 Southport jazz celebration goes nativeJazz lights up Southport again in February, and after the organisers of the seaside town’s annual Jazz on a Winter’s Weekend festival witnessed audience responses at the IAJE convention in Toronto last January, it’s a particular strain of jazz: homegrown. “We were so overjoyed by the reception given by predominantly American and Canadian audiences to the British jazz showcase that it made us more appreciative of the quality of the jazz we sometimes take for granted in our own backyard,” says Geoff Matthews, the festival’s chairman. So from February 6 to 8, Southport welcomes pianist David Newton, with friends including Art Themen, Arnie Somogyi’s Scenes in the City, Don Weller and Bobby Wellins with a trio and string ensemble, Alan Barnes’ Octet, singers Anita Wardell, Liz Fletcher and Todd Gordon, and the Clark Tracey Quartet’s special tribute to British composers from Charlie Chaplin to Django Bates. All gigs take place in Royal Clifton Hotel and further details are available from www.jazzinsouthport.co.uk Rob Adams 31/01/2009 |