Punch is looking for a resourceful and creative new Project Co-ordinator.

Salary range £18k – £20k

What we’re looking for:

At an exciting juncture of the organisation’s development, we are looking for a Project Co-ordinator to build on our innovative education and projects programme and take our digital communications to the next level.

The Project Co-ordinator will be responsible for Punch’s project based work, taking a lead from its inception, through planning and co-ordination to evaluation. This exciting and fast moving role will include organising one off events, bespoke training and workshop programmes, community projects and commissions throughout the year and as part of the annual BASS Festival.

We expect the post-holder to have experience of working on education or events projects within a community or young person focussed environment.

For a full job description and application please click on the links below.

Job Description

Application Form

Closing date: noon on Monday 19^th July 2010

Interview Date: Monday 2^nd August 2010

For further information about the role, please email: ammo (at) punch-records.co.uk

Punch touring is proud to announce the UK tour by a real legend of African music. Tony Allen will be marking his 70th birthday and the 50th anniversary of Nigerian independence with a UK tour this autumn. Kicking off at the mac (Midlands Art Centre)  in Birmingham, the five date tour with his full afrobeat orchestra will play in Leeds, London, Edinburgh, Bristol and Glasgow. Tony Allen, who played at the WOMAD festival in Charlton Park on 23 July 2010, will be promoting his CD Secret Agent and playing a special showcase at London’s Barbican. This will be the third tour produced through Black Routes, the network for touring African and Caribbean music.

Full 2010 tour dates are:
30 September, Birmingham mac

1 October, Glasgow The Aches

2 October, Edinburgh HMV Picture House

3 October, Leeds Wardrobe

6 October, London Barbican Centre

7 October, Bristol Metropolis

Tony Allen’s track Asiko was heavily sampled by J Dilla. Check out the clip below:

Born in August 1940, and a self-taught musician, Tony Allen began to play at the age of eighteen, a fan of American jazz but also fascinated by traditional music and with the percussion work of Ghanaian Guy Warren, who mixed traditional rhythms with the new sounds of American bebop. Invited to audition for a jazz-highlife band by Fela Kuti in 1964, he became an original member of Kuti’s Koola Lobitos highlife-jazz band and started a decades-long musical relationship.

Allen is known as the man who put the beat in Afrobeat, Nigeria’s most influential musical export – a combination of the heavy groove and universal appeal of soul with jazz, highlife, and the polyrhythms of Yoruba music. Allen’s fusion of drum styles perfectly complemented Fela’s new African groove and he recorded over 30 albums with Fela and Africa ’70 – widely regarded as Fela’s best works. He has also worked with Manu Dibango, King Sunny Ade and Ray Lema. While often returning to the Afrobeat template that made his name, in the years since Allen has also worked with a broad range of rock acts, such as Jimi Tenor,  and, to general acclaim, with Damon Albarn, Paul Simonon as the group The Good, The Bad and the Queen.

A free exhibition charting the history of Bhangra will be on display in the foyer area at Warwick Arts Centre from Tuesday 11th May to Sunday 6th June 2010. Soho Road to the Punjab is a rolling project, which collects the memories and memorabilia of UK Bhangra. The exhibition explores, explains and celebrates the development of British Asian Music into a world class export. For more information, click here or visit the Soho Road to the Punjab website.

The play opens from Tuesday 25th May 2010 at Warwick Arts Centre with the press night at Warwick Arts Centre taking place on Wednesday 26th May at 7.30pm where Coventry artists, The Balle! Shava! Bhangra Dancers and Masterclass Dhol Drummers come together to perform from 6.45pm – 7.30pm in the foyer area. This is a free performance open to all non ticket holders.

The dancers bring their own individual experiences and unique style in the art of Bhangra dancing. They have toured alongside mainstream acts in the Bhangra industry and starred in number one Asian music videos. Masterclass led by Juggy Rihal have also toured with the biggest names in the Asian music scene and international artists with their aim to represent the Asian culture on a worldwide platform.

Please click here to see pictures taken from the press night and below check out the footage of the The Balle! Shava! Bhangra dancers and MasterClass Dhol Drummers performing:

For any enquiries on the performance please contact:
Kully Singh on 07850594655
The Balle! Shava! Bhangra Dancers and MasterClass Dhol Drummers              

For more information call Punch on 0121 224 7444.

Part of the four day challenge Verma will embark on a 120 mile journey from London’s BBC Centre on 22nd May 2010 to The Mailbox, Birmingham arriving ahead of the public consultation closure 25th May 2010. His protest journey will start on the day of the world’s first ever Bhangra Flashmob! For more details on the Flashmob,click here.

Verma thought of the idea of walking backwards after hearing about Lotan Baba, Indian’s famous ‘Rolling Saint’ who has rolled over 18,000 miles across India in a bid for unity and peace. His belief in penance and the backwards step for BBC’s decision to close BBC Asian Network and 6 Music encouraged Verma to devise this challenge.

Through this Verma hopes to build support for the campaign to ’save BBC Asian Network and 6 Music’.

For more information call Punch on 0121 224 7444.

Check out the short clip added when Punch hit the Birmingham Vaisakhi Mela 2010, click here.

The World’s first ever and biggest BHANGRA FLASHMOB is here to help support the campaign to save the BBC Asian Network and British Asian music.

Date: 22nd May 2010

Time: 1pm

Location: Central London, TBC

RSVP to the facebook group page and join the World’s 1st and biggest BHANGRA FLASHMOB – to save Asian Network, click here.

UPDATE  on 21st May 2010:

Due to overwhelming support a second flashmob event will take place Victoria Sqaure, Birmingham from 12.30 noon.

 Check out Punch’s short clip of Bhangra stars signing up to the World’s first ever Bhangra Flashmob:

Check out the short clip added when Punch hit the Birmingham Vaisakhi Mela 2010, click here.

Punch hit the Vaisakhi Mela in Birmingham on Sunday, 25th April 2010 to target local people distrubuting flyers, encouraging them to fill out the petition and capturing on film people’s message on saving the BBC Asian Network.

Check out our first short clip from the Birmingham Vaisakhi Mela 2010 and watch out for more news to follow.

See the short clip added of Bhangra stars signing up to the World’s first ever ‘Bhangra Flashmob’, click here.

View our brochure online by clicking on the image below:

The topic for the seminar was Is Black Music Dead? and speakers included representatives from West Midlands Police, promoters, artists and businesses.