Case Study: Take Five
Who: Take Five
What: A jazz development course devised and run by Serious
How PRSF has helped: Initiated a partnership with the Jerwood Charitable Foundation to both set up and fund the scheme
What is Take Five?
Take Five is a professional development programme for emerging UK jazz artists, devised and run by international music producers Serious. It takes eight artists a year and delivers a programme that offers training in both the creative and business sides of a career in jazz music. At the heart of the programme is a five day residential course, surrounding which are opportunities for consultation, further training and mentoring that cater to individual needs.
The scheme was initiated by a partnership between the PRS Foundation and the Jerwood Charitable Foundation who have each contributed £20,000 a year to the scheme since it was set up in 2004.
Why Take Five?
The impetus behind PRSF and Jerwood Charitable Foundation’s initiative was a common desire to address the professional development needs of emerging jazz talent in the UK. Beyond the formal training offered through some higher education institutions there is very little to help artists once they embark on their careers. The pressures of earning a living mean that it becomes near impossible for people to take time out to focus on the direction in which they want to be heading and the skills they will need to get there.
The commission to devise and run a scheme that addressed this issue was won by Serious and Take Five is the result. The programme has now been running for four years and in that time 32 artists have been through its process. The fifth edition of the initiative was launched on 20 November 2008 and runs to the summer of 2009.
How does it work?
Applications for prospective artists are solicited by a nominations process using a number of UK organisations and individuals involved in jazz or the funding of jazz. Once selected, artists attend individual consultation sessions with the Serious team. These serve as an introduction to the process, but also allow the artists to set their own targets and development plans as well as allowing Serious to use the outcomes to shape the rest of the programme.
Scheme components
At the heart of the scheme are two residential courses. The first of these lasting five days covers a broad spectrum of knowledge and skills that may be required by today’s artist. Subjects covered include:
- composition under the direction of current Take Five Resident Composer, John Surman
- making recording and publishing deals
- marketing and PR
- pursuing and creating creative opportunities and gaining funding for them
- A further mini residency several months later in a recording studio completes the picture by looking at recording and production techniques.
Evaluation and further support
Following the residencies a debrief process sees participants return to individual consultation with Serious. This allows Serious to look for individual outcomes and assess the effectiveness of the scheme. Importantly for the participants, it is at this stage they devise further projects or address issues that are suited to their needs. This allows them access to small amounts of funding with which they can, amongst other things have mentoring and further compositional or performance lessons, purchase needed equipment or computer software or undertake research projects that help them expand or focus on areas of specialist knowledge
Concrete outcomes for participants
The results of Take Five show a wide variety of outcomes that reflect the individual needs and stages of development of participants. For example past participants have:
- gone on to collaborate together having met on Take Five
- unlocked further funds from Arts Council England or PRSF to tour or create new work
- appeared at festivals including London Jazz Festival, Manchester Jazz Festival and Bath Festival and have become Jerwood Rising Stars at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival
- been commissioned by the London Sinfonietta as part of the Blue Touch Paper scheme
- been the subject of features in Jazzwise, the UK’s biggest selling jazz magazine
- secured publishing deals, management deals and distribution deals
Long term benefits
It should also be remembered that the main aim of Take Five is not to necessarily produce short term outcomes, but to make an intervention that will influence participants’ long term career development through giving them access to knowledge and skills they would not normally be able to gain. Feedback from many of the participants confirms that this is so as the following quote from Kirsty Almeida (singer, composer and Take Five 2008 participant) illustrates:
“It’s completely blown my mind – both musically and opportunistically. It’s widened my horizon and scope and opened up possibilities. I now feel that I’ve got the confidence to access some of the areas that, before, I didn’t even know existed. Even if I had known, I wouldn’t have known how to approach those possibilities. Now I feel totally confident to be able to try even more than I was already trying.”
For some, the results have shown through very quickly as Tom Cawley (pianist, composer and Take Five 2008 participant) explains:
“Since I came back from Bore Place I have set up a record company, recorded two new albums, secured jazz festival gigs and made all sorts of plans - I've done more for myself in these last few months than in ten years beforehand. Having the opportunity to participate in Take Five has helped and inspired me more than any other experience in my career so far.”
National and international impact
Artists who have been through the programme are beginning to make a substantial impact on the national and international scene. Nationally, two of them have been participants in the BBC New Generation Artists Scheme (Gwilym Simcock and Tom Arthurs) whilst several others have won other awards include Sebastian Rochford’s Mercury Nomination and Gareth Lockrane’s Downbeat Critic’s poll in the Rising Star on Flute category. Furthermore a high percentage of the ‘Taking Off’ columns in Jazzwise refer to Take Five participants. Internationally, several have budding international careers with Gwilym Simcock currently touring his band in continental Europe and Jules Buckley as the resident/guest conductor and arranger for the Metropole Orchestra in Amsterdam as well as work for the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.
Attracting other funding and influence of the scheme within the music industry
As a model, Take Five itself has attracted attention. For 2008, both Arts Council England and the Musicians Benevolent Fund have come on board to offer further financial support. Serious has also received many requests to replicate or develop a parallel model from organisations including Scottish Arts Council, Dutch Jazz Connection and Norwegian Rikskonsertene. BBC Radio 3 has taken an interest, not just in the artists previously mentioned as BBC New Generation Artists, but in the initiative itself. In 2009 an audio documentary on Edition V of Take Five will be made for Jazz on 3 by independent production company, Somethin’ Else.
For further information, including details of present and past artists involved, please follow this link.