Birmingham Jazz presents

More top-line music in the Jewellery Quarter.

There’s a welcome return for bassist and composer Alison Rayner’s award-winning quintet at 1,000 Trades on Friday 13th March. ARQ will be performing their third album Short Stories which was released in October 2019 on Blow the Fuse records.

ARQ combine richly nuanced compositions, rhythmic interplay and folk-infused melodies and this, along with their love of improvisation, creates a strong sense of narrative and cinematic quality. The quintet plays ‘songs without words’ and is lauded for its vibrant, communicative performances.

They won Ensemble of the Year at the 2018 Parliamentary Jazz Awards and were shortlisted for Best Small Group at the 2018 British Jazz Awards. Their first two albums August (2014) and A Magic Life (2016), received national and international radio plays and four and five-star reviews in jazz and national press.

This gig is part of the Short Stories tour supported by Arts Council England and PRS Foundation’s Women Make Music.

ARQ, Friday 13th March, 1,000 Trades, 16 Frederick Street, B1 3HE. Admission – advance standard £12.50, members £10, students £5 (on the door £15/£12.50/£5)