Take Five

Serious is delighted to bring the 20th Edition of Take Five, its flagship talent development programme for emerging jazz and improvising musicians.

Take Five is an annual talent development programme for UK based composer-performers and is designed to give some of the most talented creative jazz musicians the opportunity to take time out to develop their craft, build their careers and get their music out into the world.

Take Five is produced by Serious, and funded by the PRS Foundation, Arts Council England and Serious Trust. 

Since it’s first edition in 2005 the programme has welcomed eight of the finest young composers from across the United Kingdom’s jazz and improvised music worlds each year and offers them mentorship, collaborations and performance opportunities – serving as a pivotal moment in their careers and has frequently led to wider recognition, touring, record deals, and more.

The scheme centres around a week-long artistic residency where the eight artists retreat to the Cotswolds. Under the musical direction of Jason Yarde the group will collaboratively play each other's compositions, written and/or arranged specifically for the musicians in the group - culminating in a private performance on the final evening. Alongside this is a series of holistic activity, ranging from movement work to sound baths and performance coaching. 

Additionally, participants attend an online residency hosted by Fusion, featuring bespoke seminars, panel discussions, and workshops. Serious invite some of the most influential industry experts from across the UK, Europe, and further afield to tackle a range of topics based on what the group has expressed interest in through introductory 1-1 sessions

Following the residency, the artists continue to receive tailored advice from members of Serious’ team alongside being paired with a music industry or artistic mentor. Serious also provides the artists with performance opportunities at the EFG London Jazz Festival and elsewhere – in particular as part of a “Take Five Showcase” which launched at the 2020 edition of the festival

The programme’s alumni list reads as a who’s who of the British jazz scene ranging from Polar Bear’s Seb Rochford (who took part in the very first edition) to Sons of Kemet and The Comet is Coming’s Shabaka Hutchings, British/Bahraini trumpeter Yazz Ahmed to rising star Nubya Garcia, as well as musicians from outside the traditional jazz idiom but with a foot firmly in improvisation such as electronic musician Leafcutter John, conductor and arranger Jules Buckley, and Korean flautist Hyelim Kim. You can see every participant by clicking here 

If you have any enquiries about the scheme, please get in touch via our Contact Form. 

Want to support Take Five? Take Five can only continue to develop the next generation of emerging artists thanks to the generous support of donors. You can donate here or contact [email protected] to find out more about how you can support the programme

Equaliser Mentorship Programme

This year Serious and Black Lives in Music have also announced their newly expanded sound engineering mentorship programme Equaliser – in partnership with Barbican and Royal Albert Hall. Equaliser is a pioneering opportunity designed to develop the talents of the next generation of live sound professionals from global majority backgrounds.

The successful participant will take part in a year-long programme , taking part in Take Five and gaining hands-on paid work experience and mentoring with the Barbican and Royal Albert Hall live sound teams.