Mike Durham's International Jazz Party

Village Hotel calendar_today 01 Nov 2024 place Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear Tickets £170 per person. Please accommodation separately.

The globe’s foremost gathering of specialist Classic Jazz musicians and fans; a three-day concert series featuring live music of a rarely heard quality and authenticity, performed by a truly international roster of world-class performers.

A unique event like none other in the Jazz festival calendar, the Party was first founded in 1990 by Mike Durham in Whitley Bay, near Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, UK, and has grown bigger and better with each successive year.

Held over a long weekend from midday on Friday until late on Sunday evening, the Party takes the form of a series of special themed concerts chosen and curated by the musicians themselves (see Concert Themes for forthcoming programme) and drawn from the canon of the first 40 years of jazz.

At the end of each day, musicians and audience relax and enjoy themselves at the legendary after-hours jam sessions in the hotel’s bar, often going on into the wee small hours.

The concerts take place in 4-star luxury, with audience members being assigned to cabaret seating of 8 to a table. A twice-daily rotation system is in place to ensure that everybody gets a good view.

The party will run from November 1-3 2024. As ever, we will begin with a welcome concert on the evening of Thursday October 31. 

Music starts each day at midday, with a break for dinner from 5pm-7:30pm, continuing until 11pm before we all head to the hotel’s bar for the late-night jam sessions until 1:30am!

Our 2024 lineup is as follows:

Trumpet
Andy Schumm (USA), Malo Mazurié (France), Mike Davis (USA), Enrico Tomasso (UK), Torstein Kubban (Norway), Jon-Erik Kellso (USA)

Reeds
Lars Frank (Norway), Lorenzo Baldasso (Italy), Michael McQuaid (UK), Natalie Scharf (USA – new for 2024) David Horniblow (UK), Claus Jacobi (Germany), Richard Exall (UK)

Trombone
Alistair Allan (UK), Graham Hughes (UK), Charlie Halloran (USA – new for 2024)

Piano
Andrew Oliver (USA), David Boeddinghaus (USA), Morten Gunnar Larsen (Norway), Ulf Johansson Werre (Sweden – new for 2024!)

Guitar & Banjo
Thomas “Spats” Langham (UK), Martin Wheatley (UK), Félix Hunot (France), Curtis Volp (UK – new for 2024)

Brass bass & string bass
Phil Rutherford (UK), Henry Lemaire (France), Harry Evans (UK)

Drums & Percussion
Nicholas D. Ball (UK), Josh Duffee (USA), Richard Pite (UK)

Violin
Emma Fisk (UK)

Vocals
Thomas “Spats” Langham (UK), Nicolle Rochelle (France)

 Some of the concert themes and musicians we’re celebrating in 2024

A Centenary Celebration: Bix and The Wolverines

After the Armistice: Jass in London 1919-23

Pleasure Mad – Charlie Creath and Dewey Jackson

Futuristic Rhythms – Irving Mills’ Hotsy Totsy Gang

The Red Heads and Ukulele Ike

A Rhythmic Dream: Fletcher Henderson

Modernism in Mayfair: The Piccadilly Revels Band

Mamie Smith’s Jazz Hounds

Clarence Williams’ Blue Five

Creole Trombone: The Music of Kid Ory

Roger Wolfe Kahn’s Orchestra

Boyd Senter

Vic Meyers

Lil Armstrong

Early Bennie Moten

Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake

The Two Bright Boys: Cecil Scott and Lloyd Scott

Thomas Morris

Bobby Hackett & the Singers

Gene Austin

Benny Goodman’s Rhythm Makers Orchestra

A Battle of the Bands: Duke Ellington vs Luis Russell

There is also a jam session every evening after the concert programme finishes.

All bookings are 100% refundable in case of cancellation due to serious illness, bereavement or other unavoidable cause, at the discretion of the organisers.

Click the “Buy Now” button to book securely with credit or debit card using Paypal, or send a cheque for £170 per person, payable to “Classic Jazz Party”, to:

60 Highbury, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 3LN

We also now have a card reader and can send links for card payments online if you don’t have a PayPal account.

When booking, please let us know if you have any seating requests – like people you want to sit next to, and we will endeavour to accommodate them.

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