THE essential gig for your diary is tomorrow night at the National Centre for Early Music (NCEM), with Dennis Rollins’ Velocity Trio.

The trombonist presents his new, straight-ahead trio, which takes its influences from Art Blakey and Jimmy Smith, and features Mike Gourman from the Jim Mullen Trio, and Shaney Forbes from Empirical on drums. Details from 01904 658338.

There is a change of programme at Wakefield Jazz tonight (01977 680542). Marlene Ver Planck has had to cancel her UK gigs and the Lee Gibson Quartet has jumped in. Vocalist Lee is well-known to Wakefield audiences and appears at festivals across Europe and in the USA.

Jazz In The Spa has one of its favourite traditional bands tomorrow night, with the Chicago Teddy Bears Society Jazz Band (01937 842544), while Howden Live has the blues singer/guitarist Michael Roach. From Washington DC, Michael plays the East Coast style of the blues which dates back to the 1920s (01405 431535).

Sunday lunchtime jazz in York presents the usual problem of two clashing residencies. The Rob Lavers Quartet plays at Kennedys Cafe Bar, Little Stonegate (01904 620222), while the Karl Mullen Trio entertains at the Tanglewood Restaurant, Malton Road, Flaxton Moor (01904 468611). Both sessions run from around 12.30pm to 4pm.

Round off your Sunday night with The Blueflies at the Roman Bath, St Sampsons Square (01904 620455). Miles Gilderdale spends much of the year with guitar band Acoustic Alchemy, who have sold seven million albums in the US.

Free from acoustic restraints, The Blueflies trio of Miles (guitar/vocals), Gavin (bass) and The Legendary Trevor King (drums) rip it up in hot and groovy style, well-deserving of the “F” word – phenomenal. Check LTK’s starring role on youtube – dial Treacherous Kicks, then Fathas drum solo (oldest and cheapest drummer in York).

A great success story is the weekly Yorkjazz jam session at the Black Swan, Peasholme Green, where a bunch of York’s top musicians host open-mic for anyone who wants to sing or play every Wednesday (01904 679131).

Scarborough Jazz at the Cask also operates on Wednesdays and their guests are Real Book North West (01723 379818). Real Books originated in the USA as unlicensed collections of tunes used by jazz musicians and singers, often copied from recordings and printed in book form. This new anthology is of 100 original compositions by 60 of the region’s finest composers, the first in the Real Book tradition to focus entirely on UK artists.

Led by multi-reeds player Andy Schofield and world-class guitarist Mike Walker, the quintet’s tour has been sponsored by Jazz Services.

Flying Dreams (F-IRE Records) is a new album from vocalist Brigitte Beraha with a young modern jazz quartet playing original compositions.

Brigitte’s finely pitched voice alternates between original lyrics and wordless harmonies with the trumpet and flugelhorn of Joe Auckland; unlike many singers, she is generous with solo space for all the instruments.

Opening track So Simple sets the scene, moving confidently from a brisk and joyful tempo to slower instrumental sections. George Hart takes a fluent and inventive drum solo on Moving On.

Deja Vu, In A Dream features a reflective and controlled flugelhorn solo and with the backing piano of Ivo Neame reflects the mood of the piece rather better than the simplistic lyrics. This music desperately needs more considered lyrics to match the playing.

Repeated listening to Flying Dreams is rewarding, to catch all the nuances and dynamics of the excellent musicianship and Ms Beraha has learned a great deal in vocal accuracy and adventurous improvisation from Norma Winstone. However, she needs to think beyond feel-good, self-referential.