Having been based in the South East of the UK since 1996, I relocated to Liverpool in July of 2018. Moving 200 miles north has certainly presented new challenges from cultural differences, negotiating around geographically, and, most of all, establishing new work contacts…in the form of various big bands, other reed players and educational institutions.

Happily, the first thing that I noticed is that the North West natives are much easier to meet, approach and “muck in” with, generally speaking. The problem with being the “newbie” in town though, is that while the locals welcome a new face that might have something to offer, they can be a bit circumspect at the same time for fear of the new guy absorbing some of their gigs and educational posts. The music business has perpetually been a “supply outweighing demand” state of affairs so this is perfectly understandable of course. One should tiptoe around a bit and not go in so fast that you come out the other side.

Okay, so now the good stuff. There are a multitude of venues throughout Liverpool that have jazz once or twice a week. All of which are free to attend. Amazing. Having lived in in London and New York City for 35 years I can assure you that this is not the case there. I don’t quite know how the venues can swing this, excepting the fact that most of them are well attended and presumably generate enough bar and food sales to fund the live music.
Parr St Studios, for me, is the top jazz venue as it often showcases top UK and international artists for free. Truly amazing. I have played there a few times and am awaiting a booking there in early 2019 with my own band. I have been playing regularly at Lark Lane venues, including Keith’s, The Lodge and Love and Rockets, all whom have welcomed me to join in with them with open arms.

So far, I have worked with guitarist, Trefor Owen, at the Railway Pub in Stockport, and my quartet of Les Chisnall on piano, Steve Berry on bass and Eryl Roberts on drums, played at a club in Wrexham as part of the North Wales Jazz Society which Trefor also organises. I look forward to a gig on 27 January, 2PM, at the Wigan Jazz Club with the Omega Jazz Orchestra led by Dave Holden. I’ll also be playing that same day at 9PM at the Railway Pub again, with my quartet.

So…”length to strength” so far!
Stay tuned…
Frank

I’d love to hear your thoughts, you can contact me here or post a comment below.

A list of my upcoming gigs is here.