‘Swanage has got to be somewhere around here…’ Phronesis should  find it by 14 July Publicity picture

Nigel Price has packed a lot in to his first Swanage Jazz Festival. Peter Bacon reports:

It looked like the 2017 Swanage Jazz Festival was going to be its last… But the doomsayers weren’t counting on one musician’s passion and, some might say, excessive work ethic.



Now the full line-up for 2018 has been released and it packs an awful lot into three days. It includes  Claire Martin, the Ronnie Scott Jazz Orchestra, the Alan Barnes Octet, Phronesis, Scott Hamilton, Simon Spillett, the Clark Tracey Quintet, Georgia Mancio, Jazz Jamaica, the Julian Siegel Quartet, Andrew McCormack and Jason Yarde, and Byron Wallen’s Four Corners. And there’s a lot more.

In case you don’t know the backstory, here is how the latest press release sums it up:

“Swanage Jazz Festival has been an established and much loved event on the jazz calendar for the last twenty–eight years. In 2017, the committee announced that due to various personal reasons, it was to disband and that the festival had come to a close.

“Touring jazz musician Nigel Price, unable to stand by and watch another UK jazz festival fold, stepped in. Through a series of innovative fundraising initiatives and sponsorship agreements, he managed to raise enough capital to keep the prospect of a future for the festival alive and has booked an exciting roster of artists to appear in 2018.

“A new interactive website is now live and final preparations for the three-day programme showcasing the best in UK jazz are underway.

“Nigel has been careful to observe sensitivity to the needs of the long established audience and has booked old friends of the festival alongside new and contemporary music, ensuring that this year, there is something for everyone to enjoy – traditional, modern and contemporary with a bit of gypsy jazz and lindy hop thrown in for good measure!

“It now remains for festival-goers, jazz fans and the wider musical community to match Nigel’s tireless enthusiasm to ensure that his efforts are rewarded with a successful sell-out festival.”

Nigel Price said: “I’ve never attempted anything like this before. If I can pull it off it’ll be a triumph and no mistake. I won’t lie, it’s been more work than I ever imagined it would or could be and I’ve had to learn a lot very quickly. I suppose I’ve applied the ‘build it and they will come’ school of thought. Well, I’ve built it…”

Here is the final line-up for the three days:

Friday 13 July
Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Orchestra with support from Claire Martin OBE and Nigel Price, 
The Bateman Brothers Jazz Band, Tony Jacobs’ Tuxedo Jazz Band, Tony Kofi, Alan Barnes Octet, Jonny Hepbir Trio,  Jazz Orchestra at Queen Elizabeth’s School Wimborne (JOQE).
Late night jam session with Andy Davies.

Saturday 14 July
Phronesis, Scott Hamilton and Champian Fulton, Echoes Of Ellington ft. Claire Martin OBE, Clark Tracey Quintet, Georgia Mancio, Martin Litton’s ‘Red Hot Peppers’, The Magnificent Seven, The Dixie Strollers, The John Maddocks Jazzmen, Greg Abate with Craig Milverton Trio, Ian Bateman & Simon Spillett / Craig Milverton, Gary Willcox Quartet, Byron Wallen’s Four Corners, Simon Spillett, Dom Pipkin, Graham Smith’s Jazz Allsorts, Hallam/Roberts Band, Dart Valley Stompers, Alison Rayner Quintet, Mark Crooks/Colin Oxley Quartet, Pete Oxley/Nic Meier Quartet, Terry Quinney’s Sound Of BlueNote, Dave Brennan’s Jubilee Jazz Band. Late night jam session with Andy Davies.

Sunday 15 July
Jazz Jamaica, Andrew McCormack and Jason Yarde Duo, Julian Siegel Quartet, Fletch’s Brew, Dorset Youth Jazz Orchestra, Old Hat Jazz Band, Spats Langham, Dave Brennan’s Jubilee Jazz, Keith Nicholl’s Blue Devils, Alan Barnes and David Newton Duo, Jazz Repertory Company ‘Benny Goodman at Carnegie Hall’, Sara Dowling Quartet, Paulus Schäfer Trio, The Jazz Repertory Company ‘Jazz at the Philharmonic’, Dave Morwood’s ‘Rascals of Rhythm’, Vitality Five, Andy Davies Quartet, Anthony Kerr Quartet, Dave Brennan’s Jubilee Jazz Band, Sarah Bolter, Jonny Hepbir Trio.

LINK: Swanage Jazz Festival booking now open

Interview with Nigel Price