Inspired Jazz

Mammal Hands & Ishmael Ensemble At Inspired Jazz

The internationally acclaimed Mammal Hands and talented Ishmael Ensemble are among an action-packed line-up of performances set to take place at Birmingham City University’s Inspired Jazz festival from 5pm to 10pm on 24 May 2023. This is a co-promotion with Birmingham Jazz Partners the Eastside Jazz Club in the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.

Performing at the University’s world-famous Royal Birmingham Conservatoire (RBC), Mammal Hands has carved out a refreshingly original sound from a disparate array of influences - drawing on their love of electronic music, contemporary classical, world, folk, and jazz.  They will perform at RBC less than two months after releasing their much-anticipated fifth studio album ‘Gift from the Trees’.

Meanwhile, Ishmael Ensemble has gone from being a humble bedroom recording project to an integral part of the thriving UK jazz scene, with the group’s ‘Visions of Light’ crowned Huey Morgan’s ‘Album of the Year’ on BBC 6 Music while they performed at The New York Winter Jazz Festival for Gilles Peterson.

Kicking off the festival feel will be specialist contemporary jazz DJ Tina Edwards, whose sets are as much an introduction to incredible lesser-heard music as much as they are a celebration of the current UK jazz explosion.

Festival goers can enjoy refreshments from RBC’s bar and explore the plethora of performances taking place across the RBC, including supporting performances in its Eastside Jazz Club by Birmingham artists ‘Friends’ (based on Birmingham Jazz favourites From Scratch with a slightly different line-up) and the University’s Afro Cuban Jazz Orchestra.

In RBC’s Recital Hall, music journalist, broadcaster and author Kevin Le Gendre will lead a panel of experts in discussion about all things jazz, while an exhibition will celebrate the University’s rich jazz heritage and research. The exhibition includes some of the images and quotes from musicians from our joint project with Brian Homer and Dr Pedro Cravinho "Capturing Jazz Lives."

To purchase tickets to Inspired Jazz, which cost £20, please visit www.bcu.ac.uk/inspiredjazz