NEWS FEED
Young ‘Jazz Factor’ music competition winners from the Bournemouth Jazz Festival played on route to France and at a civic reception in Cherbourg recently.
A group of talented young musicians from Queen Elizabeth School in Wimborne travelled to Cherbourg in June as the guests of Brittany Ferries and were invited to give impromptu performances of their popular jazz numbers.
The band won top prize in the recent Bournemouth Jazz Festival youth competition. They were invited to entertain passengers on route to France aboard the M.V. Barfleur. On arrival in the old town centre they were greeted by the Mayor of Cherbourg and played to an enthusiastic French audience who really apppreciated the sounds of Dorset’s young ambassadors of jazz.
The 18-piece band was made up of 14 to 18 year olds from QE school, led by Steve Glover, the school’s community music co-ordinator and played a wide range of jazz instruments including saxophone, trombone, trumpet, flute, guitar and drums. Their repertoire covered a variety of jazz standards, including Cab Calloway’s Minnie the Moocher and John Coltrane’s Blue Train, as well as the internationally famous jazz fusion number Birdland by Weather Report.
The Director of the Bournemouth Jazz Festival, Gerry Clarke commented, “The inspirational leadership of Steve Glover gets the most from these young musicians and they perform with energy and enthusiasm. It is great to see tomorrow’s jazz musicians so adept on their instruments and illustrates one of the main aims of the Bournemouth Jazz Festival – to give encouragement to young local musicians. They were great ambassadors for jazz in Dorset and we were most grateful for the kind support of Brittany Ferries for this year’s Jazz Factor competition.”
