50 years of Birmingham Jazz will be celebrated on Thursday 8 October in a special evening at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire that recognises the impact the organisation has had on the city’s now thriving jazz scene.

The centrepiece is the premiere of a specially-commissioned suite of music played by the Birmingham Jazz Orchestra.  Each of the five movements has been written by one of the city’s leading current composers, inspired by the musical influences from Birmingham Jazz’s five decades.

Birmingham composers Ed Puddick, Alicia Gardener-Trejo, Jonathan Silk, Dave Sear and Alex Astbury each contribute a movement with influences spanning the jazz-rock era of the 1970s, through the maturing compositional style of writers like Kenny Wheeler in the 1990s, to a uniquely contemporary finale that takes inspiration from all five decades.

A support set in the Conservatoire’s Eastside Jazz Club by RBC musicians, led by The Zeb Murphy Quartet sets the scene, and a jam session welcomes all following the main performance.

Over the past fifty years, music charity Birmingham Jazz has built a distinctive live programme that promotes and creates opportunities for musical innovation and artistic achievement.  The programme has brought together international and national artists, while giving local musicians and students a platform to write, perform and develop live work that might otherwise not have been possible.

Legendary names including Ronnie Scott, Jan Garbarek, Humphrey Lyttelton, Mike Gibbs, Stan Tracey and Abdullah Ibrahim are just some of the many high profile artists to perform live under the Birmingham Jazz banner over the years.

Birmingham Jazz Orchestra: Birmingham Jazz at 50 is at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire on Thursday 8 October.  Tickets and details at bcu.ac.uk/concerts