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MUSIC

FRIDAYLIVE

A globalgathering

Your essential guide to whats on, where to go and what to s

FUNK FESFun Lovin head for MoFULL STORY:

BIRMINGHAM INTERNATIONALJAZZ AND BLUES FESTIVAL

SEE PAGE 2

MUSIC

THEATRE

CAITLIN MO

The buildinbestselling FULL STORY:

ARMATRADJoan embarlast major tFULL STORY:

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inside

BRUM BEAT:Localbands time to shine

FIRED UP:Dragonanimation sequel

NIGHT LIFE:Who's been snapped?

ANGELS CAKES:Cafe reviewed

MUSIC 15

FILMS 16-17

FOOD 22-23

CLUBS 24

YOUR ESSENTIAL PULLOUT AND KEEP GUIDE TOWHAT'S ON THIS WEEK:PAGES 11, 12, 13 & 14

FRIDAY LIVE

Electric Swing Circus are among th e many acts at this years festiva

MUSIC mogul JimSimpson is bright-eyed with enthusi-asm as he preparesto welcome interna-

tional musicians to his jazz and blues

festival, which has steadily grown insize since he founded it 30 years ago.

With 185 mostly free gigs at 80venues, there just arent enoughhours in the day to catch everythingdetailed in a 64-page booklet whichproclaims there have been 5,498performances since 1985, with 2.4million attendees.

Tis years festival kicks off nextFriday and has an astonishing 40hours of music every 24 hours, withvenues ranging from public spaceslike Victoria Square, BournvilleVillage Green, Te Arcadian, TeWaters Edge Bandstand, Chung YingCantonese Restaurant and Martine-au Square to megaplexes like StarCity, and from eateries like CafeRouge in the Mailbox to the GardenHouse in Hagley Road, Blue Piano in

Harborne and Soloman Cutler inBroad Street.

Its even expanding into the BlackCountry this year with a SandwellFringe including 16 events.

Tat Jims small, hand-pickedteam manage to coordinate thediaries, needs and wishes of so manypeople from his old-fashionedEdgbaston office is impressive initself on top of managing his recordcompany Big Bears catalogue of 150albums and 60 singles.

Tis years main concerts includeTe Magnolia Sisters, Electric SwingCircus, Bratislava Hot Serenadersand ipitina.

But anyone who has ever seen thelegendary King Pleasure & TeBiscuit Boys, the revor Burton Band

or Paul Carrack might fancy returnappointments never mind thechance to watch Hollywood starSteven Seagals Blues Band.

Other acts you might be aware ofinclude the Arthur Brown Jazz Band,Te Remi Harris rio and Te DigbyFairweather Quartet.

Ten there are the ones you mightnever have heard of, includingAlligator Gumbo, Backyard MusicBoys, Bekahs Renegades, ChaseJazzmen and the Jake Leg Jug Band.

And even if you still cant spell thename of returning Lithuanian starGiedre Kiliciauskiene, anyone whosaw her last year will more thanlikely fancy second helpings.

For Jim, a former manager of BlackSabbath, the festival has simply

become a labour of love fuelled bythe insatiable appetites of themusicians who come to support him.

But why did he start it in the firstplace?

Id begun listening to LouisArmstrong when I was eight, so bythe time I was 18 Id been listening tohim for more than half my life, hesays.

And I was 12 years old before Irealised (trombonist / bandleader)Jack eagarden wasnt my uncle heused to fill our house and Dad usedto talk about these people like he

knew them.In the early 1980s I was getting

fed up with the fact that jazz didnthave the spirit of jazz any more so Idecided to put on a straight-aheadjazz concert in 1984 in the Old ArenaTeatre.

At an M&B Jam Session, there wasa 12-piece band featuring all of thefavourite British jazz musicians ledby Humphrey Lyttelton.

Teres nobody more Englishthan Humph and we recorded it. Itwas the Sunday imes jazz album ofthe year.

Benny Green, another hero, saidYou cant just do this and go away.And so in the first year we had AlCasey, who had played with FatsWaller when he was 15 years old in

Harlem in the 1920s. AmaTe city council gave

funding and we had 12 yesponsorship through HMsponsors included Anselland we moved from SeptJuly to help hotels to fill r

Jims father died in 199but not before hed helpemany events.

He thought I had madthing of myself, smiles Jiwho never blows his owncal trumpet. He was wrocourse.

Te Holiday Inn Crownagain host this years VIPFriday lunchtime, July 18

Other partners have nocourse as long particulathe credit crunch in 2008

Even esco pulled out he understood why.

For a company to invesomething as flippantly la jazz festival would haveflippant, he says.

But Jim has managed teven that catastrophe anto announce he has an usponsor for this year, thediscount supermarket ch

Teyve been terrific agiving away our programstores. I love it when peo

Birminghams jazz and blues festivalcelebrates its 30th anniversary nextweek. GRAHAM YOUNGreports

Thriving

festivals

takeover

of the city

Florence Joelle

2 BIRMINGHAM MAIL FRIDAY, J

THE BIG INTERVIEW

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BIRMINGHAM MAIL FRIDAY, JULY 11, 2014

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up about the music, and they do.Someone up there at Aldi is a

music fan isnt that nice becausethis is not hugely commercial forthem. Tey just seem to like themusic!

Tree countries are alsoinvesting in the festival, Luxem-bourg, the Czech Republic andLithuania, which has doubled itssupport this year.

Giedre came to open our festivallast year when we had 96,000visitors in total.

People come to town, park theircar and can walk round going fromgig to gig. Its very civilised.

Tis year kids are flocking to buytickets for Electric Swing Circus atthe Botanical Gardens.

Im not sure what they are to dowith jazz, but they are so much fun.

Weve been having dinner in Jimsfavourite Chinese restaurant, theShangri-La in Station Street.

Yards away is Te Crown pubwhich was closed on June 22, some46 years after hosting BlackSabbaths first gig, or, as Jim puts it:Te first time Ozzy ever faced acrowd.

Teres no bitterness as we laterwalk past its closed doors, justregret.

It should have become a rockand roll museum, he says, beforegoing home to do what he does best and thats to plot another jazz andblues festival instead.

Jazz is a universal languagedating back 100 years in the US.

Its the least racist thing Ive everencountered in my life.

Britain is the first country tochallenge them the Americans arenow producing less and less.

Te last word goes to Jims finalwords in this years programmenotes.

Birmingham is about newnames, youngsters who play realjazz and blues, developing anddrawing on an often surprisingvariety of influences, playing withan enthusiasm and clear under-standing of the music with show-stopping musical ability.

Tere are a lot of them around inthis years festival. Have a listen to aband that you have never heard ofand be prepared to be surprised.

And dont forget to buy thetrumpet player a drink.

Birmingham International Jazz &Blues Festival runs July 18-27. For

more details visit www.birmingham-jazzfestival.com or Facebook.com/birminghamjazzfestival. Tel: 0121 4547020. witter: @birmjazzfest

Becky Brine

HE Magnolia Sisters (USAGrammy-nominated wome

can play everything from southwsiana: Cajun, Creole, dancehall fand front porch ballads. Sat, July Botanical Gardens (15).

ELECRIC Swing Circus afusion of saucy 1920s swin

stomping electro beats which woGlastonbury in 2013. Fronted byfemale double-act. Sun, July 27 (Botanical Gardens (15).

BRAISLAVA Hot Serenadekia) an 18-piece orchestra

to the hot jazz and sweet and damusic which arrived in Europe of the 1920s from America. July 2 Te Electric Cinema (15).

IPIINA a unique, New style take on the blues than

Debbie Jones gospel-tinged vocJustin Randalls piano. July 27 (7pDiscovery errace, Library of Bir(8).

SEVEN Seagals Blues BanTeyre on from 8pm on Jul

and July 22 at the Robin 2, Bilsto27.50).

FESTIVALHIGHLIGH

The Jake Leg Jug Band

King PleasureAnd The Biscuit Boys

Birminghamis about newnames,youngsterswho playreal jazz andblues,developingand drawingon an oftensurprisingvariety ofinfluences

JIM SIMPSON