Swiss born mega fusion guitarist Nicolas Meier opens this year’s Swansea International Jazz Festival, followed on the Friday by top jazz singer Claire Martin and acclaimed Jaco loving bass guitarist Laurence Cottle with their Bass to Face project.
Also on Friday, traddy trumpeter and singer Georgina Jackson brings her Sass & Brass show to Swansea Minster, while Powys bassist Aidan Thorne and Abergavenny guitarist Jason Ball perform in a duo at the National Waterfront Museum. Their softly beguiling highly nuanced slice of pastoralism Poems of a Space was released in June.
Saturday’s programme includes the Power of Gower Festival Big Band, led by Dave Cottle, and the James Allsopp Quartet playing the music of Stan Getz. Swing and gypsy jazz loving violinist Christian [son of the great English jazz pianist Michael] Garrick presents his new String Bag project, described as a mini-band exploring bowed strings beyond their classical setting. Dave has been a central figure in the Swansea live jazz scene since the 1970s, organising the weekly programme at the Swansea Jazz Club since the 1990s. Born into the famous musical Cottle brothers dynasty, he frequently collaborates with his siblings, Laurence and Richard and was awarded a BEM (British Empire Medal) in the King’s Birthday Honours list announced in June.
Sunday features The Cottle Brothers Dixieland All-star Band, the Tango Jazz Quartet and Hejira – The Music of Joni Mitchell. Hejira draws on Mitchell’s late-1970s jazz period, including Hejira, The Hissing of Summer Lawns, Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter, Mingus and the live album Shadows and Light.
A festival wristband covering all ten ticketed shows costs £175, a saving of £48 against individual tickets, with a reduced price of £155 for Swansea Jazz Club members and patrons.
The festival runs from 3 to 6 September across Swansea, with the ticketed concerts taking place at the Arts Wing at Swansea Grand Theatre, the Ocean Room at the National Waterfront Museum and Swansea Minster. A wider Stroller Programme includes more than 30 free gigs around the city.
Full festival information and tickets are available via Swansea Jazz Club.
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