individual lessons and workshops at the amazing Shoefactory venue in Rushden, Northamptonshire
the music teaching you can buy in from our specialist team at your own venue
links to learning resources
links to great jazz teachers and workshops in Britain and abroad
This is an arts space created in a Victorian Shoefactory in Rushden, Northamptonshire by musician and writer Nick Weldon and the singer Andra Sparks. The venue is quiet, huge, filled with light, and has three grand pianos, including the lovechild of the Italian Fazioli and the Japanese Yamaha. We know her as Yamioli
Address and map details can be found on our Jazz Workshops tab, and there are photos and a history of the building and its renovation over at The Weldon Journals.

Sunday Jazz Workshops at the Shoefactory...
We have a fantastic programme of workshops planned for the coming year. Hosted by the finest practitioners in the UK, they will include Day Courses in Jazz Piano, Ensemble Playing and Theory, Double Bass, Jazz Drums, Composition and Arranging, Jazz Guitar, Saxophone, and also a series of regular sessions for jazz singers.
...Thank you very much for a fantastic day on Saturday. Great teaching, company and of course food.
The main thing is that it has set me up with a practising method for the next year or two! The material from Trevor on rhythm was a revelation. Dave Cliff gave me a lot of ideas about working up the standards.
All the best
Larry
...
I just wanted to say - what a fabulous saxophone day it was today. Thanks to you both for everything. I came away hugely inspired. And with your amazing cooking, which was out of this world, it's like I need a new language to express it all!
I'm looking forward to the next one.
David
Not forgetting, elsewhere, the RAC Leicester Jazz Workshop on March 27th, and the LCCM Easter Jazz Week in Southwark
Don't forget, you can book places on your chosen courses with our
We continue to grieve the loss of our dear friend and colleague Jeff Clyne. Read the tributes to him online in this
Nick Weldon has also posted his tribute online. For Jeff
Check out the double bass page for a look at some great bass video...
Introducing Jazz at the Shoefactory!
These day and weekend courses are fun and educational in themselves, but are also absolutely essential for players thinking of going on a Summer School.
These sessions are building into something very special. We're only looking at the basic skills of jazz improvisation, but who would have thought you could put So What with Smoke on the Water? There's a global hit in there somewhere, we're sure of it!
More Jazz Language
Please check out the first Jazz Language feature of 2010. Especially written for advanced improvisers, this is a fascinating look at how the great saxophonist James Moody uses the Axis system!
MARK LOCKHEART
Saxophones, Improvisation
Having trained at Trinity College of Music, where he now also teaches, Mark Lockheart has become one of the foremost saxophone players of the contemporary scene, with performing credits high in the worlds of jazz (Perfect Houseplants), folk (June Tabor), rock (Radiohead), and orchestral music (Mark Anthony Turnage). He is also well known as a composer, with commissions from the Cheltenham Jazz Festival, the NDR Big Band, the Arts Council, the Peter Whittingham Award and BBC Radio 4.
Mark has already led several Saxophone Workshops at the Shoefactory, and comes back strongly this season with an
Arranging and Composition Day
Sunday January 31st, 2010
More information about this gifted musician at
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