Parrjazz is a not-for-profit organisation that supports live jazz music in the Liverpool City Region. Parrjazz presents a variety of jazz events throughout the year, including concerts, workshops, and masterclasses. We caught up with Parrjazz’s Artistic Director, Genevieve Lamb, to find out all about what they do and the exciting events they have coming up soon.
Liverpool Noise: Can you tell us a bit about Parrjazz, how did you start out and what were your aims when you were starting out?
Genevieve Lamb: Parrjazz started out as a weekly jazz night at The Metro Bar on Victoria Street (now closed). It was founded by myself as a sax and flute player, and legendary Liverpool bassist, Count John McCormick. We had a strong house band and would perform two sets with a special guest before opening for a jam set. Over the years this grew, and the stature of our guests grew organically. We moved to Parr Street Studios and then officially became Parrjazz, a not-for-profit organisation. From the word go it was our aim to provide a wide smorgasboard of musical styles from the word “jazz” for our audience, and also, to maintain a high level of diversity in our programming.
LN: How has Parrjazz evolved since its inception, and what notable milestones have you achieved along the way?
GL: Over the last 10 years our ticketed, spin-off events grew and it became a natural development to move away from free entry events towards ticketed concerts. Jazz Saturdays at Ma Boyles is now our only free entry event. We strive to help advance a broad spectrum of emerging artists into performing at ticketed events and connecting with new and diverse audiences.
Notable milestones have included promoting Snarky Puppy on their first UK tour, welcoming Mono Neon for his only UK show (in Birkenhead!) of his 2022 tour, three members of Snarky being guests on our standard free entry Tuesday night was a very special moment! Jackie Lomax and Victor Brox performing together for the first time since the 60’s, grammy award winning country singer Larry Gatlin performing at our jam session and many , many nights of mind blowingly awesome music!
LN: Can you highlight some key collaborations Parrjazz has been a part of over the years and what events have stood out for you?
GL: The Snarky Puppy shows were pivotal for us as an organisation, and myself as a promoter. We worked together with Soul Inspired Events for these as I was concerned about our limited resources at the time. As the band became more successful, each show also got bigger and I learnt an infinite amount about the business and event organisation.
Michael League was stunning to work with and to watch and learn from, and remains a friend and inspiration to this day, as well as a patron to Parrjazz. Also, key relationships were formed with the musicians in the band, many of whom have returned to Liverpool with their own musical projects. Snarky members have provided educational workshops whilst in Liverpool for schools, the public and LIPA which have been incredible inspiring.
Parrjazz has flourished working in collaboration with other venues and promoters and we now work regularly with Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, District, Future Yard, Invisible Wind Factory, Band on the Wall, The Tung Auditorium, Ma Boyles and Carnival Brewing Company. We also have worked with LIPA, Liverpool and Hope universities, Jazz North and schools in the area to provide educational workshops including the recently hugely successful Jazz Camp for Girls.
LN: What are some upcoming projects, events, or initiatives that the audience can look forward to from Parrjazz in the near future?
GL: Coming up on 30 August we have a super rare opportunity to learn from multi grammy award-winning drummer, and Parrjazz patron, Robert Sput Searlight at Toxteth TV! Sput is one of the most influential drummers and producers in modern music, he is the drummer with Toto, alongside his own band Ghost-Note. Sput won a Grammy Award at age 18 with his own group, God’s Property, who changed the face of Gospel music with their debut album.
Since then, he has proven to be unparalleled in versatility as a drummer, keyboardist, and producer working with artists such as Snoop Dogg, Snarky Puppy, Toto, Herbie Hancock, Marcus Miller, Erykah Badu, Celine Dion, Justin Timberlake, P Diddy, Timbaland, Myron Butler, and Kirk Franklin to name a few.
Tickets for this are £30 and available via Eventbrite. Demand is high and there are limited spaces left!
Coming up in September will also shortly be announcing a project spearheaded by Parrjazz director Jonathan Butters called Mutant Jazz. Mutant Jazz is what we are calling the contemporary jazz scene in Liverpool. Multi-genres, multi-generational, multi-communities morphing jazz music into new combinations. Our first official diverse and inclusive Mutant Jazz mini-festival is on 28 September, 8pm to 1am, in Metrocola, featuring Bop Kaballa, Sweet Beans, Bonk! and Ranga plus female hip-hop MCs and a jam session. It’s a collaboration between Parrjazz and You & I Presents. Tickets will be on sale very soon!
Other upcoming events to note are jazz fusion legends Get The Blessing at Invisible Wind Factory on 21 October and Snarky Puppy’s Michael League and Bill Laurance at The Tung Auditorium on 17 November details and tickets available via our website.
LN: Jazz enthusiasts and newcomers might be interested in attending your events. What advice or encouragement would you say to someone who’s thinking of attending their first Parrjazz event?
GL: Just go! Tip your toes in, and support live music! We are very approachable via socials and website if you have any questions about accessibility or anything else. The range of music we provide stylistically is very wide and I would suggest leaving behind any preconceptions of what ‘jazz’ is, just go and experience what is guaranteed to be amazing quality live music.
LN: How do you see Parrjazz’s role in shaping and enriching the cultural landscape of the local community?
GL: Our objective is always to bring together diverse, disconnected or hard-to-reach communities to express themselves through jazz. It is also paramount to grow an audience who appreciate this. For over a decade now Parrjazz has been instrumental in nurturing and developing the Liverpool jazz scene and we will continue to do so, whether that be through bringing International guests who may not otherwise play in Liverpool, through the city, or by providing educational workshops or a platform for local musicians, our passion and mission remains as strong as ever.
Currently we are seeking funding to support 2024’s Jazz Camp for Girls and as a not-for-profit organisation we welcome donations (via our website or email for info) to help us continue to be an important component of the Liverpool music scene.
Please also follow our socials on FB, Instagram and Twitter/X @PARRJAZZ as this will help us hugely!
Find out more about Parrjazz’s upcoming events and buy tickets via parrjazz.co.uk/events
