Black Mountain Jazz launched its youth big band project at the start of 2023. Its future looks healthy for at least another three years with an Abergavenny Town Council Grant that provides much welcomed funding support. Bringing together a handful of talented and experienced tutors, BMJazz Katz is a workshop project which gives people aged 10 to 19 years (ish) the opportunity to learn to play together in a jazz ensemble. Open to those who play any instrument, including voice, to a 'reasonable level' for their age. The sessions incorporate a mixture of individual and group playing, focusing on rhythm, feel, [...]

Jazz Suite Inspired by Dylan Thomas's "Under Milk Wood" is an album released in 1965 by the English pianist Stan Tracey and his quartet. The music was written in response to Dylan Thomas's 1953 BBC radio play - 'Under Milk Wood'. It has often been cited as one of the best jazz recordings made in the United Kingdom. Dylan Thomas died in November 1953 and there was a memorial performance of Under Milk Wood in New York later that year. The first radio broadcast of this epic work was on 25th January 1954 - almost exactly 70 years ago. To celebrate [...]