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A Weekend of Jazz by the Sea heralded as big success!

This year's Bournemouth Jazz Festival is being described as the best ever, with a fantastic programme of live jazz events from 6pm Friday right through until 10 pm Sunday, and saw a number of audiences coming from outside the area and of course from Bournemouth itself.

Highlights have got to be Jacqui Dankworth singing her heart out with husband Charlie Wood in the King's Hall on Sunday afternoon and Arun Ghosh playing his highly original Indo Jazz music to a packed audience at the Norfolk Royale Hotel on Saturday evening.

Local group Spiral Jazz got the Festival off to a great start on stage in the Jazz Village on Friday night and were quickly followed by Charlie Farran and his Rhythm & Blues Band who kept the audience thoroughly warmed up despite the low temperatures. Meanwhile, up the hill at Canvas, in the old Bournemouth Arts Institute building, Zoe Schwarz and Rob Koral continued the groove, playing all their well known R&B numbers much to the delight of the late night lounge dwellers.

Friday night will also be remembered for the fabulous Swing Unlimited Big Band concert in the King's Hall who played a selection of their jazz favourites made famous by Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra with the resident vocalists Karen Pitt adding a touch of class and Pat Peiro a bit of that old black magic. It didn't take long for a very appreciative audience to take to the floor and enjoy a spot of jitterbug and jive dancing.

All day on Saturday the town was treated to a festival of jazz music to suit all tastes. In the town square, an eclectic mix of jazz styles, from modern to trad kept audiences happy in the free Jazz Village, whilst at the ticketed events in The King's Hall there were concerts by well known international jazz stars Jean Toussaint, Yazz Ahmed and Andy Sheppard and in the Dorset Suite a series of World Jazz Jamboree concerts featuring jazz music from around the globe. The sounds of Africa, India and Latin America reverberated round this popular little venue.

The evening was a choice between the Girls Only Jazz Orchestra with guest singer Tina May performing in The Print Room or the Ginger Baker Experience with Gene Calderazzo and Abbas Doodoo giving fabulous lessons in jazz drumming at the King's Hall.

For some, Sunday is a day of rest, but for aspiring young jazz musicians, it was an opportunity to attend a series of jazz workshops and enter the Jazz Factor competition designed to encourage local schools. For the eventual winners, Wimborne's QE School, it was the beginning of an exciting new adventure - first prize was a jazz trip to France courtesy of Brittany Ferries.

And to help the rest of us relax on Sunday, a romantic concert by Jacqui Dankworth in the King's Hall followed by the delicate sound of jazz fusion with Theo Travis and his band Double Talk, hot from a gig in London.

The festival rounded off Sunday evening with a Hollywood style Awards Ceremony in the Pavilion Ballroom, attended by Peter and Linda Thornton on behalf of the John Thornton Young Achievers Foundation who sponsored the Jazz Factor prizes and the Mayor of Bournemouth, Councillor John Adams who also presented prizes to the winners and thanked Gerry Clarke and his organising team for putting on such a fantastic weekend of Jazz by the Sea!

Pictures:

• The free Jazz Village was a popular draw for visitors to Bournemouth over the weekend

• Arun Ghosh playing his innovative Indo Jazz Music was particularly popular with audiences

• The Swing Unlimited Big Band played a selection of jazz favourites

More Press Information and hi res images, contact Jane Adkins, A Head for PR Ltd, T/: 01935 813114 or E/: jane@aheadforpr.co.uk

April 2016 (BJF 010)