What's On
Concerts are held at Crowmarsh Village Hall, Benson Lane, Crowmarsh Gifford, OX10 8ED. Plenty of free parking is available.
There is a bar available, provided by local pub The Queens Head. We adhere to all current COVID Government guidelines.
£15 standard ticket price. Tickets are reduced to £5 for anyone living or working in adult social care and anyone in receipt of benefits from DWP - please get in touch for details: email ([email protected]) or phone (07795974223).
Crowmarsh Jazz pays all musicians properly and supports the campaign for fair pay for musicians.
We look forward to welcoming you soon, and together helping to KEEP MUSIC aLIVE!
2024
1st June: Alex Clarke Quartet
As a finalist in the BBC Young Jazz Musician of the Year 2020, winner of the Rising Star category in the 2019 British Jazz Awards and nominee in the Parliamentary Jazz Awards 2021 & 2022, Alex is known to be one of the most in-demand and versatile saxophonists to have emerged on the British jazz scene.
Praised for her extensive repertoire list and intelligent ear for harmony, Alex’s sound is steeped in the tradition of bebop. Her deep respect for the heritage of the music can be heard in a hard-swinging, melodic approach reminiscent of Scott Hamilton and Lester Young, with strong bop influences of Phil Woods and Cannonball Adderley.
Back in 2018, Alex released her debut album “Mirage”. Since then, she has appeared as a sideman on numerous recordings, such as the 2019 album with acclaimed jazz, blues and country vocalist/pianist TJ Johnson entitled “Songs from the Jazz Country”.
The Alex Quartet features some of the finest names in British Jazz, namely David Newton, Dave Green and Clark Tracey. In Summer 2022, they released their latest album ‘Only A Year'. This led to a sell-out album tour in January/February 2023 across renowned UK jazz clubs and festivals.
Tonight Alex will appear with top musicians Graham Harvey (piano), Dave Green (bass) and Clark Tracey (drums).
Saturday 20th July: Craig Milverton and Joanna - an oscar for ella
Celebrating the pairing of two of jazz’s greatest artists. When Oscar Peterson and Ella Fitzgerald first met for ‘Jazz at the Philharmonic’ they found they were a natural pairing and a legend was born.
From the throw-away ‘A Tisket A Tasket’ which brought Ella to fame in the forties with the Chick Webb Orchestra, to later songbook album classics like Porter's ‘Every Time We Say Goodbye’ and Gershwin’s ‘Someone to Watch Over Me’, Eden mines the rich seam of Ella Fitzgerald’s unrivalled canon with humility, style and obvious deep affection.
"The full house clamoured for an encore to which Joanna fittingly responded with the enduring Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye" - London Jazz Review
“Sophisticated, stylish vocals” - Jazz Journal
“[Craig Milverton is] Britain’s nearest to Oscar Peterson and the best to come along in the last 20 years” - Digby Fairweather
With six solo albums to her credit, Joanna Eden is considered one of the finest singer-pianists in the UK with a style that covers a broad spectrum, through jazz, soul, bossa nova and blues. Joanna’s interaction with her audience is warm and she has built up a huge following over her 20 year, performing regularly at Ronnie Scott’s Club, The Stables & Apex concert halls. The quality of Joanna’s live work is reflected by the stellar list of artists she and her world class band have supported including Van Morrison, Tom Jones, Jamie Cullum, Roy Hargrove and The Buena Vista Social Club.
Craig Milverton is very much in demand as a solo pianist, with his virtuoso ability and comprehensive knowledge of the entire jazz spectrum. He is also sought after as a skilled accompanist to a range of star vocalists. His trios are regularly required to back visiting American soloists at festivals and venues across the country including Scott Hamilton, Ken Peplowski and Warren Vache. Few British pianists have Craig’s thorough knowledge and grasp of jazz styles. His love of the music shines through and he is a natural at whatever he plays.
CRAIG MILVERTON - Piano
JOANNA EDEN - Vocals
ASHLEY JOHN LONG - Bass
ALEX GOODYEAR - Drums
Watch Joanna perform here: https://youtu.be/IBgm0PdEBzo
past shows
20th april: Rebecca Poole Quartet- SOLD OUT
This show is now sold out. For ticket waiting list, please contact: [email protected]
Rebecca Poole (alias Purdy Music) performs her highly acclaimed new Jazz album 'Dreamers Ball' as championed by Jazz Fm, Smooth Jazz with Record of the Week on BBC Sounds.
Rebecca has toured with Jools Holland- Including a knock out show at The Royal Albert Hall, performing her self penned remembrance song to 90,000 people at Wembley Stadium, guesting with Jamie Cullum on the BBC Cheltenham Festival stage and supporting Lana Del Rey. The sultry starlet, recently appeared in hit Netflix TV series 'The Crown' singing 'Can't take my eyes off you'.
‘Rebecca will lead you by the hand into her stories with deep velvet vocals, at times playfully then soulfully through the highs and lows. You won't want to say goodnight' - Evening Standard
'Every song has meaningful lyrics and a melody worthy of a place in the Great British Contemporary Song Book, if there is such an infinite volume. If there isn't, well there is now!' - Bebop Spoken Here
'A true artist' Alan McGee
Rebecca will be joined on stage by stunning musicians Stuart Henderson (trumpet), Hugh Turner (guitar) and Raph Mizraki (double bass).
Saturday 9th March: The Music of Nancy Wilson and Cannonball Adderley
The Music of Nancy Wilson and Cannonball Adderley
Featuring Ben Cummings, Ineza Kerschkamp and Ollie Weston
An exciting new show featuring London vocalist and rising star Ineza Kerschkamp in a tribute to the magical moment when Nancy Wilson recorded for the first time with the Cannonball Adderley Quintet, here represented by local stars Ben Cummings on cornet and the fabulous Ollie Weston Quartet. A cosy winter’s evening of subtly blended soul, jazz and bop.
Supporting these three fantastic front-liners will be stella musicians, Chris Eldred on piano, Curtis Ruiz on double bass, and drummer Dave Tandy.
Saturday 20th January: Art Themen and Iain Ballamy with the Denny Ilett trio
Art Themen and Iain Ballamy with the Denny Ilett Trio
SOLD OUT
This show is now sold out. For ticket waiting list, please contact Fleur:
[email protected]
07795974223
Two of the UK’s undisputed titans of the tenor saxophone meet for this special one-off performance.
Art Themen is the jazz equivalent of a national treasure. One of the most individual voices in UK jazz history Art started out playing with ‘blues-boom’ legend Alexis Korner before a long and fruitful association with Stan Tracey. Along the way Themen has made music with such luminaries as Michael Garrick, Graham Collier and Ian Carr.
“a fantastically exciting, playful and inventive saxophonist” - Ronnie Scott’s
Iain Ballamy’s career as saxophonist, composer and ECM recording artist has found him sharing stages and recording studios with Loose Tubes, Gil Evans, Carla Bley and Bill Bruford among countless others. Ballamy is also a celebrated educator and teaches at Guildhall School of Music, Royal Welsh College and the RoyalAcademy of Music.
“Ballamy is a major international voice” - The Times
Together, these two masters will weave their way through a selection of American Songbook standards interspersed with blues and latin excursions.
They will be supported by guitarist Denny Ilett, bassist Andy Crowdy and drummer Steve Brown.
2023
Saturday 9 December: Bateman brothers - Music of Louis Armstrong
SOLD OUT Bateman Bothers Jazz Band
Music of Louis Armstrong
The Bateman Brothers Jazz band has gained a worldwide reputation for their faithful recreation of the music of Louis Armstrong and his All-Stars. The critics struggle to tell the two bands apart and Alan Bateman’s trumpet playing is as close to the sound of Louis Armstrong in the golden years of the 1940’s – 1960’s as you will ever hear nowadays. If that is not enough, his brother Ian Bateman possess the ability to recreate the sound of Louis’ most famous trombonists – Trummy Young and Jack Teagarden.
The older members of their audiences often remark on how the band takes them back to their youth and congratulate them for putting the vitality back into this form of jazz music. That is because they play the tunes the way Louis and the All-Stars played them – full of energy, the same carefully planned arrangements and an all too obvious genuine love of the music. These are the current stars of the British jazz scene (all ex-members of the bands of Chris Barber, Kenny Ball, Acker Bilk and Terry Lightfoot), all in one band and if you go to see them in one of their three different shows, they’ll have you on the edge of your seat shouting for more. That’s how it was with Louis Armstrong and his All-Stars and that is how it is with The Bateman Brothers Jazz Band.
Their first recording won the best CD category in the 2011 British Jazz Awards and prompted this response from reviewer Ralph Laing: “In my experience no band in the world has ever attempted to emulate the unique sound of Louis Armstrong and his All-Stars before. In this they succeed, and deserve our admiration and envy for so doing…”. If you are a jazz enthusiast or just love Louis Armstrong, this concert is for you and we can't wait to welcome them to our stage.