Brighton Jazz Festival returns for 2024 with four days of music from Thursday to Sunday, September 26 to 29 on the Palace Pier.
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00:00Good afternoon, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers. Something
00:06fabulous coming up in Brighton very soon, it's the Brighton Jazz Festival from September
00:11the 26th to the 29th, and it's on the Palace Pier, and Jack Kendon, you're going to tell
00:16me all about it. Now why is Brighton Jazz Festival such a special thing? What is it
00:21about it, would you say?
00:23Well I think there's a few things. It represents the incredible jazz scene and music scene
00:29that we have in Brighton, which has been a kind of tradition for a number of years.
00:36It also is on the Brighton Palace Pier, one of the most iconic tourist attractions in
00:44the UK, I think it's the most visited tourist attraction in the UK.
00:49And what does that give the festival, that you're in such a location then?
00:55It's absolutely spectacular. On a good day, it's absolutely spectacular. The sunrise when
00:59you're a quarter of a mile into the ocean is truly wonderful, and it's a really remarkable
01:06experience for the audience and the artist. And even when it's raining, it's still, you
01:12know, it's biblical at times. So, you know, it's a really, truly amazing venue to run
01:20the festival.
01:21And there's plenty of family resonance for you, isn't there?
01:25There is!
01:26This is personal too, isn't it?
01:27There is. So the Palace Pier was actually owned by my extended family. Oliver Dalton
01:33was his name. If you Google him, he will come up as a charismatic entrepreneur. And my mum,
01:40she used to work at the Dodgeons when she was like 15. So when we first decided to do
01:46it on the Palace Pier, it was, you know, it was a lovely thing for my family. And then
01:51also my dad is a double bass player, and he actually formed the first ever Brighton
01:55Jazz Festival 40 years ago. So it was kind of a collision of both sides of the family.
02:01So that first year that we did it, it truly was quite special.
02:04So that first incarnation had disappeared, the one that your dad set up?
02:09It had, I think. I think it kind of lasted a couple of years, and then that was it. And
02:15it kind of didn't happen again, I think. Then the Brighton Festival took over, and then
02:19they had a jazz element, but the Brighton Jazz Festival just kind of stopped, you know.
02:23So why wasn't there all the time to bring it back then, do you think?
02:29Well, I think now was the time because the Brighton Jazz scene has been flourishing in
02:36the last, you know, five to 10 years. And really, we decided to do it because we felt
02:44that Brighton really deserved to be on the map, and its thriving jazz scene deserved
02:51to get that recognition. So yeah, we just put a team together, and along, working along
02:59with The Pier and Latest TV, we kind of formed this wonderful festival.
03:04Fantastic. Now, you formed it, what, four years ago? And the last four years haven't
03:09been exactly the easiest years for the entertainments industry. So if you can do well in the current
03:15context, you're going to do brilliantly when things really pick up, aren't you? And you
03:19have done well.
03:20Yeah, we have. It has been sold out every year. And I think, you know, a lot of that
03:27has to do with a desire for people to see live music, especially after COVID and that
03:34lockdown, lots of people were just kind of desperate to see something real again. But
03:41also, the lineups that we've booked, not only is it kind of celebrating Brighton, and it's
03:49seen it's celebrating the UK jazz scene, it's celebrating the international jazz scene.
03:53And our programme is definitely representative of that.
03:59And you've got a particularly strong programme this year, haven't you?
04:03Yeah, so we each year, we have always looked to bring in an American. So in the past, we've
04:11brought in Grammy award winning trumpet player Kieron Harrold and Benny Banach. This year,
04:16we have the sensational alto saxophonist Patrick Bartley. He will be joined by award winning
04:23pianist and rising UK star Destinil Gordon and his trio. And to join them on the programme
04:33starting, our programme actually kicks off on Thursday 26th. And it is rising star Sean Payne
04:40and his quartet and followed by Rachel Cohen at 9.30 with her New York rising star piano
04:53trio featuring Mickey Yamanaka. On Friday the 27th, we have Nat who featured at this year's
05:02Love Supreme and absolutely blew the crowd away. And they will be followed by Teejo and
05:09Not To Be Missed, who also completely smashed it at Love Supreme as well on our stage.
05:15Sunday the 29th is Claire Martin, kind of award winning tour de force with her quartet.
05:27And the kind of A-list kind of of legends Tim Garland and Jason Rebello. And joining Patrick on
05:38the Saturday is the sensational Cal trio. So it's an incredible lineup. We're very excited.
05:43Everyone's buying their tickets very quick. We do have some tickets left on Thursday, Friday and
05:48Sunday. Saturday is sadly sold out.
05:50And tickets available from? Where do people get their tickets?
05:54You can get them at www.brightonjazzfestival.co.uk or you can find us on our socials at
06:00at Brighton Jazz Fest on Instagram and Facebook. But yeah, get in there quick.
06:06And for a relatively young festival, you are certainly bringing in plenty of names and variety,
06:13aren't you? It's like you're super well established already, isn't it?
06:16Yeah, I think I think you can kind of take your hat off to Brighton and, you know, the city that it
06:23is. And yeah, I think, you know, it's been a it's been a wonderful ride and we only kind of hope
06:31for it to kind of get bigger and better. And, you know, each year it kind of does.
06:34I was going to say, you do sell out. Are you thinking to expand in future years or have you
06:39kind of reached the optimum?
06:40There's it's been a conversation at the moment. We are happy with where we are at and the kind
06:46of template that we have on the Brighton Palace Pier. So for now, this is our this is where we
06:52stay. But yeah, we hope to see you at Horatio's Thursday, 26th to the 29th of September.
07:02Yeah, we'll see you at the Brighton Jazz Fest.
07:04Perfect. Fantastic. Hope it goes brilliantly. Great to speak to you.
07:09Cheers, Phil.