Mike Durham's International Classic Jazz Party

Village Hotel calendar_today 31 Oct 2025 place Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear Tickets £180 per person. Selling fast. Please nook accommodation separately.

Listen in to the 2024 welcome concert

 

The globe’s foremost gathering of specialist Classic Jazz musicians and fans; a three-day concert series featuring live music of a rarely heard quality and authenticity, performed by a truly international roster of world-class performers.

A unique event like none other in the Jazz festival calendar, the Party was first founded in 1990 by Mike Durham in Whitley Bay, near Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, UK, and has grown bigger and better with each successive year.

Held over a long weekend from midday on Friday until late on Sunday evening, the Party takes the form of a series of special themed concerts chosen and curated by the musicians themselves (see Concert Themes for forthcoming programme) and drawn from the canon of the first 40 years of jazz.

At the end of each day, musicians and audience relax and enjoy themselves at the legendary after-hours jam sessions in the hotel’s bar, often going on into the wee small hours.

The concerts take place in 4-star luxury, with audience members being assigned to cabaret seating of 8 to a table. A twice-daily rotation system is in place to ensure that everybody gets a good view.

Music starts each day at midday, with a break for dinner from 5pm-7:30pm, continuing until 11pm before we all head to the hotel’s bar for the late-night jam sessions until 1:30am!

The 2025 line-up, subject to change is as follows:

Trumpet
Joe Boga (USA – new for 2025!), Enrico Tomasso (UK) Malo Mazurié (France), Colin Hancock (USA – new for 2025!) Mike Davis (USA), Andy Schumm (USA)

Reeds
Lars Frank (Norway), Lorenzo Baldasso (Italy), Michael McQuaid (UK),David Lukács (Netherlands – new for 2025!), Natalie Scharf (USA) David Horniblow (UK), Richard Exall (UK)

Trombone
T.J. Müller (USA – new for 2025!), Alistair Allan (UK), Graham Hughes (UK)

Piano
Andrew Oliver (USA), David Boeddinghaus (USA), Martin Litton (UK)

Guitar & Banjo
Thomas “Spats” Langham (UK), Martin Wheatley (UK), Félix Hunot (France), Curtis Volp (UK)

Brass bass & string bass
Phil Rutherford (UK), Malcolm Sked (UK), Harry Evans (UK)

Drums & Percussion
Nicholas D. Ball (UK), Josh Duffee (USA), Nick Ward (UK)

Violin
Emma Fisk (UK)

Vocals
Thomas “Spats” Langham (UK), Nicolle Rochelle (France)

 

There is also a jam session every evening after the concert programme finishes.

 

BOOKINGS

All bookings are 100% refundable in case of cancellation due to serious illness, bereavement or other unavoidable cause, at the discretion of the organisers.

Click the “Buy Now” button to book securely with credit or debit card using Paypal, or send a cheque for £170 per person, payable to “Classic Jazz Party”, to:

60 Highbury, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 3LN

We also now have a card reader and can send links for card payments online if you don’t have a PayPal account.

When booking, please let us know if you have any seating requests – like people you want to sit next to, and we will endeavour to accommodate them.

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