MEDIA RELEASE

 Music legends head for seaside to play at 2016 Bournemouth Jazz Festival

 April 22^nd- 24^thThe King's Hall, Royal Bath Hotel, Bournemouth Pavilion and other venues

 25 January 2016: Drum legendGinger Baker, and top singerJacqui Dankworthare just two of the names featuring in an expanded 2016 Bournemouth Jazz Festival launched today.

 The brainchild of film director and entrepreneur Gerry Clarke, the new-look Festival features five distinct strands:

 A Headline Acts programmecomprising top international and national jazz names including saxophonistJean Toussaintwho worked with the legendary Art Blakey and the much-loved singerTina Mayand rising trumpet starYazz Ahmed.

 A "World Jazz Jamboree"featuring jazz styles from Africa, Europe, India, The Middle East and South America.

 A "Jazz Village"in Bournemouth Town Centre with a live music stage, food and drink stalls and a programme of ‘street jazz' across the town with additional "razzmajazz" pockets planned for Westbourne, Southbourne and Boscombe.

 An education programmefeaturing jazz workshop opportunities for young musicians followed by a schools jazz competition in which bands will be judged and given feedback from an expert panel of judges.

 A culminatingAwards Ceremony with Concertwill feature The Dorset Youth Jazz Orchestra and the Bournemouth University Big Band plus special guests.

 In addition the Festival will feature many of Bournemouth and Dorset's best-loved jazz musicians and groups including tenor sax playerIan Ellis's Quartet, trumpet playerAndy Urquhart's Sound of Blue Notewith special guestMark Nightingaleadded on trombone, celebrated club singerRachel More, Sarah Bolter's "Not Just Sax"with special guestTina Mayon vocals,The Swing Unlimited Big Bandperforming a night of swing classics,The Girls Only Jazz OrchestraandZoe Schwarz'saward winningBlue Commotion band.

 The expanded 2016 Bournemouth Jazz Festival has been made possible by successful funding bids to Arts Council England, The Bournemouth Coastal BID and The Bournemouth Town Centre BID.

 Paul Clarke, Coastal BID Chairman and General Manager of the Bournemouth Hallmark West Cliff Hotel said, "The vision of the Bournemouth Jazz Festival team is to create a world class event that will attract visitors to Bournemouth and help to establish the town as an internationally recognized jazz venue with the Festivalpositively contributing to the town's future economic growth and cultural development."

 Festival Director Gerry Clarke commented "We had a great response to last year's Festival and I was able to recruit a team of experts to help me develop it into something much bigger. We've lots of great quality jazz in the programme with more still to be finalised and announced. But it's not just about the music. We want people to come to Bournemouth and enjoy the perfect jazz weekend by the sea. We are aiming to raise the town's cultural profile, widen its appeal and build its economy as well as encouraging new talent and developing international links through our "World Jazz Jamboree" programme".

 Ticketed events can be booked through The Bournemouth Jazz Festival websitehttp://www.bournemouthjazzfestival.co.ukor through the BH Live websitehttps://www.bhlivetickets.co.uk/Online/default.asp

 For more information please contact Gerry Clarke, Festival Director: T/: 07710 611123 or E/:gerry@bournemouthjazzfestival.co.uk

 More Press Information and hi res images from Jane Adkins, A Head for PR Ltd, T/: 01935 813114 or E/:jane@aheadforpr.co.uk

ENDS

 Note to Editors

The Headline Acts Programme so far includes:

 Ginger Baker's Jazz Confusion featuring Andy Sheppard and Alec Dankworth

Ginger Baker was drummer with Cream (Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce) and Blind Faith (Eric Clapton and Stevie Winwood). Ginger led his own ‘Airforce Band' with Nigerian percussionist Fela Kuti and was also a part of rock band The Baker Gurvitz Army with the Gurvitz brothers. He trained under British jazz drummer Phil Seamen and has returned to jazz with The Jazz Confusion. Andy Sheppard is one of Britain's most acclaimed sax players and has worked with American composer/band leaders Carla Bley and George Russell as well as leading his own highly respected bands. Alec Dankworth is son of the late John Dankworth and Cleo Laine and has established himself as one of the best jazz bass players in Britain.

 Jean Toussaint and The Roots and Herbs Young Lions

Born in the Caribbean, Tenor Sax player Jean Toussaint worked with the outstanding jazz drummer Art Blakey and his Jazz Messengers in the 1980s. A period in New York saw him leading jam sessions at The Blue Note Club and sitting in with Dizzy Gillespie, Elvin Jones and Freddie Hubbard amongst others. Moving to England Jean has taught at the Guildhall School of Music and is also a member of the teaching staff at the Birmingham Conservatoire, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. But he is best known as a performer working with top flight British jazz musicians such as Julian Joseph, Jason Rebello and Cleveland Watkiss. To commemorate, the twenty-fifth year of, the passing of the great Art Blakey in 2015 Toussaint is busy organising a project which (borrowed from the Messengers Blue Note record of the same name) he calls "Roots and Herbs/The Blakey Project". The Young Lions Band follows Blakey's exemplary practice of finding and schooling the best young musicians, many of whom such as Wayne Shorter went on to become major players in jazz. This Young Lions band includes rising trumpet star Mark Kavuma and the superb pianist Ashley Henry who wowed audience at The Lighthouse in Poole last Autumn.http://jeantoussaint.com/

 Jacqui Dankworth and Charlie Wood - "Just You, Just Me"

One of the most highly regarded vocalists in the UK, Jacqui Dankworth's concert appearances and her stylistically diverse recordings showcase her virtuosic, seemingly effortless mastery of a wide spectrum of genres.  Known primarily as a jazz singer, Jacqui's unique musical palette also draws on folk, soul, classical, blues, and numerous other influences.

This show with pianist and husband Charlie Wood is inspired by some of the great musical partnerships, such as Ray Charles & Betty Carter, Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington & Billy Strayhorn, George & Ira Gershwin, Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway and James Taylor & Carole King. The concert features numbers including Alone Together, Autumn In New York, It Don't Mean A Thing, A Foggy Day, The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, You've Got a Friend and other favourites.

Jacqui's recent television appearances include live performances and interviews on BBC Breakfast, the Paul O'Grady Show, and The One Show.  Jacqui is also an accomplished actor, having performed leading parts with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre, and in London's West End.  Highlights include the part of Cinderella in Steven Sondheim's London premier of Into The Woods, Sophisticated Ladies (a celebration of the music of Duke Ellington) and Les Liaisons Dangereuses with the RSC.  In 2012 Jacqui appeared as Rosa in the second series of The Borgias starring Jeremy Irons (Showtime TV) and made a cameo appearance in the film Les Miserables directed by Tom Hooper.

"Probably the most flexible and expressive voice of her generation"-The Observer

"One of our finest singers, regardless of category."-The Sunday Times

"Remember the first time you heard Dylan, or Springsteen, or Costello, or Waits?  Charlie Wood delivers that same jolt." -Jazz Times

Yazz Ahmed and the Ahmed Family Hafla Band

Tipped as a rising star by Jazzwise and Time Out, Yazz Ahmed won great reviews for her debut at Ronnie Scott's club with her vibraphone and bass trio.

Since then, Yazz has performed at the National Portrait Gallery, the Museum of Modern Art, in Kuwai and opened the 2013 Manchester Jazz Festival.

The granddaughter of Terry Brown, trumpet player with Tubby Hayes, Ronnie Scott and John Dankworth,Yazz has performed and recorded with Radiohead, These New Puritans, Lee ‘Scratch' Perry, the Manic Street Preachers and Swing Out Sister. In 2012, Yazz represented Bahrain in London's Cultural Olympiad, joining renowned musicians from the Arabian Gulf in collaboration with Transglobal Underground. She has performed on the ‘Later with Jools Holland' TV show playing alongside New York artist, Joan as Police Woman.

The Hafla band reflects Yasmeen's Arabic heritage, revisiting memories from her early childhood in Bahrain. These are contrasted with pieces reflecting the classic British jazz from the 1950s and 60s, which was the soundtrack to her teenage years and was her gateway into improvised music. Yazz was awarded a jazz fellowship from Birmingham Jazzlines in 2014. More recently, Yazz has been selected as anLSOSoundhub composer where she will be writing music for her newly developed quarter tone flugelhorn.

 We are delighted to be able to include the seven piece Ahmed Family Hafla Band as part of the 2016 Bournemouth Jazz Festival where it forms a important part of our World Jazz Jamboree ethos.http://yazzahmed.com/index.php

 "Ahmed has a precise, poised but warm, atmospheric sound, well suited to the flugelhorn she also plays, and both her informal but rousingly powerful collaborations with the alternately growling and spurting Gwizdala and the more ambitious, extended, multi-textured pieces in which she skilfully deploys larger forces (among them clarinettist Shabaka Hutchings, tenor player Alam Nathoo and cellist Chris Fish) showcase a considerable and - most important - highly individual instrumental and compositional talent."Chris Parker London Jazz News

 Tina May with "Not Just Sax" and "The Girls Only Jazz Orchestra

One of the most delightful jazz singers in Britain, Tina May chose to study in Paris and began her apprenticeship in Jazz when, by chance, she met up with some aspiring young music students, who invited her to 'faire un boeuf' - have a jam with them. In Paris she also met up with notable impressionist Rory Bremner and together they took their jointly written revue 'You are Eiffel but I like You (!) to The Edinburgh Fringe. Moving to London, Tina hung out at the legendary 606 club befriending jazz musicians Mornington Locket and Don Weller amongst others. In a distinguished career, Tina has received awards from The Worshipful Company of Musicians, won the vocal jazz award at the BT Jazz Awards and is a liveryman of the Musicians Company. As well as many small band gigs with musicians like Nikki Iles, Tina has been a featured soloist with The Stan Tracey Big Band, performed on BBC Radio 2's 'Friday Night is Music Night' and performed and recorded tributes to Edith Piaf. We are delighted to welcome her to the Bournemouth Jazz Festival where she will be performing in both a small band setting with Sarah Bolter's ‘Not Just Sax' and a Big Band setting with The Girl's Only Jazz Orchestra.

 Theo Travis's Double Talk

In 2015 Tenor sax player and flautist Theo Travis was delighted to get a call from Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour asking him to join his band for a European tour. This reflects a career that spans rock and jazz involving work with Gong, Soft Machine Legacy, Robert Fripp, David Sylvian, Bill Bruford, Keith Tippett, and Lol Coxhill. Theo has appeared on over 110 albums and his soulful and adventurous playing - including a subtle use of electronics explains why he is much in demand. His band Double Talk formed in 2007 features guitarist Mike Outram (Vanessa Redgrave, Tim Garland, Herbie Mann) , Hammond organ player Pete Whittaker (The Wonder Stuff, John Etheridge, Blue Commotion), and drummer Nick France (Bill Withers, David Gilmour, Nigel Kennedy, Tanita Tikaram, Ian Carr's Nucleus)http://www.theotravis.com/

 " Travis' ambient and jazz leanings unite on this wonderfully trippy record featuring the leader's saxes and flutes, Mike Outram on space -rock guitar and Pete Whittaker's haunting Hammond. With Robert Fripp guesting, a groovy track called Portobello 67 and a rather beautiful cover of See Emily Play, this is a rare, fine English psychedelic jazz."Mojo Magazine

 "Mike Outram plays the sweetest wailing rock guitar in Britain. It's a sound of great beauty."Seb Scotney, London Jazz

 Jan 2016 (BJF 01)