There’s been a lot of jazz about in Birmingham and the Midlands in 2011 in the way of smaller pub gigs but a little less in the way of big concerts.

Much credit for the former is due to the Cobweb Collective musicians who have been putting on weekly gigs at the Spotted Dog in Digbeth, as well as The Yardbird, and have now added The Drum as a venue as well.

Birmingham Jazz had to conserve its funds, and so reduced its programme in order to preserve its high standards.

The long-established Birmingham International Jazz Festival blanketed the city with jazz for free in the summer, while the two youthful festivals, Mostly Jazz and Harmonic, grew even stronger.

These are the 10 ticketed events I got the most from in 2011, in date order:

Steve Lehman Octet, CBSO Centre: The chance to hear what is going on at the cutting edge of jazz in New York, from a composer who allies some of the preoccupations of contemporary “classical” music with the instrumentation, energy and rhythmic feel of jazz.

Uri Caine meets Mahler, Birmingham Town Hall: Caine and his musicians leave specific genre way behind, reminding us that great music is just that.

Hans Koller Sextet, CBSO Centre: The London-based pianist and composer has close ties with Birmingham, coming here once a week to teach jazz students at Birmingham Conservatoire.

We educated and entertained in equal measure. Jazz that’s cliche-free.