History
Isle of Wight Jazz Weekend ‐ a history
The event was originally an idea hatched by Jim Thorn and Bill Wills in 2011. Bill, along with Mike Whitehead and Peter Trueman, ran the successful Newport Jazz Club at the Apollo Theatre in Newport, which had started in 2010 and ran until 2022. The monthly gigs at the Apollo were attracting good audiences and a good standard of musician from the mainland, and after Jim had played at a couple of the gigs himself, he and Bill decided to try running a jazz festival in Newport in 2012.
The background was difficult, due to the Isle of Wight Jazz Festival which had previously been run by a completely different set of individuals, based in Ventnor, but it ceased operating in 2008 amid substantial controversy and claims that various acts had not been paid. For this reason, Jim and Bill agreed to name the event “Newport Jazz Weekend” to link it to the Club and to avoid any possible confusion with Isle of Wight Jazz Festival.
Local musicians quickly gathered to support the new event, it being made clear that the event was always to be run on a not-for-profit basis. Due to the fallout from the Isle of Wight Jazz Festival, there was substantial local support for a replacement event run by local music lovers. A team was assembled to organise the event, and it was agreed that Digby Fairweather would be invited to be the Patron of the event for 2012 – an offer which he accepted.
2012 - The Newport Jazz Weekend is born!
Major acts for the 2012 event included Martin Taylor (solo guitar), Keith Ingham, Digby Fairweather, Mark Nightingale and Simon Allen, Edana Minghella, Dave Shepherd, Jo Fooks and Gary Plumley. The main venues were the Apollo Theatre, Quay Arts, Newport Minster and Riverside Centre. There was a substantial amount of local talent on both the main bill and the fringe. The event ran from 20-22 July and was a great success. We were successful in getting a £3,000 Arts Council Grant, and indeed obtained grants for the next three years which all helped the event to break even. Emails from June (one month before the event) show that ticket sales were very slow in advance. It was a substantial effort and a big gamble, to get the festival off the ground from nowhere, but ticket sales in the final few weeks leading up to the event, amazed all of us. An annual event was born!
2013 - The event gathers momentum
In 2013, Alan Barnes was the annual Patron of the festival and appeared in three gigs. Other guests included Digby, Aydenne Simone, Bruce Adams, Roy Williams, Zoe Francis, Jim Mullen, Sax Appeal, Georgia Mancio, Craig Milverton, Amy Roberts and Nigel Price. For many people, the unexpected highlight of the festival was the jam session at the Castle Inn, at which a host of top UK jazz names all converged to play alongside unsuspecting locals. Jim famously went up to a guitarist at the jam session and said “are you down here for the jazz festival? We have Nigel Price playing tomorrow”. The guitarist said “I am Nigel Price!” The jam went on until the small hours and nobody could tear themselves away. The festival was again a great success, we now had momentum and confidence for 2014.
2014 - A name change
The 2014 event brought a slight change of name to Newport (Isle of Wight) Jazz Weekend, and an earlier start, with a four-day festival starting on the Thursday. Again, at this time, the Riverside Centre was being used, and we had not yet used the Methodist Church, Mountbatten Hospice or Medina Theatre. Tipitina, Julian Stringle’s dream band, Derek Nash Quartet, Karen Sharp Quartet, Nigel Price Organ Trio, Jim Hart, The Bateman Brothers jazz band, Mark Nightingale, Alan Barnes and Art Themen were some of the star names. 2014 was also the first year of “official photography” organised by Ian Mitchell.
2015 - The event is moved to May
2015 saw substantial changes to the event, as we moved the event forward to late May, and introduced the Medina Theatre as a venue. All other venues of ours had a capacity of around 130, which restricted the size and cost of bands we could hire. The 450-capacity Medina was a short distance out of town, but the two gigs there (Back to Basie and Sax Appeal) were great successes. Back to Basie was our first ever big band. Other notable acts that year included Tony Kofi, Alan Barnes, Zoe Francis, Bobby Wellins, the “Roots and Herbs” Art Blakey project run by Jean Toussaint. We also saw a substantial change to our personnel in 2015 when John Clack joined and took up the role of graphic design. Bill Wills and Mike Whitehead stepped down to concentrate on running the Newport Jazz Club gigs.
2016 - Jazz Tuition introduced
2016 saw yet more changes, as we moved the start forward to the Wednesday, for a two-day jazz tuition course. Famously, this was attended by a young musician (Cameron Rossi) who got his first taste of jazz, and started his jazz journey. This was also the first year of using Newport Methodist Church and Mountbatten Hospice as venues. The lineup was the most varied to date, with guests coming from Australia (Janet Seidel trio), Holland (Tim Kliphuis) and the USA (Stacey Kent, and the California State University Big Band, which were the very popular acts at Medina Theatre). Other musicians included Dennis Rollins, Dave Newton, Karen Sharp, Amy Roberts and Craig Milverton.
2017 - Plans for a IW Youth Jazz Orchestra
2017 again began with the jazz tuition course and concert, and saw new visitors to the Island including Zoe Rahman, Nate Najar, Liz Fletcher, Stan Sulzmann and Liane Carroll, whose closing performance on the Sunday night, brought the house down. Before her gig, Medina Theatre was packed for a visit by NYJO. Jim announced plans to create an IW Youth Jazz Orchestra for the following year (2018).
2018 - US Lawyers get in touch!
2018 saw the promised appearance of the IW Youth Jazz Orchestra! They appeared with a 20-piece band and were joined by Derek Nash as guest. Derek had brought Picante to the Island on the previous day, and we were also joined by Georgia Mancio, Freddie Gavita, Andrew McCormack, Sara Dowling Quartet, Claire Martin, the Karen Sharp Quartet, and the BBC Big Band – our biggest venture at the Medina Theatre. The event was a huge success but the final time we were able to get any Arts Council assistance.
2018 concluded with Newport (Rhode Island, USA) Jazz Festival getting in touch via their lawyers. A friendly discussion between a number of lawyers, ended with us agreeing to change our name to Isle of Wight Jazz Weekend!
2019 - A double header at Medina Theatre
2019 saw another appearance by IW Youth Jazz Orchestra, with Mark Nightingale as special guest. Tim Kliphuis provided one of the most well received gigs ever at an IWJW. Georgia Mancio’s “Finding Home” project with string quartet, Camilla George, Jim Mullen & Zoe Francis and Ian Shaw, were highly popular. At Medina Theatre, there was a double-header with Echoes of Ellington and Sax Appeal. However, due to running costs and its “out of town” location, this was the last year of using Medina Theatre.
After 2019 we were starting to develop thoughts about possibly changing the event so that events took place in Cowes as well as Newport.
2020 - 2021: The COVID years
The 2020 event was scheduled to take place in Newport, with all of the Sunday music being in Cowes. An exciting and vibrant lineup was organised, including the Nikki Iles Jazz Orchestra, Tony Kofi, “It’s Trad Dad”, IWYJO with Pete Long, Sara Dowling, Nigel Price Trio, Derek Nash and Zoe Gilby, but only a few months before the festival, the COVID19 pandemic resulted in all plans having to be cancelled.
Very sadly, the next year or two saw the demise of IWYJO principally due to the COVID interruption. Efforts were made to revive IWYJO again in 2021 and thereafter, but there have been a few false starts.
We also planned the return of IWJW for 2021, but continued lockdowns and other uncertainties associated with the pandemic, resulted in everything being put on hold.
2022 - Event moved to September
When we began booking for 2022, it was agreed to aim for September rather than May, in order to give us the best possible chance of the event taking place. The event has remained in the third week of September ever since, and falls just before Scarborough and Brighton jazz festivals. At the last minute, our event narrowly missed being suspended due to national mourning after the death of Queen Elizabeth II. In 2022 we welcomed Cameron Tarry and his quartet as the opening act. Cameron came along as a 14 year old student to our first ever jazz tuition course, and was now leading his own top class quartet having taken a jazz degree in London. Other well known names included David Newton and Karen Sharp, Liane Carroll trio, O’Higgins and Luft, and the Sara Dowling trio. Larger ensembles included the highly popular “It’s Trad Dad”, Alan Barnes + 11 and Hexagonal. One of the best audience receptions was for a barnstorming Nigel Price Organ trio + Vasilis Xenopoulos gig at Newport Methodist Church.
2023 - Sell out gigs
2023 opened with another gig featuring a young local musician who has gone far – guitarist Sol Grimshaw brought his “Blue Orchids” group from London and they were highly popular, especially the introduction of vocalist Immy Churchill. More new faces included Tara Minton (harp and vocals), Jay Phelps Quartet, Simon Spillett and the Brass Volcanoes. A highly popular new act for us were the Jazz Dynamos. Their gig was a sell-out, as was the Alan Barnes & Mark Nightingale quintet and the Syd Lawrence Orchestra. Other stars included Georgia Mancio and Jim Mullen.
2024 - Newport Minster added as venue
After a number of years of substantial renovation, Newport Minster was re-opened to the public, and immediately became the venue we had been looking for to replace the Medina Theatre option. Capable of holding 300 people in comfort, the Minster looks set to be a feature of our event for years to come. We now have the Minster, the Apollo Theatre, the Methodist Church and the Quay Arts centre all within a few minutes walking distance of each other, in the centre of town near shops and parking. The Minster hosted Claire Martin & Jim Mullen as they finished the event in style. Tony Kofi’s Quintet, and Georgina Jackson’s Sass & Brass, were also highly popular in the new venue. Elsewhere, there were full houses at many gigs including the popular Friday Night at Quay Arts with gigs and jam sessions on two levels. The festival opened on the Wednesday with a visit from Nicola Farnon and the first of three appearances from David Newton, whose intimate solo concert was a highlight for many. Cameron Rossi made another appearance with his quartet, and we welcomed Nate Najar and Daniele Soledade from Florida. With trad jazz and gypsy jazz on show alongside a full fringe, this was regarded as one of the best Jazz Weekends so far, and it was also the best for us financially so far.
The Isle of Wight Jazz Weekend
We have managed to grow from an idea hatched by a couple of local jazz nuts, into a sustainable festival which attracts the very best in the UK and from further afield. We would like to carry on for as long as possible, and have got no plans to deviate from the formula which appears successful. There are sometimes thoughts about incorporating other towns, or moving from Newport to somewhere more scenic or by the coast, but all of the venues are very close to each other in a very flat town. Everyone we deal with is very helpful and supportive of the event and we are all set for years to come !
ORGANISERS
- 2012 : Jim Thorn (Treasurer), Bill Wills (Event Director), Mike Whitehead, Bob Twell, Tim Marshall, Vicky Cullis
- 2013 : As above except without Bob Twell
- 2014 : As above plus Willie Sanderson who joined as Treasurer. Jim Thorn became Event Director. Ian Mitchell joins (photography)
- 2015 : Vicky Cullis, Mike Whitehead and Bill Wills step down, John Clack joins. The organising team is now Jim Thorn (Event Director), Willie Sanderson (Treasurer), Tim Marshall (website), Ian Mitchell (photography), John Clack.
- 2018: Willie Sanderson is replaced by Maxine White as Treasurer. Tim Marshall steps down as website designer. Jacquie Tarry joins us but her involvement reduces when she moves to the mainland a few years later.
- 2019 : Andy Hollebon joins the organising team. Tim Leal (website)
- 2023 : Martin Dover joins the team. The current personnel are Jim Thorn (Event Director), Maxine White (Treasurer), Andy Hollebon, John Clack, Ian Mitchell, Martin Dover.
VENUES
- Apollo Theatre (2012 onwards)
- Quay Arts Centre (2012 onwards)
- Riverside Centre (2012-2014)
- Medina Theatre (2015-2019)
- Newport Methodist Church (2016 onwards)
- Newport Minster (2012-2018, 2024)
- Mountbatten Hospice (2016 onwards)