Details for the return of next year’s Ipswich Jazz Festival have been unveiled – with a host of national names joining local artists for the three-day weekend.
The festival, which last ran in 2015, will return from June 23-25 at venues across the town, featuring club and pub gigs, workshops, big-name performances, film screenings and art shows.
So far renowned big band Back to Basie have been announced for a performance at the New Wolsey Theatre on June 25, while a jazz band and dance will be held at the Manor Ballroom on June 23.
Suffolk-based jazz performers will be performing at a series of pub gigs across town in celebration of the county’s popular jazz scene, while national names will be playing a club venues.
Organiser Neil Bateman said: “It should be a really exciting weekend – we will be doing a lot of publicity in March and we have got support from Ipswich Borough Council. We are deliberately going for lots of different styles of jazz – there will be something for everybody.”
The festival will be more than just a series of gigs. Top musicians such as Jose Canha and Bob Airzee will be running workshops in jazz bass and drums respectively, while DanceEast will be providing dancing workshops.
And for art enthusiasts a special exhibition has been laid on as well as photography workshops in capturing live music performance. Film-lovers can enjoy a series of special screenings of jazz films at Ipswich Film Theatre.
And local firms are being urged to get in touch to help sponsor an event, stage or the festival.
“In return for quite a modest sum they would get their logo on all the publicity, and one of the great things about local music in Ipswich is there’s a very lively jazz scene, quite a well established one,” said Mr Bateman, a keen jazz musician himself.
And crucially, the festival returns after a one-year break, aiming to break down perceptions of the genre and get people of all ages and experiences involved.
“Jazz can sometimes be seen as a little exclusive, and that’s certainly not what we want to do,” Mr Bateman said.
“We have a wide variety of events and it takes a few years to get these things up and running. But lots of towns have jazz festivals, so why can’t Ipswich?”
To support the festival visit www.ipswichjazzfestival.org.uk or the festival’s Facebook page.
Tickets will be on sale in the new year.
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