Welcome
Thank you to all those who made HSBC Brecon Jazz’s 25th anniversary such a success.
HSBC Brecon Jazz celebrated 25 years with an artistic programme blending international stars with exciting new talent and achieved record ticket sales.
Festival highlights included sell-out concerts with Brecon favourite Jools Holland, Joan Armatrading and Cerys Matthews. International jazz legends featured throughout the weekend including Joe Temperley, Lee Konitz and Louis Hayes. Don Weller’s Big Band packed Theatr Brycheiniog, while the US-based Roy Hargrove Quintet, Abram Wilson and his Kingdom Choir, and Maceo Parker’s irresistible dance rhythms brought the Market Hall audience to their feet.
Showcasing Welsh talent was a strong theme of this 25th Anniversary, with a dedicated ‘Jazz Cymru’ concert on Thursday evening celebrating some of Wales’s finest talent. Throughout the weekend, Welsh musicians ranging from pianist Huw Warren to exciting new band Burum, featured in the Stroller and Headliner programmes.
Workshops were another new theme, with Dan Stern from P Mauriat Saxophones, Lee Konitz, and Joe Temperley all sharing their wisdom with audiences of all ages across the weekend. Artist Tim Rossiter, creator of the 25th Anniversary image, led a popular Gothic Blues community art workshop at the Museum.
This year’s Festival included something for everyone, and younger audiences were delighted by Jason Rebello’s ‘Jazz Rainbow’ family concert and children’s workshop on Sunday morning. Schoolchildren from Brecon and across South Wales wowed a packed house at Christ College in a performance with Eddie Parker’s Mister Vertigo band which showcased their achievements over the past year in a major HSBC Brecon Jazz outreach project.
HSBC Brecon Jazz Chairman, John Payne, commented: ‘We have been delighted with the enthusiastic response we’ve received for this year’s artistic programme. With 113 events and a wide range of education and community projects more people than ever have been involved in our 25th Anniversary Festival. We are extremely grateful to all our sponsors and supporters without whose generosity we would not be able to present the world class programme for which the Festival has become renowned.’
