Music that is “best served intimate” at the Rye International Jazz & Blues Festival

SussexWorld

It is music that is “best served intimate”, says Ian Bowden. That’s the hallmark of the Rye International Jazz & Blues Festival which returns to the historic town of Rye from Thursday to Monday, August 22-26, boasting a host of top names.

Transcript

00:00Good afternoon, my name is Phil Fluitt, Group Arts Editor for Sussex Newspapers. Always

00:07lovely to speak to Ian Bowden. And Ian, you have created something really fantastic in

00:11the last dozen or so years, Rye International Jazz and Blues Festival. And it's coming up

00:17this year, August the 22nd to the 26th. You must feel very, very proud of what started

00:23small and has now become really significant, hasn't it, on the music calendar on the South

00:29Coast?

00:30Oh, thank you, Phil. That's really kind of you to say. Yeah, it's been a journey emotionally

00:36in every way because I'm so invested in and passionate about music and the joy that brings

00:42to people. And we started from very small beginnings, you know, the small acorns, that

00:48classic story. But it is all about building things small. And we are boutique festival

00:54by design, Phil.

00:55Yeah. And you're saying the crucial thing is, is you want to be able to see the lips

01:00move, you want to be able to see the eyes, see the faces in your performance, which is,

01:04as you say, your music has to be delivered and enjoyed in an intimate setting. That's

01:09the hallmark of this festival, isn't it?

01:12Absolutely right. I mean, you know, where we put the, where we present our headline

01:15concerts at Mary's Church, it's almost a thousand years old. It's just absolutely stunning.

01:22Amazing acoustics. You're close up and personal. I mean, it really is such an intimate, special

01:26experience. And that's really, I suppose you could say, the hallmark of our festival, because

01:33it's so intimate and special and people just love that experience. You can watch people,

01:39you can see their lips moving. It's brilliant. And you're so close up and personal.

01:43And you are back and doing well and confident. And anything that survived a pandemic has

01:48done brilliantly, hasn't it? How tough was that?

01:51It was tough. It was tough. It was tough for everybody involved in the arts and music and

01:55hospitality. But there's a sense of like, when you've worked so hard to build something

01:59from nothing, I mean, this has come from a germ of an idea. And you put your heart and

02:04soul, you give everything you've got to something you believe in. That, you know, not going

02:09forward is just not an option. You've got to keep the belief. You've got to keep the

02:13passion because, you know, at some point it's going to turn around and at some point, you

02:18know, that people are going to come back and want to see fabulous live music. So that,

02:22in a way, kept us kept us going.

02:24Plus, you have loyal audiences who understand what it is that you're doing, don't you?

02:29Yeah, absolutely. You know, I meet people in different times during the festivals and

02:33people, many people I've never met before, and they came up to me and they thank me.

02:38And, you know, it's incredibly flattering and such a lovely thing to be, you know, to

02:44be, you know, to be received that way, because actually they're watching the artists which

02:48are who are amazing. But it's just nice to get some recognition. People really respect

02:53and understand what you're doing, which is, you know, it's very heartfelt and fulfilling.

02:57Absolutely. And what you're giving them back is a fabulous line up for this year. Mention

03:02it, mention a couple of the acts that you're particularly pleased to welcome.

03:06Oh, well, we love working with all of our artists. But basically, we've got the the

03:12legendary and highly acclaimed blues guitarist singer songwriter Eric Bibb. He's launching

03:17the festival on Friday, the 23rd of August. And then we've got a series of afternoon and

03:21evening shows at the festival at St Mary's Church. And then obviously headlining on the

03:28Saturday, we have got Tunde, the voice of Lighthouse Family. So he'd be singing all

03:33the hits. He was one of the main songwriters. And then on Sunday evening, we've got award

03:38winning soul singer Mika Miller with her band. She's fabulous. A young artist, we're championing

03:44young artists coming through as well, Phil. And then on the Monday, we've got Omar, very

03:51acclaimed and very well respected and known soul singer as well. We've got in the afternoon,

03:55we've got Monty Alexander, one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time. And then on the

04:01Monday, we've got John Cleary from New Orleans. He's doing a special celebration of the music

04:06of New Orleans, which will be quite something. And, you know, everyone's looking forward

04:11to it. It's going to be a brilliant weekend.

04:13Fantastic. That's a fabulous line up. Congratulations on all that you've achieved so far. And very,

04:18very best wishes for this year's festival. Thank you very much indeed. Lovely to speak

04:23to you.

04:24Thanks. Thanks, Phil. Thank you very much.

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