Launching the Bournemouth Jazz Festival: L-R Annette Plaistow-Trepaud, Business Liaison Officer, Bournemouth Coastal BID; Gerry Clarke, Festival Director; guitarist Rob Coral; jazz singer Zoe Schwarz; Steve Hughes, Bournemouth Town Centre BID Manager
Drum legend Ginger Baker, and top singer Jacqui Dankworth are just two of the names featuring in an expanded 2016 Bournemouth Jazz Festival launched earlier today (25 January) at the Miramar Hotel.
The brainchild of film director and entrepreneur Gerry Clarke, the new-look festival features five distinct strands:
Headline Acts programme comprising top international and national jazz names including saxophonist Jean Toussaint who worked with the legendary Art Blakey and the much-loved singer Tina May and rising trumpet star Yazz Ahmed.
‘World Jazz Jamboree’ featuring jazz styles from Africa, Europe, India, The Middle East and South America.
‘Jazz Village’ in Bournemouth town centre with a live music stage, food and drink stalls and a programme of ‘street jazz’ across the town with additional ‘razzmajazz’ pockets planned for Westbourne, Southbourne and Boscombe.
Education programme featuring jazz workshop opportunities for young musicians followed by a schools jazz competition in which bands will be judged and given feedback from an expert panel of judges, culminating in an awards ceremony with concert. This will feature The Dorset Youth Jazz Orchestra and the Bournemouth University Big Band plus special guests.
In addition the festival will feature many of Bournemouth and Dorset’s best-loved jazz musicians and groups including tenor sax player Ian Ellis’s Quartet, trumpet player Andy Urquhart’s Sound of Blue Note with special guest Mark Nightingale added on trombone, celebrated club singer Rachel More, Sarah Bolter’s Not Just Sax with special guest Tina May on vocals, The Swing Unlimited Big Band performing a night of swing classics, The Girls Only Jazz Orchestra and Zoe Schwarz’s award winning Blue Commotion band.
The expanded 2016 Bournemouth Jazz Festival has been made possible by successful funding bids to Arts Council England, The Bournemouth Coastal BID and The Bournemouth Town Centre BID.
Paul Clarke, Coastal BID Chairman and General Manager of the Bournemouth Hallmark West Cliff Hotel said, “The vision of the Bournemouth Jazz Festival team is to create a world class event that will attract visitors to Bournemouth and help to establish the town as an internationally recognized jazz venue with the festival positively contributing to the town’s future economic growth and cultural development.”
Festival Director Gerry Clarke commented, “We had a great response to last year’s festival and I was able to recruit a team of experts to help me develop it into something much bigger. We’ve lots of great quality jazz in the programme with more still to be finalised and announced. But it’s not just about the music. We want people to come to Bournemouth and enjoy the perfect jazz weekend by the sea. We are aiming to raise the town’s cultural profile, widen its appeal and build its economy as well as encouraging new talent and developing international links through our ‘World Jazz Jamboree’ programme.”
Ticketed events can be booked through The Bournemouth Jazz Festival website http://www.bournemouthjazzfestival.co.uk or through the BH Live website https://www.bhlivetickets.co.uk/Online/default.asp
