255. Manchester Art and Jazz - Alongside the Canal and Yummy Food

Pilot G-Tec C4 pen in

re-cased Seawhite sketchbook, 7.5" x 7.5" (x2)

We decided to take an alternative route back to the hotel and discovered the Gay Village - very colourful with lots of bunting and lively people.

Later, we saw the Lauren Kinsella Ensemble - really thoughtful lyrics, beautifully sung against lovely music.

We went for quite a long walk afterwards and then sought out a vegetarian/vegan restaurant. Apparently there is an 1847 restaurant in Brighton too - will definitely be checking that out! Highly recommended! 

254. Manchester Art and Jazz - Nino De Elche

Pilot G-Tec C4 pen in

re-cased Seawhite sketchbook, 7.5" x 7.5" (x2)

This was not an 'urban' sketch because I only wrote the script above while we were out. The lead musician just poured out his soul and I felt it inappropriate to sketch while he was giving such a poignant performance. I just took a sneaky photo and drew from it on my return.

This gentleman spoke only in Spanish but I was able to understand a lot of it from my little knowledge of Italian. He, too, read some poetry but mostly sang, cried, gasped, etc., throughout the concert. 

The guitarist created amazing sounds by attaching little portable fans to the guitar and varied the effects by switching them on and off and changing the speeds. Molto interessante!

251. Manchester Art and Jazz - Alabaster Deplume

Pilot G-Tec C4 pen in

re-cased Seawhite sketchbook, 7.5" x 7.5" (x2)

OK, now this was different! Gus (in the middle) offered up very interesting poetry as well as playing the saxophone. Paddy (on the right) had various percussive instruments all of which he used.

250. Manchester Art and Jazz - James Beckwith Trio

Pilot G-Tec C4 pen in

re-cased Seawhite sketchbook, 7.5" x 7.5" (x2)

Another great set and it was evident that these guys were good friends as they seemed to get on really well with each other. I was taken up with getting the piano right and also the Manchester Jazz Festival logo so didn't get around to the other two musicians.

247. Manchester Art and Jazz - Peter Edwards Trio

Pilot G-Tec C4 pen in

re-cased Seawhite sketchbook, 7.5" x 7.5" (x2)

This was the first concert we attended - the guys were great so we bought their CD. You can see the 'set' down the left hand side. Afterwards, the Peter (at the piano) asked if he could photograph my sketch and he also signed it - great!

246. Manchester Art and Jazz - Real Pizza

Pilot G-Tec C4 pen in

re-cased Seawhite sketchbook, 7.5" x 7.5"

 
Well, excitement on top of excitement - we went to Manchester because the annual Urban Sketchers' Symposium was being held there at the Manchester School of Art. In addition, the Jazz Festival was on at the same time, together with the Beer Festival. This meant that Manchester was buzzing and around every corner at various times of the day, there were sketchers, music lovers and beer drinkers - sometimes all three were combined!

We were amongst the many that did not have a Symposium ticket but went along (so glad I did) as there were several sketch crawls and so much to sketch in the city centre.

This is the first of a few sketches I did - mostly at the jazz concerts - it is unfinished because we wanted a front seat at the concert where I could sketch the musicians and their instruments with a clear view.