We are happy that the Vortex has been awarded a Creative Europe grant of just under €200,000 as part of a project called Jazz Connective. The other partners are in Dublin, Birmingham, Lyon (from where the project is being co-ordinated), Helsinki, Lodz, Ljubljana. We have also slipped in before Brexit?
It will involve musicians touring between the countries, conferences relating to issues such as media and journalism, as well a web site promoting the music across Europe. It is likely that the London part of the project will be in early 2020 (along with Birmingham). The ‘apex’ of the project will occur on 20-22 May in Ljubljana, where there will be the largest of the conferences and showcases of artists. The next will be in Lodz in September. The Vortex’s own event will be at the beginning of March 2020.
It’s very exciting to be involved with this, as it confirms the status of the club internationally as it is the only project of its type involved with jazz.
Our own focus will be more on inclusivity, taking into account the multicultural nature of the scene in London and its other diversities; and new sorts of communication required, in a world where funding is getting tighter and there are new forms of dissemination, such as blogging, podcasting and streaming, while the traditional media are getting less helpful. (This is shown by the difficulty in getting awareness of David Mossman’s contribution to jazz recognised by BBC and other mainstream media.
It was formally launched at Jazzahead in Bremen on 26 April. Here is a report from Londonjazznews. https://www.londonjazznews.com/2019/04/news-new-venture-jazz-connective.html