COVID-19 Update
In the light of the latest announcement by the Prime Minister on 16 March about Coronavirus, we have decided that the club is CLOSED until further notice – hopefully not […]
REVIEW: The Windrush Suite – Renell Shaw by AJ Dehany
Windrush Day marks the historic voyage of 492 West Indians on the HMT Empire Windrush arriving at the Port of Tilbury in Essex on 22 June 1948. It honours […]
Keith Tippett 1947-2020
Oliver Weindling writes: One of the great privileges of involvement at the Vortex is that one gets to know some of the great musicians. And Keith was no exception. Gigs […]
Donated: Two Poems by Penny Rimbaud
Little Notes on Crisis Karma Where darkness falls, are we to turn off the inner light and shuffle into sleep? Life cares only for itself, resolute and whole. Get out […]
Don Weller 1940-2020
Don Weller was one of a cohort of British saxophonists who were mainstays of the Vortex in its early days in the 1990s. Don, Alan Skidmore, Bobby Wellins as well […]
John Cumming 1948-2020
It is very sad to hear of the death of John Cumming. I first came across him during my earliest days on this scene, in the early 90s, having heard […]
The Windrush Suite
The Windrush Suite 22 June 2020 8PM Watch on Youtube or on our Facebook page Tip Jar In time to mark the occasion of National Windrush Day we present a new body […]
Jazz Connective in London – some thoughts
The Jazz Connective conference in London on 11-12 March followed on from the one in Birmingham. We tried to focus and develop some of the issues that had been raised […]
Spotify Playlist – Music inspired by the Vortex
Check out the Vortex Jazz Club’s New Spotify Playlist here! We are currently living in unprecedented times, and in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, The Vortex Jazz Club had […]
Resonances 3 – improvising with our eyes, ears and minds
The creation of jazz/improvised music and art is similar. Both start with blank canvases , one aural and the other visual. Which they start to populate with sounds or images. […]
Vortex Merchandise
All proceeds go towards keeping this fantastic club going. T-shirts Artwork by Steve Byram 3 colours: White, Grey and Teal (£18) Available sizes: small, medium, large, x-large, xx-large Can […]
Names to watch for 2020
Jazzwise recently asked for names to watch out for for 2020. I picked Theo May, Petra Haller and Brian Marsella. But I have also checked with our various fans, volunteers […]
Brexit and Jazz Connective
As Brexit looms closer, it is a good moment to assess how the relationship between musicians across Europe, as shown from the UK perspective, have grown and become intertwined over […]
What is the long-term value of a jazz label?
How does one assess the long-term prospects for a jazz label? Running a label myself (indeed I almost wrote “being”!), and also being actively involved in a live music venue […]
Brexit and how we practically need to act
It’s a sh@t subject. But I have been to some meetings about it with Department of Culture. The outlook, especially in the case of a no deal, is certainly horrible […]
Tolerance – an important element of jazz
Jazz has always been a music form which has led in terms of encouraging tolerance and respect. In line with this, we have no willingness to consort with those who […]
Aurelie Freoua art at Inntöne
Aurelie Freoua has become more and more engrossed in the inspiration of improvisation of musicians into her art, which, as we have seen at a number of gigs, is itself […]
Jazz Connective – First meeting in Ljubljana (May 2019)
REPORT by AJ Dehany: Jazz Connective – Slovenia. The first meeting of our Jazz Connective project The Slovenian national anthem Zdravljica is unusual—instead of glorifying one country it appeals to […]
LATE NIGHTS: GRASS ROOTS
Grass Roots is a monthly late night event brought to you by Soulsa DJ and promoter Mr Boogie. Serving as a platform for young, up and coming bands to ‘polish […]
Number 7 jazz venue in the world – THE VORTEX!
On the website www.allaboutjazz.com, there has been a poll for the best jazz venue in the world. It ends on 15 April. https://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/poll_result.php?id=21 The Vortex came in at number 7 […]