Jazz musician Chris Ingham and folk musician Chris Wilbraham cast their expert eyes over the local music scene and give you the gigs to look out for
JAZZ with Chris Ingham: cjr.ingham@outlook.com/chrisingham.co.uk
Friday, June 28
JAZZ AT THE GUILDHALL (Guildhall, Bury, 7pm, £55 incl canapés and two-course supper, email: fundraising@ swcab.org.uk) Regular fundraising event for the Citizens’ Advice Bureau featuring singer Joanna Eden and Chris Ingham (piano), Owen Morgan (bass) and George Double (drums).
Sunday, June 30
RESOLUTION 88 (Yalm Food Court, Norwich, 7.30pm, £16.50, norwichjazzclub.co.uk) Authentic, 1970s-style jazz funk with keyboardist Tom O’Grady leading from the Fender Rhodes, plus Tom Smith (sax), Tiago Coimbra (elec. bass), Oli Blake (percussion), Ric Elsworth (drums).
Thursday, July 4
CHRIS INGHAM QUARTET: HOAGY II (Diss Corn Hall, 7.30pm, £18, thecornhall.co.uk, 01379 652241) Joyous celebration of great singer songwriter Hoagy Carmichael, with Chris Ingham (piano/vocal), Paul Higgs (trumpet), Simon Thorpe (bass) and George Double (drums).
FOR THE DIARY
Tuesday, July 9
RENATO D’AIELLO (Maddermarket Theatre Bar, Norwich, 8pm, £16/£8 u25, norwichjazzclub.co.uk) Fiery Italian saxophonist plays his favourite standards with Simon Brown (piano), Simon Wood (bass), Tom Jiggins (drums).
Wednesday, July 10
CHRIS INGHAM TRIO (Orwell Hotel, Felixstowe, 12pm, £12, felixstowemusic.com) A lunchtime concert featuring the 1960s jazz of beloved comic actor Dudley Moore, with Chris Ingham (piano), Malcolm Creese (bass) and George Double (drums).
STAN GETZ/CAL TJADER TRIBUTE (Stoke By Nayland Golf Club, 8pm, £22, fleecejazz.org.uk, 01787 211865) A salute to the warm and luxurious 1950s tenor saxophone/ vibraphone collaboration of Stan Getz and Cal Tjader with Nat Steele (vibes), Mark Crooks (tenor sax), Colin Oxley (guitar), Mátyás Gayer (piano), Jeremy Brown (bass) and Mark Taylor (drums).
Thursday, July 11
DAVID GORDON TRIO: IN C (Hidden Rooms, Cambridge, 7.30pm, £20, cambridgejazz.org) Highly cultured and inventive pianist Gordon crosses boundaries of genre with his remarkable music, helped with the empathetic collaboration of Oli Hayhurst (bass) and Tom Hooper (drums)
Sunday, July 14
BARB JUNGR (Venue 16, Ipswich, 2.30pm, £15, ipswichjazzandblues.com) Vivid song interpretations from the singer’s new album My Marquee, re-imagining songs associated with the legendary London venue. With Jenny Carr (piano), Richard Sadler (bass), Jonathan Lee (drums).
Thursday, July 18
CHRIS ALLARD’S MELODIC COLLECTIVE (Colchester Arts Centre, 7.30pm, £16.50, colchesterarts centre.com) Searching and atmospheric music played by a quintet led by guitarist/composer Allard, plus Robbie Robson (trumpet), John Turville (piano), Olí Hayhurst (bass), Will Glaser (drums).
Friday, July 19
STEELY JAZZ (St Peter’s By The Waterfront, Ipswich, 7.30pm, £15, 01473 225269, stpetersbythewaterfront.com) A new repertoire project, recasting the songs of Steely Dan for jazz quintet, with Chris Ingham (piano/vocal), Harry Greene (sax/guitar), Paul Higgs (trumpet), Geoff Gascoyne (bass) and George Double (drums).
Wednesday, July 24
THEO TRAVIS’ DOUBLE TALK (Stoke By Nayland Golf Club, 8pm, £20, 01787 211865, fleecejazz.org.uk) The saxophonist’s high octane innovative jazz, with underlying rock and ambient influences, with Theo Travis (sax), Pete Whittaker (organ), Mike Outram (guitar) and Nic France (drums).
Friday, July 26
DJANGOLIERS (Hunter Club, Bury, 7.30pm, £18, headhunterslive.org, 07799 650009) Delightful, swinging summer sounds in the Gypsy Swing style as the Djangoliers celebrate the music of Belgian guitar legend Django Reinhardt. With Simon Hurley (guitar), Robert Ford (guitar) Zak Barrett (clarinet) and Andy Staples (bass).
FOLK with Chris Wilbraham: chris.wilbraham@tinyonline.co.uk
Today’s article is from the pen of David Bartlett, who was part of the team that staged the first edition of the Bury Folk Festival in 2014:
“While Chris is on his fundraising cycle-ride for Myeloma UK, I also have news about a different worthy cause. The Bury Folk Festival is celebrating its tenth year. It’s supporting many local artists and is extremely good value. It’s affordable and accessible with gate prices £30 for the day and just £15 for the evening gigs.
I remember sitting around at a Bury Folk Collective meeting many years ago wondering if a folk festival would work in Bury. It was very early days of the Collective when we still met in in the founder members’ living rooms. This must have been around 2013 or so. We’d considered a few different formats: community halls, various venues around town, and then came up with Nowton Park. Brian Kew was majorly instrumental in the early arrangements for the festival and Steve Martin and Gavin Mitchell, among others, were also important driving forces for this exciting local venture. Steve and Gav eventually took over the majority of its running. And when Steve sadly passed away in 2022, the mantle fell to Gav who was resolute in his determination to continue this great event.
Recently, Tony Philips has introduced the Green Stage featuring many local artists. Some are younger and getting their first experience on stage at a festival, which is great. Weather has always been a worry as with any outdoor event in this country but I think one of the only complaints we’ve ever had was that it was too hot. Fingers crossed for this year.
The other important consideration is, of course, finance and this year an innovation was the fundraiser in May at Southgate Community Centre featuring local musicians. The festival also benefits from sponsorship: RSK Group, bts Group Ltd, advertising support from Abbeygate Cinema, and not forgetting Bury Free Press for this article. Thank you all.
As with any festival there is a lot of setting up to do. I recall a few years ago helping to put up one of the reception tents on the Friday before the festival. We were about five Collective founders all working hard. One had to go up a ladder to fix the canvas. You’d better put this hard hat on we said. The hat was duly installed on David’s head. Derek was below holding the ladder firmly. As David headed higher, eventually tilting his head to look at the job, the hard hat fell off and struck poor Derek on the head. Derek was fine. Safety lesson learned.
Bury Folk Collective will be there on Saturday with our very own stall. We’re selling t-shirts and second-hand books, each with a free sticker. We’re also available for any information about the folk evenings we run at Risbygate Sports Club twice a month. The first person at the stall with this article gets a free copy of English Folk Songs, a great little paperback. Or, if you prefer, any other book of your choice on the stall. Hope to see you there.”
Here are some gigs:
Friday, June 28
Golden Hind, Cambridge, 8pm, Cambridge Folk Club Double header with Songs of the Folk+Kevin Hunt Trio. £11.
Saturday, June 29
Bury Folk Festival, Nowton Park, Bury St Edmunds, 11am ‘til 9.30pm. Reg Meuross, John and Lynn Ward + many more.
Tuesday, July 2
The Apex, Bury St Edmunds, 7.30pm, The Spooky Men’s Chorale. £27.
Wednesday, July 3
Risbygate Sports Club, Bury St Edmunds, 8pm, Bury Folk Collective, Contemporary Folk. 8pm.
Friday, July 5
Risbygate Sports Club, Bury St Edmunds, 8pm, Milkmaid Folk Club. £12.
