South Coast Jazz Festival
Ropetackle Arts Centre, Little High Street, Shoreham, Friday, January 23 to Sunday, January 25

IT was a moan about the lack of recognition for the south coast’s jazz scene which led vocalist Claire Martin and saxophonist Julian Nicholas to launch their own festival this weekend.

The concept has been simple for the inaugural event – to celebrate the excellent musicians based in this part of the world, and to help jazz-lovers broaden their horizons.

“I have a huge respect for people who put on festivals,” laughs Martin, who has been working on the project ever since that fateful conversation in August 2013, including securing Arts Council funding and the support of the Starr Trust for the weekend.

“If it was just me it would have been singers all weekend, but we wanted a good cross section of talent. There’s a gig for people who want music from the 1930s and 1940s, we have three world-class singers who would cost £60 to see together in London, and we’re celebrating Bobby Wellins’s 79th birthday with a BBC Radio 3 recording.”

The selection has clearly struck a chord, with the opening jazz vocal celebration featuring Liane Carroll, Ian Shaw and Joe Stilgoe selling out almost immediately, closely followed by Saturday’s Bobby Wellins’s birthday show.

As well as the evening sessions there are daytime events, ranging from jazz writer and broadcaster Kevin LeGendre championing the first 12 discs a would-be jazz lover should buy first, to a free jam in the Ropetackle foyer.

Martin is leading a singing workshop this morning, and youngsters can find out more about the genre with Trudy Kerr and Sue Richardson tomorrow morning. The first festival culminates on Sunday with a double celebration of two giants of jazz, Duke Ellington and Charles Mingus.

Martin isn’t performing herself, although she suspects she may be asked to sing with Wellins and Ian Shaw. Instead she will be introducing the acts and “bringing the cake”.

“We’re hoping this will become an annual event, allowing people to come out in January and get rid of the winter blues,” she says. “The Ropetackle has been astonishing and were really up for it. The 200-seater capacity is just right for now. Next year it would be great to get a US visitor, and maybe have two or three venues running at the same time.”

*Once the festival is over Martin is launching on her own project for 2015 – A Swinging Affair. The new touring show, with singer Ray Gelato, celebrates The Great American Songbook.

The show comes to Chichester Festival Theatre on Wednesday, January 28, from 7.30pm, tickets from £14. Call 01243 781312.

Duncan Hall