Neil Charles + Raymond MacDonald (NFOJAiM 2025)

Neil Charles + Raymond MacDonald 
The Literary and Philosophical Society (Private Members Library) 
Friday 3rd October 2025
Doors: 5.30pm (Music Starts: 5.45pm - 7.15pm)

Tickets are priced at £6 with an optional £2 festival donation available (+ Booking Fee)

Raymond MacDonald 5.45pm - 6.15pm
Neil Charles 6.30pm - 7.15pm

Part of Newcastle Festival of Jazz and Improvised Music

This concert is presented by Newcastle Festival of Jazz and Improvised Music in association with The Literary and Philosophical Society, Jazz North East and Andy Hamilton / British Society of Aesthetics

TICKETS FOR ALL EVENTS ARE AVAILABLE HERE
https://www.seetickets.com/tour/jazz-north-east


DOWNLOAD THE DIGITAL PROGRAMME AND SCHEDULE BY CLICKING HERE
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WU2x96X7OF9IiuhdLJQjF3LDoajDG2YY/view?usp=sharing


INDIVIDUAL EVENTS ARE LISTED THROUGH OUR FACEBOOK EVENTS PAGES
www.facebook.com/newcastlefestivalofjazzandimprovisedmusic


DONATIONS CAN STILL BE RECEIVED THROUGH OUR ‘ALWAYS OPEN’ NEW JAZZ AND IMPROVISED MUSIC CROWDFUNDER BY CLICKING HERE 
https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/new-jazz-and-improvised-music-recordings


www.newcastlefestivalofjazzandimprovisedmusic.co.uk


Raymond MacDonald
Raymond MacDonald (Solo Saxophones)

Raymond MacDonald is a saxophonist, composer and academic whose work explores the boundaries and ambiguities between what is conventionally seen as improvisation and composition.
 
Much of his recent performing work has been in collaborative free improvisation contexts, however his roots in jazz and pop music are always evident in his playing and writing. MacDonald collaborates widely and has worked with visual artists, dancers, writers and filmmakers and has produced music for film, television, theatre and the concert hall.

MacDonald has worked internationally with many of the current pioneers in avant-garde music including the sublime US pianist Marilyn Crispell, German drummer Günter ‘Baby’ Sommer, David Byrne, Damo Suzuki from Can, Nurse with Wound, German trumpeter Axel Dorner, US trombonist and educator George Lewis, Japanese Percussionsist Tatsuya Nakatani, US percussionist Michael Zerang, US cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm. 

His ambitious International Big Band features the virtuosic Japanese pianist Satoko Fujii, trumpeter Natsuki Tamura, Australians Alistair Spence and Toby Hall and Lloyd Swanton from The Necks and exSonic Youth guitarist Jim O’Rourke among others.

We’re delighted to have Raymond MacDonald joint us to perform solo at Newcastle Festival of Jazz and Improvised Music whilst also participating in Andy Hamilton’s Workshop on Improvisation and Comedy.

“Music this articulate is rare in any style of music” - Jazz Wise

“Leading contemporary jazz” - The Guardian

“Quite astonishingly brilliant” - Jazz Wise

Find Out More About Raymond MacDonald By Clicking Here
https://www.raymondmacdonald.co.uk/biography


Neil Charles
Neil Charles (Solo Double Bass)

Neil Charles is one of the most in-demand musicians on the scene, with a huge array of credits to his name, including Jack DeJohnette, the Sun Ra Arkestra, Mingus Big Band, Jose James, Jerry Dammers, Courtney Pine, and Terence Blanchard. His own projects have included Zed U, with Shabaka Hutchings and Tom Skinner, and the more recent ensemble Dark Days, dealing with the work of James Baldwin. Most recently, he has been heard across the international scene with Gabriels. As well as being known as a bass player with a huge sound and immaculate sense of time, he is equally renowned as a producer, going by the alias Ben Marc.

Neil Charles has long been one of the key figures in the London free community, presenting group projects with the likes of Elaine Mitchener, Alexander Hawkins and more, not to mention an unforgettable 3 days residency in collaboration with Anthony Braxton. 

Neil's own work on the double bass is rarely brought to the fore so we’re delighted that he will perform solo works as part of this years festival.

He has previously released ‘Low and Beyond’ on the Cafe OTO Otoroku imprint, 9 tracks that are filled with searching passages, bowed refrains and rough and dexterous exploration, embracing the full physical possibilities of his instrument. Neil's style lands somewhere between Gary Peacock, William Parker and Fernando Grillo to our ears, but heralds its own unvarnished poeticism. 

https://www.cafeoto.co.uk/shop/neil-charles-low-and-beyond/

"Bassist Neil Charles went flying, from the first moment filling the space with the sound of his mighty wings” - Henning Bolte (Europe Jazz Media Chart)


The Literary and Philosophical Society
The Literary and Philosophical Society, 23 Westgate Road, NE1 1SE
0191 232 0192 / library@litandphil.org.uk
www.litandphil.org.uk


The Literary and Philosophical Society

Age Restrictions: All ages welcome with under 18’s accompanied by an adult.

Accessibility: The Loftus Room and Joseph Swan Room at The Lit and Phil are partly accessible. There is a lift at the venue entrance for wheelchair users to access the building and performance space, no wheelchair accessible toilets are available in the building.

The festival has permissions for visiting wheelchair users to access toilets located on the ground floor in Sleeperz Hotel which is just a few doors down (16 ft) to the right of the Lit and Phil as you exit the building.

Accessible toilets are also available at 5 Quarter Cafe Bar to the left as you exit the building.

The Private Members Library is not a wheelchair accessible space and is preceded by a small number of stairs.

Travel: Any Bus and Metro to Central Station which is located less than 300 ft from the venue (approximately 2 minutes walk).

There is limited street parking, the closest car park is at Central Station
(Charges may apply).