Roger McKenzie Blog

Today we had the chance to go up to the World famous Apollo Theatre to see Geri Allen and friends celebrate the great jazz women who have graced that stage. In my excitement in booking the tickets online I had manage to book just about the most expensive tickets in the house - the box seat...

Jazz at Lincoln Centre (JALC) is one of those places as a jazz fanatic visiting New York that you really must visit. The Village Vanguard and Smalls etc all have their own place in jazz history but for sheer ...... I don't know what .... Well if I knew what it was Im sure that (JALC) has it in...

For a person to leave what they think is the main drag of a new area they are unfamiliar with is usually a big deal. However, having heard rumour of a fascinating little bookshop within easy walking distance of our hotel we wandered off like old time explorers not knowing what the evening might...

As always the Cheltenham Jazz Festival served up the very best in talent. One of the toughest tasks for the festival goers was to choose from the vast array of talent on offer. Our choices spanned the Friday night through to the Sunday evening and were Georgie Fame, Alex Wilson, Ravi Coltrane and...

The Purslane Restaurant in Cheltenham is one of those little gems you can find by being brave enough to step off the main shopping areas of a major town or city. Located in Rodney Road in Cheltenham, just up the road from the Methodist Hall the road was obviously named after, this restaurant offers...

Looking forward to a brilliant Cheltenham Jazz Festival next weekend. We have tickets to see Georgie Fame, Ravi Coltrane, Alex Wilson and the brilliant young pianist Reuben James and his trio. First saw Reuben James play at the Oxford Jazz Festival last year at the Randolph Hotel with the late and...

Belfast has had as much of a bad press as anywhere on the planet. Things have changed massively. It's my third visit to this great City and its been by far the most comprehensive and enjoyable. We stayed at the excellent Dukes at Queens in the University Quarter. Literally minutes away from the...

If you happen to be staying near Queens University in Belfast and your looking for somewhere to eat take a stroll through the lovely Botanic Gardens, past the impressive Ulster Museum and up Stranmillis Road to a gem of an Indian restaurant called the Indie Spice. It's a little walk up the hill and...

Read this excellent article on the future of independent bookstores The Fall (and rise) of Independent Bookstores

As we entered No Alibis bookstore on Botanic Avenue in Belfast it was very much the morning after the night before. The makeshift stage, which doubled, it later emerged, as the children's section, was still down and the sound system had not fully been packed away. There had been a gig in the...

This is blog is now changing. I will no longer be talking about anything to do with my work. I will now be reviewing places I have visited or things I find interesting - especially independent bookshops or live music. I will leave earlier posting up until I can get around to archiving them...

I recently had the pleasure of being present for the UNISON National Leadership School. Held at Warwick University, the school, still only in its infancy as a union event, brought together activists from all across the union with union staff. The aim of the school, to develop the leadership...