In a rare appearance singer Neneh Cherry joined Groove Armada in Ronnie Scott’s to raise money for the under threat Doncaster Youth Jazz Association whose future is now up in the air following grant funding cuts. Cherry began a short late-night set on Saturday by singing the song ‘Think Twice’ which she has previously collaborated on with Groove Armada, the downtempo band best known for huge hits ‘I See You Baby’ and ‘At The River’.

The DYJA is to lose its funding, a situation affecting jazz around the country particularly in Yorkshire where umbrella organisation Jazz Yorkshire has also been stripped of its funding by Arts Council England.

Cherry, who had a world wide hit in the 1990s with 'Seven Seconds' in duo with Youssou N’Dour, and was a fixture on the Bristol trip hop scene, occasionally collaborates with jazz and funk musicians and in late-2010 also worked in the studio for sessions with free jazz supergroup The Thing.

Cherry’s appearance followed an earlier set featuring singer Saint Saviour joining Groove Armada, and earlier in the evening upstairs in Ronnie’s Bar former members of the Doncaster Youth Jazz Orchestra including trumpeter Tom Ashe, bassist Paul Grady, saxophonist Mark Ellis and trombonist Stuart Garside played a set of jazz standards such as ‘A Night In Tunisia’, ‘Autumn Leaves’ and ‘Summertime’.

The fundraiser, aiming to raise £30,000, was organised by Groove Armada’s Andy Cato, a former member of the Doncaster Youth Jazz Association, who has pointed to the importance of jazz education at a grassroots level. “If we can save this one, then it will have a direct impact on the lives of thousands, the future of UK music, and it will stand as an example of what youth is capable of when given a chance.” In Doncaster, educator John Ellis’ Wednesday night jazz classroom teach-ins, which began in the 1970s, introduced jazz to a new generation of kids hungry to learn about the music. Ellis was also present at Ronnie’s for the gig on Saturday night which saw a huge turn out, with an audience that included club owner Sally Greene and Channel Four news anchor Krishnan Guru-Murthy. The DYJA has four ensembles under its wing. More than 35 years of work and development in Doncaster will be consigned to history if funding means the DYJA is forced to close.

– Stephen Graham