Jazz breaking news: Roy Ayers, Ginger Baker, Thomas Strønen, Neil Cowley and Lighthouse For Brecon Jazz Festival
Thursday, June 7, 2012
The line up for this year’s Brecon Jazz Festival has been announced with some strong bookings that make up for the lost ground after Hay, the event’s former organisers, announced they would not be running it again this year.
Taking place on 10-12 August, new operator Orchard have bolstered this ‘interim’ year with a bill that pulls in big names from the US, UK and Europe including headline shows from popular jazz funk vibist Roy Ayers (11 August), and celebrated soul diva Dionne Warwick (10 August). This year’s festival also continues the trend established under Hay’s stewardship, of showcasing new and established home grown jazz talents that reflect the strength of the current British jazz scene.
This includes a performance by Welsh pianist Huw Warren, this year’s artist-in-residence, who appears in a new collaborative trio with acclaimed Norwegian drummer Thomas Strønen and eclectic Austrian bassist Peter Herbert. Other UK artists include the resurgent Neil Cowley Trio, singer Claire Martin, fine Mancunian trumpeter Neil Yates’ Five Counties group, saxophonist Andy Sheppard’s ECM-signed band Trio Libero and the Garland/Simcock/Sirkis power trio Lighthouse. Great Brit Jazz pianist Stan Tracey lines up with Bobby Wellins for a tribute to the music of Monk, while former Mercury Prize Nominees altoist/MC Soweto Kinch and pianist Kit Downes also appear. Former Cream drummer and living legend Ginger Baker brings his Afrobeat-tinged Jazz Confusion band to Brecon, while Norwegian soundscapers Food, who feature Strønen again and former Loose Tube sax/electronics man Iain Ballamy, add some welcome left-field jazztronica sounds to the bill.
In addition to the Market Hall, there will be concerts in Theatr Brycheiniog, the Guildhall, and special events in Brecon Cathedral. The town centre will be the location for street entertainment, and the Brecon Fringe is running an extensive programme of music in bars, venues around the town throughout the weekend. There is even a commemorative concert for Jed Williams, the founder and Artistic Director of Brecon Jazz throughout much of its 28-year history, promoting Jazz4Jed, a bursary set up in his name to benefit Jazz talent in Wales, along with workshops held in Christ College.
For more info: www.breconjazz.com
– Mike Flynn