JazzAction was established by Northern Arts in 1986 as the jazz development agency for the Northern region. Now concentrating on the North East area, the agency supports a range of bands, from the Lewis Watson trio to the superb Voice of the North Jazz Orchestra, as well as providing assistance to most of the region's major jazz promoters.

Saxtrader, based in Newcastle, is the UK's leading online resource for the buying and selling of new, secondhand and reconditioned saxophones, and for all sax-related matters.

Schmazz was founded towards the end of 1999 by the late Keith Morris, as a platform for local and national musicians who are exploring new routes for jazz. In keeping with this principle, bands performing for Schmazz are expected to play only their own original material - "no standards, ever". Apart from this one criterion, Schmazz is willing to book musicians playing across a wide range of genres, from world jazz through various forms of fusion to full-on free improvisation. The emphasis is on British musicians, although Euopean and American artists have been featured on a few occasions.

Most Schmazz gigs take place at the Cluny in Newcastle, normally on the last Tuesday of the month. However, a couple of co-promotions at The Sage Gateshead have been very successful, and it seems probable that there will be more to come.