DYJA is not only home to 4 fantastic bands who rehearse on a weekly basis at the centre, it’s recently become a live music venue as we welcomed two incredible bands who can usually be seen on the tour circuits of the major cities of the UK and Europe!  

We had the privilege and pleasure of bringing New York Brass Band – North Yorkshire’s only contemporary New Orleans inspired brass band – to the Jazz Centre on a cold February Friday night as the first foray into using the centre as a venue. Playing to a packed house, the band went down a storm. Doing what they do best, it wasn’t long before they’d encouraged the audience to get on their feet and get involved. It was fantastic to see young and old alike getting into the vibe and thoroughly enjoying everything this incredible band had to offer. It’s safe to say their encore probably lasted a little longer than even NYBB had anticipated!

Following the success of this great event, we were delighted to welcome another professional band to the centre, this time bringing the sounds of Cuban salsa. Sontuno, a 4 piece band based around the Leeds area, most definitely brought the warm Cuban atmosphere with their incredible tunes. The audience participation was a recurring theme – this time with an impromptu salsa class before everyone got into the rhythm and moved to the music for the rest of the night. Given we had a number of our young musicians in the room, it was fantastic to hear the explanations of the music derivations and even the non-musicians went home having learned at least 5 Spanish words! Safe to say that with everything combined, everyone had a great night!
We want to say a huge thanks to Tom Mysercough for stepping in and being a top sound man that night – a sound engineer in the making!

We might not be the most fashionable venue but we’re not going to let that stop us putting on more live music nights. We’ll provide the bar and the bands so you can enjoy the entertainment and experience. Check out our events page to see what we have coming up soon!