A new concert series at London’s Vortex club called Vortex Last Sunday is to present a run of live gigs to be recorded this summer for digital broadcast. Co-produced by Lee Paterson and John Denton under the auspices of the Vortex Jazz Foundation, the series will give a state-of-the- art look at London’s current jazz scene and wide ranging musical and cultural influences. Lee Paterson says: “We’re absolutely delighted with the opportunity to produce these concerts. London’s jazz scene is a huge story to tell and this of course can only be some of it, but with the keys to the BBC archives and a great mix of musicians for the live concerts, I’m looking forward to a fabulous challenge.”

Arts Council England and the BBC today announced 53 successful applicants in all for the £3.5m funded initiative The Space. A new experimental service, it launches in May and runs until October at www.thespace.org allowing, ACE says, organisations the opportunity “to experiment and engage with new and existing audiences in a completely new and innovative digital environment.” The Space will be available across four digital media platforms, PCs, smartphones, tablets and Internet connected TVs.

At Vortex Last Sunday along with each live concert, the venue will be developing technology that allows audiences to expand elements of each performance to contextual archival material, and spotlight on a soloist with interviews. The content of each of the concerts will then be released in the weeks to follow.

The Vortex, which marks its 25th anniversary this year since its founding in Stoke Newington, will also use Vortex Last Sunday to explore notions of crossing borders throughout the 20th and 21st centuries which reflect the influence of mobility on the music that has developed in Britain – both of immigration and the ease of movement, with Europe particularly, that has enabled the distinctive ‘hub’ of London’s scene. The series will also encompass what the Vortex sees as the “seminal shifts” afforded by technologies – from electric to electronic.

Other successful applicants for The Space include Serious for Journey to the River, which facilitates multi-platform broadcasts focusing on three collaborations led by Angélique Kidjo, Andy Sheppard and Shingai Shoniwa/The Noisettes.

The John Peel Centre for Creative Arts, Inner City Music, Britten Sinfonia, Sadler's Wells, London Review of Books, the Whitechapel Gallery, Royal Shakespeare Company and the Bristol Old Vic are among other organisations to receive the go-ahead.

– Stephen Graham

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