Jazz Shaped Launch Competition - Win A USB Record Player

To celebrate the blog's relaunch, Jazz Shaped and HiFi-Tower.co.uk are happily joining forces to give away a fantastic Auna TTS-T33 USB turntable to one lucky reader!

The Auna TTS-T33 USB Record Player can play back vinyl at 33, 45, and 78 RPM as well as featuring a USB connection which allows you to make MP3 recordings of your favourite vinyl straight to your computer. There is also a cassette deck that can be used to play back and digitise tapes. The turntable features built-in speakers or it can be connected to external speakers, and retails in Hifi Tower's record player department at £64.90. 

To Enter

To enter simply tweet me @jazzshaped  and let me know what the first vinyl or cassette that you'll be listening to on your brand new USB record payer will be; the winner will then be chosen at random and announced on Wednesday 13th June 2012.

Good luck

*This competition is open to residents of the United Kingdom (excluding all Islands), Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, and finally, Sweden.

The British Jazz Blog Is No More, Long Live Jazz Shaped

Yes your eyes do not deceive you, in an effort to haul the public perception of British jazz into the 21st century, The blog has been rebranded, reworked and reimagined to better represent the plethora of talent and style that the genre encompasses. With the every man's threshold for talent shows and bland commercial clichés seemingly running thin, British jazz is in the perfect position to swoop in and wow the public with it's charm, sophistication and surprising ability to get along with (Imagine Johnny Depp entering a party full of politicians).

With the genre in undoubted decline but the music adhering to the same high standards that it always has, jazz is the art form to lift and inspire a new generation and is ready to break triumphantly from the shackles of the 'niche' market with which has been so tragically associated. Jazz music has changed, developing quietly in the shadows of pretension and difficulty which have engulfed it for years, It's ready to rear its head gloriously, raise its fist with war like authority and hurl hours of melodic riffs and beautiful harmonic sentences towards the industry.

Welcome to Jazz Shaped

Why So Quiet? Back On The 28th

In a bid to comply more accurately with the blog's overall aims, to offer a platform to contemporary British Jazz, The British Jazz Blog is currently undergoing a transformation. On Monday 28th May I'll be returning with the blog's new, fresher and more aesthetically palatable format. A prospect which will include a host of new features which are currently expending zero percent of my time but which will no doubt be in full flow by time the site launches.

Expect name changes, subsequent URL alterations, paradigmatic logos, brand overhaul and a generally more efficient approach to British Jazz in an attempt to prepare the site and the genre for the unchartered territory that it seems set to encounter this summer.

See you in one week

3 Mainstream Media Sites I Visit Daily To Stay Jazz Savvy

It is with a heavy heart that I, like many jazz fans, must concede that unless a project enjoys considerable financial backing, is receiving critical acclaim, or gets airplay through some unexpected vehicle of mainstream consumerism (such as an advert), then anything jazz related that postdates 1980 will struggle to make a considerable impact within the everyday media. When jazz is analysed, or it's 'cool' image is conjured by the wider press, the same names are thrown up; 'Louis Armstrong', 'Charlie Parker', 'John Coltrane', all of whom were imperative for the progression of the genre within their respective periods, but none of who inspire a sense of new, fresh avenues of exploration within anyone from later generations. As a result of this, I've put together my top 3 mainstream media outlets which I use to stay on top of the genres modern side and keep up to date with the scene:

1. Twitter

The worlds number one social media platform is a great way to find out about the latest and greatest jazz artists. With practical built-in facilities such as the 'Who To Follow' sidebar which is cleverly tailored to your current interests, following bands and discovering new artists, whilst gaining a key insight into how efficiently they summarise their latest gig in 140 characters, has never been easier.

2. eMusic

My vote for the worlds most credible music download service is a great platform for finding out about modern jazz. With handy services such as guest features and editorial picks for each genre, half an hours worth of hunting around and previewing albums will have you revelling in a seemingly boundless expanse of new music.

3. BBC Jazz

Britain's most cherished TV establishment has a good offering in terms of its jazz sub-site. The majority of the albums featured are the more popular records produced by the genre, so its a great place to visit presuming you've slightly 'Missed the boat' on a couple of new records. The 'Jazz & Blues' conglomeration is, I feel, slightly dated, but if you consider the site in its entirety, links to exclusive interviews and video clips of performances from shows such as Jools Holland and Jamie Cullum's radio 2 broadcast make BBC jazz worth a visit to hear something new.

Surman Vs Surman

Yes, you read correctly; it's the most anticipated showdown between the footballing and jazz community's that 2012 has seen so far. 100% not a product of me having witnessed a goal on Match Of The Day, noticing that the scorer carried the same surname as one of England's most influential saxophonists and extrapolating some tenuous link which , in an effort to be vaguely humorous, links two completely unrelated entity's in one perplexingly convoluted blog post. This... is SURMAN VS SURMAN

FIGHT!!! 

• Ability to wow an audience with a stunning performance: Honours Evens
• Experience in their field: John Surman
• Youth and agility: Andrew Surman
• Ability to develop meaningful compositions around a well structured melody before breaking into an improvisatory masterpiece, the likes of which have gained you your reputation as one of Britain's most eloquent improvisers: John Surman
• Most contorted Jazz face: John Surman
• Ability to look fantastically self assured in the above picture, whilst maintaining an air of dignity and approachability even though you are a hero in your field: John Surman

JOHN SURMAN WINS!!!

So John Surman has emerged victorious, partly down to the fact that this blog is unashamedly biased towards jazz musicians, but mostly because he's one of the coolest players on the UK circuit. He's got a new album coming out in June 2012 and I don't know about you, but I'm excited.

http://johnsurman.com/