Upcoming Gigs

On Saturday Jason Mraz opened for Eric Clapton at Hard Rock Calling performing in front of 35,000 people in London's Hyde Park. Other artists in the line-up included John Mayor, Sheryl Crow and The Charlatans. He performed new material such as 'Make It Mine', 'Butterfly' and YouTube sensation 'I'm Yours' to a lively crowd on what was a beautiful day.

The nominees in the BBC Jazz Awards 2008, hosted by BBC Radio 2 and 3, and the recipients of this year’s special awards were announced earlier today at an event hosted by Paul Gambaccini.

Veteran bassist Charlie Haden received the International Award; the Lifetime Achievement Award goes to pianist Chick Corea and his seminal fusion ensemble Return To Forever; and the special Gold Award goes to longstanding ambassadors of the of the UK jazz scene Sir John Dankworth and Dame Cleo Laine.

As many of you will have heard by now, Swedish pianist Esbjörn Svensson was tragically killed in a scuba diving accident on Saturday June 14th.

Esbjörn’s band e.s.t. were hugely influential in bringing jazz to a wider audience and his untimely death has sent shock waves through the music world. We had the great pleasure of working with him on a number of albums and we will be working on the band’s 12th and now final album Leucocyte, which is due for release in the autumn.

Esbjörn was both a wonderful musician and person who we are proud to have known. We’ll miss him greatly.

Air Online were recently granted the task of filming the Guillemots. The resulting footage features the band in the East London studio where they recorded their recent album ‘Red’. The two videos have now clocked up 5000 views combined.

Check them out on the bands myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/guillemotsmusic

Or on the Air YouTube channel:
Fyfe Dangerfield (Guillemots) MySpace feature: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=IPhepxU46e4
Behind the scenes with Guillemots:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ionD3FVFJ-8

Jason Mraz has been celebrated as one of the most gifted young singer/songwriters to emerge in recent years. He released his first studio album in 2002 “Waiting For My Rocket To Come”, a compelling blend of folk, pop, hip-hop and roots rock. The certified platinum album received major critical praise and spawned chart topping singles. He released his 2nd studio album in 2005 Mr A-Z, which won him a Grammy and further critical acclaim.

As part of Black History Month in June, Life FM will be dedicating their ENTIRE Wednesday evening slot to Dune Records on June 18th from 6-7pm. There will be banter a plenty about the label, future events, the music business in general, an interview with Gary Crosby and loads of dune tunes!
So, make sure your radio dial is tuned to 103.6FM on 18/06/08.

It's the show that London's been waiting for. Finally, the most critically acclaimed singer to emerge from Brazil over the past decade will be performing in the UK- at The Barbican on June 28th 2008.

Jason Mraz is back!

We are very pleased to announce that the deluxe version of Jason's new album, ‘We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things’ is available now to download from iTunes.

For just £10.99 you’ll get all 3 of the EPs that make up the full album in one amazing bumper 25-song package, including the 12 album tracks and 13 specials recorded at various acoustic sessions.

The album includes the hugely popular new single 'I'm Yours' along with duets with Colbie Caillat and James Morrison.

Empirical scooped the title of Jazz Ensemble Of The Year last night, as the winners of the 2008 Parliamentary Jazz Awards were announced at the House of Commons in London.

Organised by the All Party Parliamentary Jazz Appreciation Group, the awards are in their fourth year and have always commended the very best that the UK jazz scene has to offer. Empirical add this award to the already long list of accolades they have gained so far, and get ready for a summer of dates both at home and abroad.

DREAMING OF REVENGE RELEASED 30TH JUNE 2008

“the queen of instrumental nu-gaze guitar…dazzling” – MOJO

“a cult guitar heroine on the indie fringes” - The Independent

Kaki King has never been one for convention. The awesomely talented guitarist and singer-songwriter has been leaving audiences and listeners stunned with her unorthodox approach to the acoustic guitar, and her latest album Dreaming Of Revenge is set continue the trend.

I Am Kloot have now nearly finished their UK tour, with just Saturday's show in Manchester left to go.
The tour has been a great success, with the band playing to enthusiastic audiences all across the UK:including Koko in Camden, Academy 2 in Liverpool, Komedia in Brighton, Barfly in Cardiff and a sell out show in Leeds.

If you haven't seen them yet, don't miss Saturday's gig at the Academy in Manchester.

These guys just don't stop! Empirical continue to shine with the announcement that the stunning London-based quintet has been put forward for TWO categories in the 2008 Parliamentary Jazz Awards, for Ensemble Of The Year and CD Of The Year - the results will be unveiled on 13th May. Their eponymous debut release has already garnered Jazzwise's Album Of The Year and MOJO's Jazz Album Of The Year for 2007.

Upcoming Empirical dates in May 2008 -

3rd - South Hill Park, Bracknell
15th - Brighton Festival
25th - Coventry Jazz Festival
30th - Cinnamon Club, Cheshire

Air have now formed an even stronger working relationship with the groundbreaking UK label DUNE by booking some of their leading artists worldwide. The two companies have already enjoyed joint success with Air being responsible for Dune's PR. We look forward to expanding this relationship.
Dune have a number of exciting new projects in the pipeline so keep your eyes peeled for news of these over the coming months ...

Jason Mraz, who releases his new album We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things on 9 June through Atlantic records. He is set to start the summer with a bang with his tour kicking off in Cambridge on 30th June. In a unique partnership with social media network Bebo, pre-sale tickets will be available exclusively for three days (from Wednesday 23rd April - Saturday 25th April) via the site.

Ronnie Scott's - May 30th - 31st: McCoy Tyner Trio with special guest Joe Lovano. The sheer drive and energy of a McCoy Tyner performance has to be seen and heard to be believed. Since his crucial contribution to the timeless music of the great John Coltrane Quartet of the 1960s, and his own spectacular band of the ‘70s, Tyner has been a pivotal figure in the evolution of contemporary jazz, a hugely influential pianist whose rhythmic impetus and creative spirit is simply awesome.