That Blog is back!

But it has been to the Swanage Jazz Festival, so basically this will be a report of that. A report on Hedsor will be later this week.

So, the Swanage Jazz Festival.

I’m going to comment about the gigs I actually heard, then a general bit about the festival overall.

Friday 7^th July

First of all, wasn’t it great to be back in a marquee on Sandpit Field! It was a little early for a sit down gig, but even at 4pm, Alan Barnes is a great listen. His Quartet of Paul Edis on piano, Adam King on bass and Joel Barford on drums was top quality. All of the constituent parts are stars in there own right, but it would have been nice to have had some old time Barnes collaborators for him to react with. It was an excellent set, finishing just about 6pm, but it would have been more exciting with another front liner. Alan will be at Hedsor on September 7^th.

 

Saturday 8^th July

Saturday started off with the New Orleans parade (no still pics!), just as it always did. However it becomes kind of irrelevant if you can only parade up and down the front, and not go round the town as in days of yore! The band were good, and it would have saved the old legs if the band had just walked up to the middle of the front and then played a set from there. I think the impact on potential audience, which this once gave the entire festival, was definitely lacking.

However, they were near enough to the Mowlem Theatre for me to quickly nip in to the start of The Craig Milverton Quintet’s 75 minutes.

 

For me, this was the best jazz of the weekend and this was unexpectedly so. The players were Craig on piano, with Ian Ellis on reeds, Andy Urquhart trumpet, Ashley John Long on bass and Alex Goodyer on drums. They were excellent, each complementing the others with skill in every area, with great improvisation and in harmonic sympathy with each other. The young drummer was unbelievable!! He had ALL the technique and knew when it was required. He didn’t get in the way and he could swing! It was a real shame to only have them together for one long set. They played innovative, swinging, modern jazz, and by another level too.

At the end of Craig’s set I then decided a drink in the Showbar would be desirable. Whilst quenching my thirst I became aware that a keyboard was being prepared, and I saw a face I thought I knew, and decided to stay and listen. The face belonged to singer pianist composer Julie Lewis, who some years ago I saw in a pub in Weymouth. I thought then, and I definitely think now, that she is an undiscovered gem. She was aided on this occasion by the saxophonist who had done so well with Craig Milverton not ½ hour before, Ian Ellis, and they deserve to be on an international stage, not just in a bar in Swanage. The 2 hours for me were an unplanned stop off, and they/she should have been allowed a place in the main program as she is a real find.

 

As a matter of interest I had met her before in the days of Ken Rankine when he sat in on bass with a band in a pub in Weymouth, and Julie was the singing pianist.

Then another late afternoon session in the Marquee with the saviour of the Swanage Festival, Nigel Price, from 5pm until 6.15.

 

He was playing with Italian guitarist Alesio Menconi , with Mikele Montolli on bass and Joel Barford on drums. A really excellent set of superb guitar playing by two masters of the craft. When I first introduced Nigel at a Cookham Festival Jazz event some years ago I said I thought he was the best guitarist in the country, and the intervening years have not proved me wrong. Alessio is also an award winning guitarist, and he and Nigel were just completing a UK tour. The set could have been improved if another solo instrument had been involved, as over an hour of guitar sound, however brilliantly played, was a little samey. 

There was a torrential downpour during this set, which would have made “strolling” very difficult but added to the percussive sounds!

Sunday 9^th July

I managed 3 concerts on Sunday, the first being in the marquee listening to a young male singer born and bred in Swanage, Dylan Ross. He did an excellent job of sounding like Frank Sinatra, backed by Paul Styles on reeds, Phil Doyle on keyboard, Joe Lamburn on bass and Jan Evans on drums. Again I got the impression from watching and listening that the band had not rehearsed before playing at the Swanage Festival.

 

Next up was Dave O’Higgins with Rob Luft on guitar in The Mowlem Theatre with Ross Stanley on keyboard Misha Mullov-Abbado on bass and Billy Pod on drums. An interesting jazz rock approach, the guitar sound of Rob being very different to Nigel Price. It was a very good presentation of the jazz fusion sound.

 

The third concert was my first and last visit this year to the Conservative Club to see Jon Lloyd and Tobie Muir give a tribute to Wayne Shorter, which they called “Speak No Evil”. Both leaders were on saxophone, with Ray Shea on keyboard, Paul Lawrence Francis on bass and James Wheeler on drums. A good try, they were obviously very passionate about the music of Wayne Shorter but they weren’t tight enough, and slightly under rehearsed. The sound system in the room didn’t help much, the piano sound during the first set being very poor, but it was much improved in the second set.

 

Overall Impressions of Swanage 2023

 

It was without doubt great to have Sandpit Field back in use again. The marquee was very nice, but was bigger than it needed to be. For around the same cost it would be better to have 2 smaller marquees as we used to have.

There were not nearly so many well known names there, and even though many of the new names were good, they would not be a draw to anyone.

The gigs were all too short, and there was not enough opportunity to socialize around the performance areas. The gaps between performances were too long, and there wasn’t enough of interest in each area to stay put for ¾ to 1 ½ hours.

The town itself is also down on eating areas. Café’s either shut at 6pm, or weren’t open at all. On Saturday and Sunday finding an evening meal was very difficult. Saturday was difficult, Sunday was just impossible. Sandpit Field could well host more fast food outlets. The beer tent was woefully undermanned, with queues out the door except during actual performances. Ensuring a better supply of food and drink actually in Sandpit Field, with some sheltered areas in case of rain, would be a great help, especially if more than one marquee were there as well. It would enable the social mix that made The Swanage Jazz Festival a “come back every year” attraction.

Musically there were some surprising finds. Julie Lewis with sax Ian Ellis were vastly superior to the jazz (?) singer and bass player Isabella Burnham (I caught the last number from her set). Julie deserves far better exposure than she had. The jazz produced by Craig Milverton’s Quintet was also outstanding.

Overall, not enough real quality, too many gaps, and not enough choice really. I promote modern jazz, but still enjoy traditional forms. When the marquees were adjacent to each other, you could stroll between them and catch different genres of music without tramping miles. You could also converse with friends outside the marquees, but still be aware of the music. Sometimes this half listening led you towards sounds you might not have chosen.

Outstanding for the weekend?  Alan Barnes and Nigel Price. But apart from there set sessions, they had little opportunity of playing with others of similar stature that we used to see. To see top players sparking off from each other was one of the delights of Swanage Jazz past. I have never forgotten Scott Hamilton and Tina May in the upstairs Victoria Club, AT THE SAME TIME.

The consensus over Mondays breakfast was it was better to have Swanage back again than not, even though it hadn’t the overall quality of previous years. We wouldn’t like to see it fold, but some idea of next years content would be good. Asking us to buy next year’s tickets blind is a pig in a poke and there doesn’t seem to be a weekend stroller on offer for next year either. And an increase in the cost, AND touting for donations! That, together with the hefty charges for accommodation and food are making it a very expensive weekend!

Just to underline one of the stresses, I missed some good music because I couldn’t get a proper evening meal and my little legs are now 85 years old. The gaps between gigs, both in distance and in time didn’t help!