New bistro and bar now open

Downstairs from The Vortex, the bar offers a menu of delicious, simple, modern dishes and a range of wines and beers.

See the The Ochre Works page.

Tuesday 15 July at The Ochre Works

'Jazz on 3 will be recording a special solo set from BBC Jazz Awards nominee vibes player Corey Mwamba at 7.45pm downstairs at The Ochre Works (underneath the Vortex).

Come down early and grab a bite to eat, and enjoy music from one of UK's brightest young stars.

Vinicius Cantuaria

Monday 21, Tuesday 22 & Wednesday 23 July

The legendary Brazilian multi-instrumentalist is now confirmed to play three nights at the Vortex in July. A unique chance to see one of the world's greatest singer-songwriters in the intimate setting of the Vortex Jazz Club.

With support from Olivia Chaney (Mon 21), Nick Mulvey (Tue) and Ayanna Witter-Johnson (Wed)

For full details and to book online see the July programme page.

Vortex gig reviews by Chris Parker

Bobby Wellins Quartet
Bobby Wellins/Kate Williams Duo

Saturday 28 June

Few tenor players have as distinctive a sound as that of Bobby Wellins: from just a few notes, his slightly foggy warble, laced with definitively human characteristics (vulnerability and dry wit chief among them) is instantly identifiable, and his opening set, a duo with pianist Kate Williams (perceptively suggested by that great jazz listener, Seb Scotney) showcased it to perfection. Read the full review

New CD reviews by Chris Parker

Geoff Simkins Trio  Conversation

In his wryly amusing liner notes to this album, alto player Geoff Simkins claims (justifiably, on the evidence provided by the resultant recording) to feel most at ease in small groups, regarding a sextet as ‘a dangerously large crowd’. His modus operandi here was to ‘select a dozen or so tunes that would be interesting and challenging’ and hope that the music would come out sounding as ‘spontaneous as possible’.

Inner Space Music  Five Animal Dances

Inner Space Music comprises leader/composer, Loz Speyer (trumpet, flugelhorn), Chris Biscoe (alto saxophone, clarinet), bassist Julie Walkington and drummer Seb Rochford, and on this ten-track album, recorded in November 2004, the band occupies musical territory that will be familiar to anyone who’s heard early-1960s Ornette Coleman or (closer to home) the cruelly underrated Buckley-Batchelor band.

Lee Gibson  Here's to Love

This is singer Lee Gibson's third Spotlite recording, and it features her supremely jazz-literate but attractively intimate voice on a carefully selected set of standards and jazz classics (plus Sting's 'Every Little Thing' ­ a surprise choice, but one that works well) on the theme of love.