The full line-up for the return of the Ipswich Jazz Festival has been announced – with a mix of live music, workshops, dance and film set for the summer spectacular weekend.
The festival last ran in 2015, but organisers have spent the last year working hard to organise a varied line-up for a return in 2017 for the weekend of June 23-25.
Concerts will be held at the Manor Ballroom, St Peter’s by the Waterfront and the New Wolsey Theatre, with Claude Deppa and the Clare Hirst Band and Back to Basie among the headliners.
Workshops will take place in everything from jazz drumming and bass playing, to live music photography and lindy hop dancing, while a series of pub gigs, classic jazz films and radio shows have also been arranged.
Festival organiser Neil Bateman said: “Yet again Ipswich has attracted some top names from the jazz world and as a not-for-profit venture, we have kept ticket prices as low as possible.
“There’s a wide range of jazz music on show – something for everyone, as well as films, dance and art.
“This is going to be a great weekend and we want to get Ipswich Jazz Festival widely known about in Suffolk and beyond.”
A host of Suffolk firms have pledged their support to be involved, alongside pubs and venues across town.
For the festival organisers, the weekend is as much about celebrating all aspects of the genre from style, fashion and film as well as the music itself.
Mr Bateman said: “We are deliberately going for lots of different styles of jazz – there will be something for everybody.
“Jazz can sometimes be seen as a little exclusive, and that’s certainly not what we want to do.
“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?”
Tickets are available now from the venue box offices and the Ipswich Jazz Festival website.
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