Jazz Migration

Hello everyone,

I hope you are all well. I am just getting in touch now because I wanted to give you some good news from London. We have just received confirmation of an EC Culture 2000 for our Jazz Migration project.
The project is being developed in partnership with Xavier from Banlieues Bleues and also with Andrea Gancs from A38 (The Ship) in Budapest. 

Jazz Migration culminates in a series of performances and discussions in London, Seine-Saint-Denis and Budapest from 30th March to approx 6th April 2006. 

Please let me know if you have any questions or ideas.

All the best,
Diana

SERIOUS - International Music Producers
Chapel House
18 Hatton Place
London EC1N 8RU
t: +44 (0) 20 7405 9900
f: +44 (0) 20 7405 9911
www.serious.org.uk

JAZZ MIGRATION

An exploration of how the flow of people has shaped the development of jazz in Europe.
An examination of how this experience can be more widely shared
to promote cross-cultural understanding

Context
This project celebrates the current dynamism of jazz in Europe and looks at how much migration patterns have contributed to this energy. As a vernacular musical language, jazz is perfectly placed to operate beyond national or cultural boundaries. Jazz artists have consistently worked in this way to collaborate with artists from different backgrounds as well as using their music to connect with the communities around them.

The subject matter is particularly relevant within the current political context given the anti-immigration stance of so many political parties. A central motivation for all those involved (cultural operators and artists) is to counter the current hostility towards immigrants and asylum seekers, which is conveyed by so many politicians and in so much of the media. Against this backdrop the development of jazz provides an opportunity to project a more positive reflection on migration issues. Negative attitudes can be challenged by the positive example of how music has created bridges between cultures and the interaction between artists can provide lessons for the rest of society.

This is a collaboration between cultural operators in three countries, which will draw in associate partners from many more, which will culminate in a series of three-day festivals in March / April 2006 in London, Seine-Saint-Denis in the north of Paris and Hungary. These will explore the significance of migration trends in the spread and development of jazz in Europe through a series of illuminating performances by artists from throughout the continent. In London and Seine-Saint-Denis there will also be a discussion forum which will draw together a broad constituency of different people with an interest in migration-related issued.

Key Partners
The project is being led by London-based international event producers Serious in partnership with Banlieues Bleues in France and Andrea Gancs of A38 in Hungary.

Banlieues Bleues is an annual jazz festival, so named because it is held in the blue-collar workers’ suburbs in Seine-Seine-Denis to the north of Paris over five weeks every March / April. Banlieues Bleues is committed to maximising the reach of the festival through a series of actions musicales, which engage the community in meaningful ways. Banlieues Bleues works in a variety of venues across the district, but by 2006 will have its own permanent venues, complete with rehearsal spaces, in Panthin.

Andrea Gancs works with A38, an exciting new performance space in Budapest, which has been created out of a converted Ukrainian cargo ship.  In the two years since it opened A38 has already become known for its consistently high quality programme of contemporary music from jazz and world music through to rock and indie bands.

In London we have 30th March held at the Barbican, which we will use if it is appropriate to the scale of the artistic programme. For other events we would like to work in partnership with the The Spitz, which is particularly well placed at the heart of one of London’s most historic migration centres.

Aims and objectives
The aims of the project are as follows:
• To draw the attention of artists, cultural operators, audiences and the media alike to the fluid nature of culture and the influence of migration patterns on the evolution of jazz in particular, but on culture in general. In particular we hope to reinforce the positive impact that migration has had on cultural developments in Europe.
• To remind those we engage with that migration is neither a new phenomenon, nor can it in any way be portrayed as a crisis.
• To demonstrate the relevance of jazz in a broader socio-political context Importantly we intend to convey this message to a broad constituency consisting of interested members of the public, artists, media and policy makers.
• To provide opportunities for artists and cultural operators from across Europe to exchange ideas and to work together.
• To use music itself as a vehicle to promote cross-cultural understanding.

Timing
• London series: Thurs 30th March to Saturday 1st April 2006
Discussion forum would take place on Friday 31st March, travelling to France on Saturday 1st April.
Barbican Centre is pencilled for Thurs 30th March.

• Seine-Saint-Denis series: Saturday 1st April to Monday 3rd April 2006
Forum participants would arrive in Seine-Saint-Denis on Saturday 1st April for a focused discussion on Sunday 2nd April.

• Budapest series: Tuesday 4th April to Thursday 6th April 2006 tbc.

Shape of the Project
Performances will range from those which reflect Europe’s different experiences of migration to those which underline our shared heritage and the increasingly globalized nature of migration.

At the centre of each three-day series will be three collaborations, which will be created especially for the project and which will be performed in each location.

Around these three collaborations, we will programme a series of local support acts and DJ sets by artists from some of Europe’s newer refugee communities, underlining the need for inter-cultural dialogue between European and non-European cultures.

All the partners involved have a commitment to stimulating debate and thought at all levels. Therefore, in each location there will be a significant education project, where professional artists will work with young people to explore attitudes towards migration. The exact shape of education work will vary according to local conditions and the different experiences of the partners involved. The different approaches will be compared and analysed as part of the discussion forum.

In London we are hoping to extend a current partnership with the Tower of London and to work with them on an education project, which works with young people living in the vicinity of the Tower to look at migration within the contact of one of the UK’s most historic sites. We are particularly interested in how music can be used to inspire the appropriation of cultural landmarks by young people with diverse cultural backgrounds.

Contact details
For more information on this project and to discuss ideas further please contact:
Diana Spiegelberg at Serious on 020 7405 9900 or diana@serious.org.uk