J.A.M. String Collective + James Gow

J.A.M. String Collective and James Gow share a bill at St George's Bristol on Saturday 24 October, part of the venue's 'Just Announced' series. It's a double bill in the Glass Studio, so you get two distinct sets in one evening rather than one act taking the whole night.

James Gow is the one most of the St George's regulars will recognise. He's spent years on the cello with JOW and Eleven Magpies, but this is a different gear: he's launching a solo project built around the four-stringed tenor guitar. It's a new direction for him, and this is one of the first times you'll hear it out in the open.

J.A.M. String Collective take the other half. They're a British jazz ensemble that works with strings, blending traditional and contemporary elements around intricate arrangements and a thick texture of string instruments. They've put out two albums so far: their self-titled debut in 2023 and She Looks Up at the Trees in 2025. On the night, they'll be playing tracks from that second record, alongside a new composition by Oleta Haffner called 'Elemental Suite'.

Between the two, you've got Gow's solo tenor guitar and the Collective's full string ensemble, so it's a night that stays within the string family but moves from a single player to a whole group. The whole thing is suitable for ages 10 and over, which keeps it open for families if you're bringing the younger ones along.

Tickets are £15, with a 9% booking fee on top if you book online or over the phone, and a £2.50 postage fee where applicable. It starts at 5.00pm in the Glass Studio at St George's.