Doors: 12.30pm Music: 12.30pm

Every year, Jazz Leeds organise the Jazz and Blues Sunday at the Chapel Allerton Arts Festival held in Regent Street, Chapel Allerton LS7 4PE. This year the date is Sunday 31 August, and the time between 12.30pm amd 6pm. It’s a pay as you feel event – there are lots of food and other stalls and a festival bar in the street. Chapel Allerton Arts Festival runs 28-31 August and is completely run by volunteers.

12.30pm: Leeds Youth Jazz Rock Orchestra

Leeds Youth Jazz Rock Orchestra (LYJRO) was first formed in 1991 by ArtForms Leeds to introduce young musicians from Leeds schools to the genre of jazz. The band covers an array of styles from jazz to rock, whilst encompassing further influences from soul and funk.

LYJRO gives young people the chance to perform in a professional setting whilst learning how to be confident musicians, in both their reading and improvisation abilities. For many instrumentalists, it acts as a springboard to higher education in music. For others, it complements other areas of study and forms a basis for a lifelong enjoyment of jazz music.

Conductors Matt Jackson and Ralph Tong

1.30pm Homecoming Brass Band

African influenced music played by a New Orleans influenced brass band with musicians from West Yorkshire. A band with varied backgrounds playing brass and percussion, bringing their own interpretations of world, funk, Latin American and original grooves to Chapel Allerton Festival.  

2.30pm: John Taylor’s Blues Spectrum

Philosophy, poetry, humour, grooves….but most of all….Blues! A superb band led by John Taylor sax, flute, harp and vocals, Pete Wade guitar, Ian Rose organ and Paul Smith drums

3.30pm: Dudley Nesbitt and Pan Jumby

4.30pm: Fergus Quill’s Imaginary Big Band

Leeds’s  biggest and best cult 26-piece music ensemble Ferg’s Imaginary Big Band, bring their cosmic jazz, punk & noise vibes back to the Chapel Allerton Festival after their memorable performance at CAAF in 2023

IBB play rowdy and always huge sounding arrangements of an incredibly diverse selection of music, originally mainly other people’s compositions by legends such as Duke Ellington, Sun Ra and Count Basie. However, since the release of their self-titled debut album in 2022, they now mainly perform original music composed by Fergus Quill and other members of the group.

They’ve played EFG London Jazz Festival, Manchester Jazz Festival, The Vortex Jazz Club London, plus gigs Birmingham, Nottingham and Lancaster (recording their second album “Live At Lancaster Jazz Festival”, at the latter). FIBB’s music has been played on BBC 6 Music, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 3 and Jazz FM.

If you’re lucky to catch them at one of their rare live appearances, it’s less like a standard gig and more like a huge sound and vision experience. A place where fantastic musicianship and soloing meet theatrical drama and punk attitude, with a huge dose of humour binding it all together. Not to be missed.

The Chapel Allerton Jazz and Blues Sunday is curated by Steve Crocker of JazzLeeds

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