Officially it’s called 20/20JAZZ. Unofficially it’s the “knock your socks off” jazz club, says Nic Saunders who runs it and is delighted with the programme coming up for 2025.
The club meets at the Chichester Inn in Chichester and also at The Loft, Kings Pub, Albert Road, Southsea, PO5 2SE (opposite the Kings Theatre).
The club meets at the Chichester Inn in Chichester and also at The Loft, Kings Pub, Albert Road, Southsea, PO5 2SE (opposite the Kings Theatre).
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00:00Good morning, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspaper. It's lovely
00:06to speak again to Nick Saunders. Now, Nick, you've got something very special for this
00:09year, haven't you, with the 2020 Jazz, which meets in Chichester and in South Sea, and
00:15it's doing really well with a fantastic line-up for this year. And you were saying really
00:19teasingly that it's the Knock Your Socks Off Jazz Club. What do you make of that?
00:25My aim has always been to just, you know, I've known so many musicians over the years,
00:32and mainly on the London jazz scene, and it's great to be able to bring them down to Chichester
00:38and say, hey, come and play to these guys down here because they're such appreciative
00:43audiences in Chichester. They really love seeing live music. And we have a great time.
00:49We have a really, really great time. And so we've got a great line-up of all sorts of
00:55you know, a couple of musicians from the US coming over. We've got a Greek, fantastic,
01:02one of the top Greek saxophonists.
01:06And this is you using your contacts, isn't it? Your contacts in the business?
01:10Yeah, because I've been playing for so many years. And we've just come back recently from
01:14living in London. So I was down at the 606 Club and the Ronnie Scotts and, you know,
01:21just really, really getting back to know everybody again. And now we're here. Well,
01:26we've been doing this actually from since 2015.
01:29Right.
01:30So we're going to, yeah, we'll be up to our 10 year anniversary.
01:35Renamed because of a 2020 Clear Vision, but also to reflect the fact that we are, and
01:40I'd never thought of this, we are in the Roaring Twenties, aren't we?
01:45We are, we're halfway through now. So, yeah, let's make sure it's not the tepid twenties
01:53and keep up the Roaring Twenties. Yeah, yes. We're now also, yeah, because we moved from
01:59the venue that we originally started in, we went under new management. And what we're
02:03doing now is using the Chichester Inn, which is a lovely, it's quite historic in Chichester.
02:09There's always been bands there since the 80s, 90s. And some really big names have played
02:14there. So it's a lovely stage area. People can get food. It's got just a really nice
02:19relaxed atmosphere. And we don't make it a sit and make sure you don't talk jazz club.
02:27We make sure that everybody's hopefully having a really nice time and is comfortable.
02:32And generally jazz is doing well, isn't it? We were talking just now about jazz clubs
02:36in the area, which are flourishing, aren't they? It's a good time for jazz, is it?
02:40I think there's about five or six jazz clubs within a stone's throw of Chichester. Yeah.
02:45And two here, you know, with us.
02:47Can you explain why they're doing well? Why now is a good time?
02:51Well, I think people need something to go out for that makes them feel really good.
02:58And what everybody says when, you know, so many times I hear people say after a gig,
03:05that was so amazing. I've never really listened to jazz before, but seeing it live is something
03:11else. And that's the key for jazz, really. The live experience, seeing musicians,
03:17improvising, playing off each other, and also interacting with the audience.
03:22There's a real great feeling, you know, for the whole place. We're all in it together.
03:27Fantastic. Well, good luck for 2025. Lovely to speak to you again. Thank you.
03:31Thank you very much, Phil.