Sage Gateshead presents...
Martin Speake & Alcyona Mick
Please note the change of line-up
Unfortunately due to personal circumstances, Bobo Stenson can no longer perform as part of this tour. While Bobo is unable to perform, the show will still be going ahead and Martin Speake will be joined by London based jazz pianist and composer Alcyona Mick. Thank you for your understanding and co-operation and we sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused.
Martin Speake said:
“Due to personal circumstances concerning serious illness in his family Bobo Stenson is now unable to tour and will not be performing as originally planned in the UK in 2023. However, pianist Alcyona Mick, who I have collaborated with in the London Jazz Orchestra for many years, is a wonderful replacement and she is surprisingly free to do my UK tour in this period.”
Martin Speake
Martin Speake has been a professional musician for some 40 years. First coming to prominence in 1986 with the saxophone quartet Itchy Fingers winning the Schlitz Young Jazz Musician award and touring the world with them for two years. After leaving them in 1988 he has embarked on a solo career and has been a prolific writer and recording artist. Speake’s music is difficult to categorise as he has many influences and he has worked in many contexts from the straight ahead, Indian/Arab music, free improvisation, improvising on Bartok themes, and much original music.
“Change of Heart makes a compelling case that Martin Speake is one of the most interesting and rewarding alto saxophonists now playing jazz on any continent.” – Thomas Conrad Jazz Times
“There is a fragile beauty to the way this music hangs together. You cannot help but wonder at the sheer craftsmanship that made it possible.” – Stuart Nicholson Observer Music Monthly
“Simple directness, overtly beautiful, cool and compact: just wonderful.” – Budd Kopmann All About Jazz
ℹ️ Useful Information
Children under 14 must be accompanied by an adult.
Timings TBC
What to expect when you visit us >>
View our Booking Terms and Conditions >>
? Construction works near Sage Gateshead
Site preparation works have now commenced on the NewcastleGateshead Quays development, to the east of Sage Gateshead. This means changes to the South Shore Road Car Park, pedestrian and car routes. Find out more.
Alcyona Mick
Alcyona Mick is a London based jazz pianist and composer. As a musician she has performed worldwide and worked with a wide array of artists in the UK and abroad, performing at major European, American and Canadian festivals and North Africa and the Middle East. Alongside her co-led duo with Tori Freestone she works regularly with Natacha Atlas, London Jazz Orchestra, Brigitte Beraha’s ‘Lucid dreamers’, Yazz Ahmed. She has performed with an array of other artists including Bachar Zarkan, Randolph Matthews, Henry Lowther, Eddie Parker’s Debussy Mirrored ensemble, Ingrid and Christine Jensen, Jerry Dammers, and Mircan Kaya with whom she has worked in Turkey performing for a television series ‘Kanavice’ on TRT. As a writer she has released several critically acclaimed albums and trained as a film composer at the NFTS, writing music for documentary, independent film, TV and silent film. She has won awards including best film soundtrack at the Anima Mundi International festival Brazil and the UK Promoter’s Choice jazz award, and received a nomination for a Parliamentary Jazz award.
“World class ingenuity” – The Guardian
“Alcyona Mick is an unusual powerhouse of a talent” – MOJO