Barclaycard Mercury Award nominees Go Go Penguin, jazz rock super-trio Troyka, Velocity Trio and the James Taylor Quartet have been named as headliners at this year’s Liverpool International Jazz Festival, which opens in two weeks.

The third Liverpool International Jazz Festival (LIJF) will take place from Thursday 26th February to Sunday 1st March 2015 with a packed programme of both free and ticketed concerts, and a programme of Sunday workshops (details of which are to be announced).

LIJF was established in 2013 by Liverpool Hope University, based at the University’s Capstone Theatre at its Creative Campus (17 Shaw Street, Liverpool L6 1HP).

Previous years have seen performances from Courtney Pine, Denys Baptiste, Roller Trio, Get the Blessing, Impossible Gentlemen, Kit Downes, Led Bib and Jason Rebello, alongside a plethora of amazing local artists.

The musical emphasis of LIJF is on cutting edge jazz, creativity and innovation in music-making but also on widening accessibility of jazz related music to general music audiences. The forthcoming 2015 Festival is no exception to this ethos.

For LIJF 2015 the Capstone Theatre will be working in collaboration with The Kazimier, a popular and forward thinking venue in Liverpool City Centre (4-5 Wolstenholme Square, Liverpool L1 4JJ) for the two performances which open and close the Festival.

The Kazimier will stage the opening concert on Thursday 26th February at 8pm, featuring Barclaycard Mercury Award nominees Go Go Penguin (£11.50 – for further details see http://www.thekazimier.co.uk/). The Manchester-based trio’s music draws on a heady brew of influences from Aphex Twin to Shostakovich, Massive Attack to Manchester’s grey rain-streaked urban streets.

On Friday evening (27th February) at 7.30pm jazz rock super-trio Troyka will perform at The Capstone Theatre (£11.50 www.thecapstonetheatre.com/jazzfestival/). Troyka are three young London based musicians, Kit Downes (Hammond Organ), Chris Montague (guitars) and Joshua Blackmore (drums). Their intense live shows have seen them hotly tipped to follow in the footsteps of Polar Bear and Portico Quartet. They were nominated in the Jazz FM Awards 2012 in two categories, cutting edge jazz innovation and best UK Jazz Act, and this concert is part of a national tour to promote their new CD release.

On the afternoon of Saturday 28th February, the Capstone Theatre and the foyer of The Capstone building will host a feast of free musical performances. At 1pm, Milapfest will present a free concert in the Capstone Theatre by Scottish guitarist Simon Thacker’s group Svara Kanti, performing music that combines elements Indian classical music with Jazz.

Throughout Saturday afternoon (28th February, 3pm-7pm) there will be a series of free foyer sets by North West based Jazz musicians who are all part of Jazz North’s Northern Line scheme. These include Jazz Worriers, Nicola Farnon Trio, John Ellis Trio and Slowlight Quartet.

Saturday evening’s concert (28th February) at 7.30pm in the Capstone Theatre is by trombonist Dennis Rollins’Velocity Trio (£11.50 http://www.thecapstonetheatre.com/jazzfestival/ ). This concert is sponsored by LiverpoolJazz, an organisation whose remit is to raise the profile of live Jazz on Merseyside.

Dennis Rollins is a former winner of the 2006 BBC Jazz ‘Best Band’ Award in 2006, the Parliamentary Jazz ‘Education’ Award; Ronnie Scott’s ‘Best Trombone’ Award and others. His group, Velocity Trio (a trombone, Hammond organ and drums trio) is a brilliant marriage of refined contemporary jazz arrangements with simmering grooves that appeals to multiple generations of jazz, funk and world music fans.

On Sunday 1st March three workshops will take place at Liverpool Hope’s Creative Campus: Sense of Sound Jazz Singing Workshop (10am-12.30pm, £10, £7 concessions); Guitar workshop and demonstration with Mike Walker and Stuart McCallum (11am-12.30pm, £5, £3.50 concessions); Saxophone Workshop with Brandon Allen (11am-12.30pm, free).

At 1pm on Sunday 1st March there will also be a free triple bill showcase concert in The Capstone Theatre, which includes some of the best emerging and local bands from Liverpool and Manchester including Jam Experiment(winners of the Jazz North Introduces scheme 2014) and two Liverpool groups White Canvas and Blind Monk Trio. This concert is being co-sponsored by LiverpoolJazz and Jazz North.

On Sunday evening, the final concert of the Festival by the James Taylor Quartet (8pm) will take place at The Kazimier and is a co-promoted event by the Capstone Theatre and The Kazimier (£16.50 plus booking fee – http://www.thekazimier.co.uk/). For a quarter of a century, the James Taylor Quartet has set the standard for the coolest sounds in funky acid jazz. On dozens of mighty albums and at their legendary gigs at home and around the world, they’ve quietly become a byword for distinguished British creativity.

Details of all performances, free and ticketed, and the Sunday workshop programme are available at http://www.thecapstonetheatre.com/jazzfestival/
Listing Information

Gogo Penguin
Thursday 26th February, 8m
£11.50 (+booking fee)

Troyka
Friday 27th February, 7.30pm
£11.50

Marley Chingus Jazz Collective
Friday 27th February, 10pm
Free

Milapfest presents Svara Kanti
Saturday 28th February, 1pm
Admission Free (book in advance for priority entry www.milapfest.com)

Foyers Concerts
Saturday 28th February. 3-7pm
Free

LiverpoolJazz presents Dennis Rollins Velocity Trio
Saturday 28th February, 7.30pm
£11.50

Jazz North and LiverpoolJazz present North West Jazz Showcase
Sunday 1st March, 1pm
Free Admission

The Capstone Theatre and The Kazimier present James Taylor Quartet
Sunday 1st March, 8pm
£16.50 (+booking fee)

How to Book
In person: TicketQuarter, Queen Square, Liverpool, L1 1RG.
Ticket Quarter Box Office: 0844 8000 410*or online at www.thecapstonetheatre.com*
*Subject to booking fee.

The Capstone Theatre
Shaw Street,
Liverpool
L6 1HP