Stan Graham's Leisure Guide for North and West Yorkshire
I don’t normally venture out on Saturday evening, especially as press nights tend to be midweek, but, as it was my birthday and the brilliant Courtney Pine was playing at my favourite music venue, I just had to go for a listen. I began my wild partying with two pints of Three Swords, and a…
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Leeds Jazz Festival 2025 continued with Camilla George at Howard Assembly Room, and what a show it was. From the cast of thousands the previous night, we were given a superb set by a quartet – quite the contrast. Camilla George is a female saxophonist, composer, bandleader and innovator, with all of the components being…
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It’s that time of year again, Spring Bank Holiday and Leeds Jazz Festival, for some reason they always seem to coincide – what are the odds? The Champagne was smashed against the hull to launch this year’s Festival at Howard Assembly Room with a collection of amazing local talent, not all of whom were performers…
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It’s not often that I spend a Tuesday tea time dancing to the beat of two African drummers, in fact I can’t remember it ever happening before, but this event was to change that. I was at the amazing Hyde Park Picture House for the launch of the 2025 Leeds International African Arts Festival, but…
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This is one of the easiest – and hardest – reviews I have ever written. It is easy because the concert was great so no real gripes, but hard as I have been trawling the internet for information about the two bands involved without coming up with much at all. Firstly, the support act, Kontiki,…
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Somebody, somewhere, must be taking notice of the stuff I write because, after complaining about the inability to catch the names of a lot of the pieces played in concerts due to their being in a foreign language or the lack of a programme/set list – neither being the fault of Howard Assembly Room –…
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For once I went to a concert at the spectacular Howard Assembly Room knowing what I was going to get, rather than opening myself up to a form of music with which I was not familiar. I have always enjoyed the music of Django Reinhardt and his long-time musical partner, Stéphane Grappelli, co-founders of the…
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What a way to return from a lengthy break. After the dearth of new shows since Christmas I was looking forward to getting back in the saddle and this production, which appeared to be more like a musical than a full-blown opera, seemed just the thing. It was written in 1948 by Kurt Weill and…
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There is something about brass bands at Christmas which just seems right. Whether it is because it is the time when the Salvation Army regale shoppers with their renditions of carols, I don’t know, but it certainly adds a festive cherry to the fruit cake. Now where’s the Wensleydale? Naturally, the programme comprised a selection…
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After last week’s visit to Howard Assembly Room to see a South African cellist who had the audience up on their feet and rocking, this concert could not have been more different. That is the attraction of this venue, apart from the staff and the building itself. Arve Henriksen is a Norwegian trumpeter and tech…
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Tyke It To The Limit 