Photograph
Royal Northern College Of Music (RNCM)
1998

Jazz has been part of Manchester's music scene for decades. It was the 1970s where jazz took a hold of the city's people, with Band on the Wall being remodelled as a jazz club in the mid-1970s. Before this, seeds were sown into the generations of budding musicians with an innovative 4-year undergrad course which included jazz, film and electronic music, as well as a “history of ideas” course. Just a few years later, in 1976, the RNCM hosted the city's first jazz music festival For many years, the North was the only place to focus your studies on jazz, between the RNCM and our friends at Leeds Conservatoire.
Pictured is Cleo Laine, one of the most impressive jazz singers England has produced. In 1998 she gave an electrifying masterclass for our students whilst attending the Manchester Jazz Festival.

Digitised for the Throwing Open the Concert Doors project, supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.