Manchester Jazz Festival: Your essential guide

Manchester Jazz Festival kicks off this Friday, with ten days of spellbinding jazz from around the world. Here at Band on the Wall, as always we’re proud to be part of the festival, hosting a string of performances from some of the most exciting and groundbreaking jazz artists working today. Here are our top picks – remember buy tickets in advance to guarantee entry.

Riot Jazz Brass Band

Fri 28th July, 8pm
Spiegeltent, Albert Sq

The 22nd Manchester Jazz Festival gets off to a belting, big-sounding start with Riot Jazz Brass Band. They bring the spirit of New Orleans into the 21st century via Manchester with their dancefloor crackers and funked-up faves. Don’t miss them and be amongst the first to hear an mjf gig in the 1920s Salon Perdu Spiegeltent! Buy tickets now.

BLOW TRIO + DJS JOE W (MIND ON FIRE) + LOWELL W (OUT OF QUIET/REFORM RADIO)

Fri 28th July, 10pm
Band on the Wall

Following on from the Riot Jazz show, make a night of it with more heavy brass sounds from Belgium’s BLOW trio, plus DJs Joe W (Mind on Fire) ands Lowell W (Out of Quiet/Reform Radio).

Young Belgian band BLOW Trio are one of hottest new exports from the continent, fusing jazz, punk and dance music in their superbly enigmatic live stage shows. Sometimes referred to by fans as ‘Drum n Sax’, this young band cut their teeth in underground clubs across Belgium and the Netherlands and have been known to perform flash street performances in some very unusual settings. Buy tickets now.

Craig Charles Funk & Soul Club ft. The Filthy Six

Sat 29th July, 9pm
Band on the Wall

We’re taking the flavoursome funk far into the night as the Craig Charles Funk & Soul Club returns for Manchester Jazz Festival special with acclaimed DJ, actor, presenter and funkster about town Craig Charles manning the decks, plus the return of the Filthy Six live.

The Filthy Six are one of the most exciting, authentic soul-jazz outfits in the UK today and have established themselves as one of the most electric live acts on the scene. Their soaring horns, blistering guitar and gut-wrenching Hammond are fuelled by one of the hardest grooving rhythm sections around, producing a hip-shakingly powerful mixture of jazz, funk and boogaloo totally in keeping with the finest traditions of the Blue Note sound. This night regularly sells out, so buy tickets in advance.

Collocutor

Sun 30th July, 7.30pm
Band on the Wall

Collocutor are the seven-piece brainchild of saxophonist Tamar Osborn. The project grew from her wish to simply write the music that wanted to be written, rather than focus on a particular audience or context. As such the compositions draw inspiration from the many genres encountered over the course of a varied career, ranging from jazz, afrobeat, Indian classical and Ethiopian roots to polyphonic choral music and minimalism – the link being primarily modal music with a transportive effect. Buy tickets.