in a set of ‘enchantments’ that invite you to sink into the fecund mystery of the land.

An authentic voice and guitar, played as only a drummer could, tell stories, straightforward and allusive, of Lewis’ quasi-shamanic encounters. Listeners find themselves moving between audience, witness and congregation. This is music as an offering that aims to serve the ecosystem of nature, community and creativity, by bringing us all back to loving the living world.

“Moving, uplifting, connecting.”  

“Intimate, involving and immersive.” – comments from recent audiences 

Sponsor credit/photographer credit in italics under main copy (where applicable) 

Date: sunday 18 may

Time: 3:15 pm - 4:00 pm

Price: Free

Ben Gaunt

mjf @ First Street (ask Garden Stage)

Personnel and instrument(s) – Ben Gaunt melodica, glockenspiel, electronics  

In his own words, Ben Gaunt is a professor: a composer with classical training and an Ivor Novello nomination – and an experimental musician with OCD. Whilst participating in mjf’s hothouse programme in 2024, Gaunt travelled to France to study Bouffon (a type of clowning) at École Philippe Gaulier; his learnings from this experience have infused his musical identity ever since. In short, if you want to hear what the music of a classical jazz clown professor sounds like, this gig might just be for you.  

Sometimes beautiful, sometimes meditative, and sometimes tranquil. Yet at the same time aggressive, crazy, and unusual. Armed with a melodica (or two), a glockenspiel, a laptop, and any other instruments he can lay his hands on, he will bring you a set full of contrast, complexity, and carefully crafted compositions. 

Date: sunday 18 may

Time: 4:45 pm - 5:30 pm

Price: Free

Ella Ronen

mjf @ First Street (ask Garden Stage)

Ella Ronen vocals, guitar, ukelele

The first of three highly individualistic solo voices gracing the Garden Stage this afternoon, Ella Ronen is a Zürich-based musician, poet, and community facilitator. Her music is a mix of poetry and storytelling, creating her own genre of radical vulnerability, one she has fondly named ‘Heartcore’. Her live performances are best described as ceremonies.  

Ella conveys heartbreakingly concise insights about the human experience with honest, poetic, and magical-realist lyrics. Enveloping and driving all of this, is her deep, powerful, unforgettable voice. Her latest record, ‘The Girl With No Skin’, produced by Sam Cohen (Kevin Morby) was recently released via BB*Island (Hamburg) and Irascible (Zürich). The record was selected as album of the week on WDR 3 Resonanzen (Germany), the Ferarock Network (France), and was featured on BBC (UK).. THi sis her debut performance  

“‘The Girl With No Skin’ is a hidden gem of an album with not a word ornate wasted. It is rich with engaging and imaginative storytelling, making for a great introduction to a major talent.”- Andrew Neal, Silent Radio UK 

Ella is an alumnus from the mjf hothouse artist development programme, joining the programme as part of our European exchange initiative Constellations. With many high-profile European appearances to her name, mjf is delighted to welcome Ella to mjf for her debut UK public appearance. 

Please note the Great Manchester Run is taking place on Sunday 18th May between the hours of 9 – 12 pm. Please allow for extra travel time during this period. 

Date: sunday 18 may

Time: 1:45 pm - 2:30 pm

Price: Free

Thanda & Friends

mjf @ First Street (ask Garden Stage)

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

Jazz is Everywhere: mjf Youth Advisory Board takeover

mjf @ First Street (ask Garden Stage)

Jazz is Everywhere is an event curated and presented from start to finish by our team of young people from mjf’s Youth Advisory Board (YAB). 

Our YAB are a committed and enthusiastic group of 18–25 year-olds who have been recruited from open application. The group helps advise mjf and its programme on what they feel are the important aspects of running a live music event and organisation. At the same time, they learn about the roles and responsibilities that might be available to young professionals wishing to enter the music sector.  

This year, we set them a task: to create a festival event for the Garden Stage programme at mjf2025 that reflects what they want to see at mjf. 

From curating programme ideas, organising their roles, working with budgets, contracts, planning, production and marketing, this event is the culmination of those efforts. Come down to check out what they’ve produced: it could be a jam, a gig, a presentation, participatory activities… 

Any young people interested in joining the YAB at the next recruitment round should sign up on our platforms or use the sign up form. 

Date: friday 16 may

Time: 6:00 pm - 6:40 pm

Time: 7:25 pm - 8:00 pm

Price: Free