Brighton Jazz Festival returns for 2024

SussexWorld

Brighton Jazz Festival returns for 2024 with four days of music from Thursday to Sunday, September 26 to 29 on the Palace Pier.

Transcript

00:00Good afternoon, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers. Something

00:06fabulous coming up in Brighton very soon, it's the Brighton Jazz Festival from September

00:11the 26th to the 29th, and it's on the Palace Pier, and Jack Kendon, you're going to tell

00:16me all about it. Now why is Brighton Jazz Festival such a special thing? What is it

00:21about it, would you say?

00:23Well I think there's a few things. It represents the incredible jazz scene and music scene

00:29that we have in Brighton, which has been a kind of tradition for a number of years.

00:36It also is on the Brighton Palace Pier, one of the most iconic tourist attractions in

00:44the UK, I think it's the most visited tourist attraction in the UK.

00:49And what does that give the festival, that you're in such a location then?

00:55It's absolutely spectacular. On a good day, it's absolutely spectacular. The sunrise when

00:59you're a quarter of a mile into the ocean is truly wonderful, and it's a really remarkable

01:06experience for the audience and the artist. And even when it's raining, it's still, you

01:12know, it's biblical at times. So, you know, it's a really, truly amazing venue to run

01:20the festival.

01:21And there's plenty of family resonance for you, isn't there?

01:25There is!

01:26This is personal too, isn't it?

01:27There is. So the Palace Pier was actually owned by my extended family. Oliver Dalton

01:33was his name. If you Google him, he will come up as a charismatic entrepreneur. And my mum,

01:40she used to work at the Dodgeons when she was like 15. So when we first decided to do

01:46it on the Palace Pier, it was, you know, it was a lovely thing for my family. And then

01:51also my dad is a double bass player, and he actually formed the first ever Brighton

01:55Jazz Festival 40 years ago. So it was kind of a collision of both sides of the family.

02:01So that first year that we did it, it truly was quite special.

02:04So that first incarnation had disappeared, the one that your dad set up?

02:09It had, I think. I think it kind of lasted a couple of years, and then that was it. And

02:15it kind of didn't happen again, I think. Then the Brighton Festival took over, and then

02:19they had a jazz element, but the Brighton Jazz Festival just kind of stopped, you know.

02:23So why wasn't there all the time to bring it back then, do you think?

02:29Well, I think now was the time because the Brighton Jazz scene has been flourishing in

02:36the last, you know, five to 10 years. And really, we decided to do it because we felt

02:44that Brighton really deserved to be on the map, and its thriving jazz scene deserved

02:51to get that recognition. So yeah, we just put a team together, and along, working along

02:59with The Pier and Latest TV, we kind of formed this wonderful festival.

03:04Fantastic. Now, you formed it, what, four years ago? And the last four years haven't

03:09been exactly the easiest years for the entertainments industry. So if you can do well in the current

03:15context, you're going to do brilliantly when things really pick up, aren't you? And you

03:19have done well.

03:20Yeah, we have. It has been sold out every year. And I think, you know, a lot of that

03:27has to do with a desire for people to see live music, especially after COVID and that

03:34lockdown, lots of people were just kind of desperate to see something real again. But

03:41also, the lineups that we've booked, not only is it kind of celebrating Brighton, and it's

03:49seen it's celebrating the UK jazz scene, it's celebrating the international jazz scene.

03:53And our programme is definitely representative of that.

03:59And you've got a particularly strong programme this year, haven't you?

04:03Yeah, so we each year, we have always looked to bring in an American. So in the past, we've

04:11brought in Grammy award winning trumpet player Kieron Harrold and Benny Banach. This year,

04:16we have the sensational alto saxophonist Patrick Bartley. He will be joined by award winning

04:23pianist and rising UK star Destinil Gordon and his trio. And to join them on the programme

04:33starting, our programme actually kicks off on Thursday 26th. And it is rising star Sean Payne

04:40and his quartet and followed by Rachel Cohen at 9.30 with her New York rising star piano

04:53trio featuring Mickey Yamanaka. On Friday the 27th, we have Nat who featured at this year's

05:02Love Supreme and absolutely blew the crowd away. And they will be followed by Teejo and

05:09Not To Be Missed, who also completely smashed it at Love Supreme as well on our stage.

05:15Sunday the 29th is Claire Martin, kind of award winning tour de force with her quartet.

05:27And the kind of A-list kind of of legends Tim Garland and Jason Rebello. And joining Patrick on

05:38the Saturday is the sensational Cal trio. So it's an incredible lineup. We're very excited.

05:43Everyone's buying their tickets very quick. We do have some tickets left on Thursday, Friday and

05:48Sunday. Saturday is sadly sold out.

05:50And tickets available from? Where do people get their tickets?

05:54You can get them at www.brightonjazzfestival.co.uk or you can find us on our socials at

06:00at Brighton Jazz Fest on Instagram and Facebook. But yeah, get in there quick.

06:06And for a relatively young festival, you are certainly bringing in plenty of names and variety,

06:13aren't you? It's like you're super well established already, isn't it?

06:16Yeah, I think I think you can kind of take your hat off to Brighton and, you know, the city that it

06:23is. And yeah, I think, you know, it's been a it's been a wonderful ride and we only kind of hope

06:31for it to kind of get bigger and better. And, you know, each year it kind of does.

06:34I was going to say, you do sell out. Are you thinking to expand in future years or have you

06:39kind of reached the optimum?

06:40There's it's been a conversation at the moment. We are happy with where we are at and the kind

06:46of template that we have on the Brighton Palace Pier. So for now, this is our this is where we

06:52stay. But yeah, we hope to see you at Horatio's Thursday, 26th to the 29th of September.

07:02Yeah, we'll see you at the Brighton Jazz Fest.

07:04Perfect. Fantastic. Hope it goes brilliantly. Great to speak to you.

07:09Cheers, Phil.

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