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There are two extra gigs on Friday evening in addition to the printed programme:
1. Marquee 2, 7.20-8.40pm, Aquarium, with Sam Leak (p) James Allsopp (saxes) Calum Gourlay (b) and Joss Blackmore (d). Four brilliant young musicians, recent graduates but already with impressive lists of ‘played with’ and ‘played at’ in their CVs.
2. Marquee 1, 7.15-8pm, Mike Denham (solo piano) “ From Jelly Roll to Rock and Roll”.
We’re pleased to present you with the programme for our 21st festival. We’ve tried, as always, to put together a selection of most kinds of jazz, which fans would be unlikely to hear in the course of a year of local jazz club gigs.
You can if you wish sample everything - New Orleans, Dixieland, swing, bop, and post bop, ‘contemporary’ and bands that simply defy classification - or you can settle down to listen to your preferred styles in one or two venues. As ever we have booked some well-known musicians who are leading lights of the present day British jazz scene and mixed them with younger and less well-known musicians whose talents and enthusiasm mark them out as future leading lights.
The venues are close together in the centre of the town, on or within a few minutes walk of the sea front. All the venues have bars serving local real ales.
Most people who have been to the Festival seem to agree that Swanage is the perfect place for a summer weekend of jazz. If you haven’t been before, we think you’ll find the mix of a weekend of top class jazz with a relaxed seaside setting irresistible. This is a very beautiful part of the country, with stunning coastal and hill scenery and charming villages.
The Jazz festival is run on a non-profit-making basis by a group of fans, who continue to promote the event after two decades because we love the music and enjoy the experience. We’ve grown from a small and rather shaky start to our present size, selling a thousand tickets for each of the three days. We get a small amount of sponsorship, from some local businesses and from the PRS Foundation for New Music. But over ninety per cent of our income comes from what the fans spend on tickets and the bars.
The stroller tickets cover everything except the Friday afternoon jazz cruise. The music runs from 7 to 11pm on Friday, 11am to 11pm on Saturdays and Sundays. There are also various free events: the very popular brass band parade on Saturday morning, a church service of gospel music, and several free pub venues offering traditional and modern jazz at lunchtime and in the evenings.
Weekend stroller tickets are on sale from early February to the end of May, after which we also sell day tickets. Last year we sold out and had the unhappy experience of dealing with quite a number of people who arrived in Swanage without tickets. The cruise tends to sell out quickly, so we advise you to book early. We also urge you to book your accommodation when you buy your tickets. (Like most seaside towns Swanage has experienced conversion of many hotels and guesthouses into flats in the past few years.) The local hotel guide is available from the Tourist Office (01929 422885) and we also recommend the local community web site (www.virtual-swanage.co.uk) for a full range of accommodation from three star hotels to small guesthouses and self-catering accommodation (including caravans and camping sites).
All of our venues are accessible by wheel chair. We are very definitely a child-friendly festival – we are pleased to admit children under sixteen free with a responsible adult, and we offer discounts of fifty per cent to school and college students.
A message from the President
This year marks the 21st anniversary of the Swanage jazz Festival, yet it seems like only yesterday that I became acquainted with Fred Lindop, the Festival’s director and founder. Back in the mid-eighties when I was proprietor of the 100 Club. Fred began attending some of the modern sessions. He turned up to listen to the likes of Dick Morrissey and Stan Tracey and it was at these sessions that we started chatting and became friends. Fred was teaching in South London during the week and would return to Swanage at weekends. He felt that the beautiful Dorset resort might host a jazz festival and, together with a couple of like-minded enthusiasts began to look at the possibilities. [Actually, Roger, it was my wife Anita who persuaded me to overcome my doubts –Fred Lindop].
In 1990 the first Festival took place. Dick Morrissey, Humphrey Lyttelton and Campbell Burnap were among the artists that took part on that memorable occasion. My limited input into the Festival was to give Fred a few contact numbers and suggest possible band fees. My reward was to be appointed Festival President, an honour of which I am extremely proud.
This weekend celebrates twenty-one years of success, a not inconsiderable achievement, bearing in mind other larger festivals have had to call it a day. Without doubt this success is down to Fred and his hardworking team, whose dedication, enthusiasm and love of the music have placed Swanage in the forefront of summer jazz events. It only remains for me to wish the Festival continuing success and to send congratulations on a very significant birthday.
Roger Horton