MARSDEN 2007

A Recipe For Pure Enjoyment
Take one of the all-time greats of the British traditional jazz scene. Add one of the funkiest trombone players in Europe. Stir in the powerful voice of an award-winning British vocalist and pianist. And, if that is not enough, mix in a mouth-watering treat all the way from France. What you have just created is the main line-up of the 2007 Marsden Jazz Festival. Whilst we are still in the process of signing up many of the support bands for the array of free concerts which will take place throughout the village during the second weekend in October, we can confirm the details of our headline performers. And it is clear that, once again, visitors to the popular Marsden Festival are in for a real treat.

Friday evening at the Marsden Mechanics will feature the ever-popular Chris Barber and his 11-piece band, with its 7 strong front line, playing a wide selection of his favourite music: from his roots in New Orleans style to the early music of Duke Ellington and Sidney Bechet on to the music of Bob Crosby and further on to blues by Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, to soul and soulful blues like Miles Davis' "All Blues"........ and probably back to "When the Saints"! Over the years Chris Barber has influenced many of today's leading jazz and blues musicians... especially contemporary artists such as Mark Knopfler, Eric Burdon, John Mayall, the Stones, Eric Clapton and Van Morrison. The Big Chris Barber Band will combine all these ingredients into an evening of exciting and often moving Jazz and Blues music, great entertainment for all.

Friday night will also see a special gig which will bring together our 2007 weekend guest Dennis Rollins with Festival stalwarts, Ben Crosland, Rod Mason and Dave Tyas. Together they will play a special tribute concert to the American jazz-funk and soul band, the Crusaders. It promises to be an unforgettable evening. Dennis will be with us all weekend. On Saturday afternoon he will be conducting a masterclass and on Sunday he will be joined by the rest of his band - Badbone and Co – for the closing concert in the Mechanics Hall. Those people who experienced the Badbone concert at Marsden several years ago will not want to miss the return event : that 2004 concert must rank in the top ten Marsden gigs of all time.

Saturday evening at the Mechanics will see the first visit to the Marsden Festival by multi-award winning singer and pianist, Liane Carroll. Liane goes all over the world singing and playing with her trio and guesting with other bands. She has worked with the likes of Peter Kirtley, Ladysmith Black Mombasa and Paul McCartney to name but a few, and is generally respected by her fellow professionals as one of the finest female vocalists on the scene. In 2005 she scooped two of the BBC Jazz awards (Best of Jazz award and Best vocalist) and in 2006 she won the Best Vocalist award in the Marston Pedigree British Jazz Awards. Anyone who has caught either of her two solo CD’s (“Billy No Mates” and “Standard Issue”) will not want to let pass an opportunity of seeing her perform live.

And then, of course, we have our sprinkling of Gallic genius : Richard Galliano. Very few musicians can be said to have changed the history of their chosen instrument. Richard Galliano is one of them. Master of the accordion, Richard Galliano has played with some of the finest musicians in the world today : and on Saturday 13^th October he will be bringing his acclaimed Tangaria Quartet to the Marsden Mechanics. If you want to appreciate how special this gig is then take a look at the Tour page on the Richard Galliano website. His 2007 tour  features the likes of Vienna, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Berlin, Geneva, Milan … and his only UK date – Marsden. That is why tickets for the Saturday afternoon concert are likely to be in great demand, so make sure you don’t miss yours. Remember, tickets are made available first of all to “Friends of Marsden Jazz Festival”, so if you have not yet become a Friend, do so without delay.

The international nature of the 2007 Festival is underlined by our special Saturday late-night jazz supper guests : the George Washingmachine Quartet. Australian jazz violinist George Washingmachine, swinging and eccentric singer as well as dazzling violin player, plays his versions of standards and new compositions, with his own blend of string jazz in what is likely to be an electrifying performance. George has had a vast and varied career in the entertainment business. As a child he trained for 7 years as a classical violinist, leaving that behind to form a rhythm and blues band as guitarist, until 1984, when he moved to Sydney and started playing jazz fiddle with The Conway Brothers Hiccup Orchestra. Since that time George has performed in countless bands and productions as a musician, actor and comedian both on stage and on screen. George has toured the world performing in France, Holland, Germany, Sweden, Finland, and the UK., and continues to appear at all the major jazz and arts festivals in Australia.

And as always, Marsden Jazz Festival will feature dozens of local bands and jazz youth orchestras, with a host of other events to keep the atmosphere buzzing. Throughout the weekend, help and information, including free Festival Maps, details of the special Jazz Bus Service and advice on where to eat, will be available at the Festival Box Office in Marsden Mechanics. There you'll also find souvenir Festival T-shirts and badges, hats from Wacky Hats, collectables from Naji's Heritage Crafts, an exhibition of Jazz Festival photographs from our festival photographer Alan Burnett and tickets for our tombola.