Milton Godfrey & the Birchfield Jazz Festival Ensemble

As part of this year’s Birchfield Jazz festivities, we will be joined by acclaimed musician Milton Godfrey – a well-known and loved Birmingham artist, with plenty of stories to share.
Milton will be delighting us with his music on Thursday 31st May at the popular Grosvenor Road Studios from 6pm. He will also be passing on his knowledge to young musicians through our new initiative, The Birchfield Jazz Festival (BJF) Ensemble.

Milton has immersed himself in the history and culture of Caribbean music whilst growing up in Jamaica before coming to the UK. He brings with him a wealth of knowledge and a collection of captivating, traditional songs which we’re looking forward to hearing.

The BJF Ensemble is group of passionate local young musicians who will be given a special opportunity to work with Milton and percussionist Lekan Babalola and clarinettist Kate Luxmoore and ultimately take part in a performance alongside these accomplished artists at this year’s festival.
This is a great chance to encourage an understanding of Jazz in it’s different forms which are not always represented in the mainstream.

This year will kick start the BJF Ensemble initiative which will continue to offer other young musicians in the city of Birmingham an insight into a variety of musical genres in the future and help to create an ensemble who are able to perform independently, drawing on the skills they have acquired during the course of their musical education.

Milton will also be visiting St Clare’s Catholic Primary School in Handsworth, Birmingham to deliver workshops with Kate Luxmoore and introduce young children to this rich cultural music and its origins.

Talking about exciting appearances, we’re also excited to announce that Birmingham based rapper Rtkal with be visiting St John Wall with Lekan Babalola! Watch this space for details….