Sunday 25 February 7.30pm Jazz on the Plaza Café Yukari, Kew, TW9 4HJ – Chris Hodgkins – Trumpet Terence Collie – Piano Esther Ng – Double Bass

The Brexit Select Committee has been a vital space for holding the government to account over the last few years ably led by Hilary Benn Now Jacob Rees Mogg wants to get rid of it. Here is Hilary Benn in action: Hilary Benn (@hilarybennmp) tweeted at 10:46 pm on Wed, Jan 13, 2021: Indeed. It…

I was bemused to read in the article “Time for Change” that Arts Council England gives 16% of its music funding to jazz. My last calculation in “Public Investment in Jazz 2012-2022” (see  https://www.chrishodgkins.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Public-investment-in-jazz-2012-to-2022.pdf) showed that of the total funding of music for Regularly Funded Organisations was £359 million of which jazz accounted for £6.9million or 1.9%. For…

The Knowledge. Jazz by John Fordham was published by Quadrille on the 2nd July and is priced at £10. The book is one of a series of information-led pocket guides with the purpose of introducing a range of subjects ranging from Red wine to Opera via Whiskey and Stargazing. See www.quadrille.co.uk Since 1978 John Fordham…

The leader article, “Ministers have come to the rescue. Artists must seize this chance” in the Guardian on the 2nd June (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jul/06/the-guardian-view-on-15bn-for-the-arts-the-shows-will-go-on) sounds reasonable till you analyse the Arts Council’s 10 year strategy “Lets Create”. “Let’s Create” reads as if written by people remote from the practical issues  which the arts face every day and…

Arts Council England has been conducting a “conversation” which is arts speak for consultation. The word that should have been used is debate. The consultation has been running for 12 weeks and concludes on the 12th April 2018. The Arts Council asked a number of questions under the following subject headings: Looking to the future…

London: University of Westminster’s music business think tank and information hub, MusicTank, is delighted to announce that it is to receive the assets of JazzUK as part of that charity’s formal closure. With the funding landscape severely challenging JazzUK’s viability, MusicTank has been appointed the sole beneficiary of this organisation’s 30-year legacy of supporting UK…