Birmingham Jazz opens its autumn season of intimate gigs north of the city on Friday with the Asaf Sirkis Trio at The Red Lion in Warstone Lane, Jewellery Quarter.
Sirkis, the Israeli drummer resident in London who was for a long time with Gilad Atzmon’s Orient House Ensemble, is now involved in a range of bands including playing with Tim Garland.
In his own Trio, with Greek guitarist Tassos Spiliotopoulos, he can most fully explore both the subtlety of his world percussion technique and the rock fusion power of his drums. The trio has a new album just out, called Shepherd’s Stories, and it’s the most effective yet in showing the scope and accessibility of the band’s music.
READ MORE: {}
Spiliotopoulos is a wide-ranging and adventurous guitarist, and the rapport that he has developed with Sirkis should be great to experience live.
The bassist on the album is Yaron Stavi, but for this gig it’s Kevin Glasgow.
It starts at 7.45pm and entrance is £12 (£10 for members – you can join on the night). For more information, go to and to reserve a seat email .
* Meanwhile, south of the city The Ort Cafe welcomes Tobias Delius, a tenor player who promises a lot more abrasive excitement than a Walk To The Paradise Garden.
Born here, Delius spent a while in Mexico before settling in Amsterdam. Now he is touring with double bassist Ollie Brice and, for this gig, Miles Levin on drums.
Most Read
Delius has a big, broad, classic tenor tone which harks back to Coleman Hawkins, but his approach to jazz is thoroughly modern and improvisatory. He is a key member of the Dutch Instant Composers’ Pool.
The Ort performance starts at 9pm, entry is £5 (£3 students) and there is more at and .
* Saturday lunchtime is a good time to take a break from the retail therapy and relax. The Notebenders, the community band established by the late Andy Hamilton, is there to help you do just that. They play their Sax In The City slot from 1.30pm in the Symphony Hall Cafe Bar, and entry is free. Expect a wide selection of new tunes and jazz favourites. More at .
* The Spotted Dog in Digbeth is offering not one but two bands on Tuesday plus a late-night jam session.
The evening starts with a duo of Sam Watts on piano and Mike Fletcher on saxophone, before graduating to a Bright Noise, courtesy of Ben Bryden and Steven Delannoye on tenors, Tim Thornton on bass and Martin Kruemmling on drums.
The jam session will be led by Sean Gibbs. Entry is free but donations are encouraged. Stick £5 or more in the glass when it circulates and everybody’s happy. The music starts at 9pm and ends when the last jammer has had enough. More at .
* Rounding the jazz week off is the Marco Marconi Trio for Stratford Jazz. Pianist Marco has Andrea De Biase on bass and Enzo Zirilli on drums, and the band is preparing to record its first album, so expect some jazz standards and some originals being fully honed in performance. Stratford Jazz meets at No 1 Shakespeare Street in Stratford-upon-Avon, the fun starts at 8pm, and entry is £8 (half price for students). More at .