ICONIC venues such as the Ballroom of the Castle Hotel in Brecon are coming forward to support this year’s Jazz Festival.
The Festival Big Band will feature an incredible line-up of talent, including leading members of Wales’ premier Capital City Jazz Orchestra, with emerging names from the London jazz scene, and outstanding musical talents from South Wales itself.
This year, the Festival organisers have invited leading trombonist, educator, bandleader and composer Gareth Roberts to curate and direct this year’s Festival Big Band.
Based in Cardiff, Gareth regularly performs with the much-admired Capital City Jazz Orchestra (CCJO), is no stranger to the Brecon Jazz Club stage, and also leads his own established lineups. A brilliant and in-demand soloist, Gareth is also the leader of the community-based Monmouthshire Big Band. Gareth said he was honoured and excited to be creating a new Festival band for this year’s Brecon Jazz.
It gives him the chance to put together a ‘dream team’ of younger, rising jazz talents combined with some highly respected names from both the London and the Welsh jazz scene – Joe Northwood, Emily Morton (tenor saxes), Alice Leggett, Rhys Taylor (altos), Rebecca Nash (piano/keys) and Jon Reynolds (drums). These rising stars will join a superb brass section.
Local jazz fans will appreciate seeing well-known players such as the excellent trumpeter and CCJO member Bob Moeller on trumpet as well as bassist Erika Lyons in the lineup, but the big band also features several ‘Capital City’ personnel: David Miller baritone sax, trumpeter Ted Smith, trombonists Gwyn Daniels, Phil Dando – and of course Festival Band director Gareth Roberts himself on trombone, while admired South Wales musicians, Tomos Williams and Ceri Williams, complete the trumpets section.
The highly impressive young vocalist Annabelle Garner joins what promises to be an unforgettable summer evening at the Castle Hotel in August.
Mayor Manny Trailor, who is also the business owner of the Castle Hotel, said that this could only be good for Brecon; the Jazz Festival had opened at the Castle for the last couple of years with a Big Band and it was a tradition he was very happy to support.
The Jazz Festival organisers in turn wished to thank the Castle’s management for their package of support to this year’s Festival and to the staff for great teamwork throughout the Festival planning process.
Friday’s Big Band concert tickets are on sale now and the price includes not only the full performance concert with interval – and a chance to dance! – but also a hot plate meal prepared by the hotel’s kitchen and served as a buffet at 7.30pm. Big Band music starts at 8.30pm. Tickets for the concert on Friday, August 10 are £35 each and can be booked direct at www.breconjazz.org/tickets or purchased in person at Bobbins Store in Brecon.