An international group of musicians, all historians of technology, that have played for the past eleven years at annual international symposia like ICOHTEC and others. Playing jazz, they got their name, The Email Special, for two reasons: because they largely decide what to play and rehearse via email, and as a variation of ‘Air Mail Special’, a tune made famous by Benny Goodman. The roots of this reach back to a symposium in Dresden (then East Germany) in the summer 1986.

The line-up: Hans-Joachim Braun (Germany), trumpet; Tony Stranges (Texas), vibes; Friedrich Naumann (Germany) and Jeremy Kinney (Washington, DC) sharing bass; John Stranges (New York), guitar; Sue Horning (Ohio), vocals; James Williams (Florida), piano. They will be joined by a local drummer from Manchester, and a couple of other colleagues may be sitting in.