TWO oil paintings of Brecon Jazz Festival have been donated to Brecknock Museum thanks to the generosity of a Brecon resident

Jonathan Morgan, a member of the Brecon Jazz Club and a friend of the Brecknock Society, bought three of four paintings which were recently given to the jazz club. He is donating two to the museum and keeping one for himself.

The canvas paintings were painted of musicians performing at the festival by the artist and jazz fan Diana Golledge in 1995.

One of the paintings features the renowned American saxophonist Benny Carter and the other features a famous French jazz trio which includes the violinist Stephane Grapelli, the guitarist Marc Fosset and Jean Phillipe Verdin on double bass.

The story of how Brecon Jazz Club came to be in possession of the paintings is an involved one. The late Bernard Glanville, from south England, was a regular attender of the Brecon Jazz Festival and bought the four original pieces from Diana in December 1995.

After Bernard’s death last year, his nephew Dave Coombe and Dave’s wife Karen found the paintings while clearing out Bernard’s house.

The couple, who are both from Brecon, attended the “curtain raiser” launch concert for the 2017 festival at the Wellington Hotel in June where they enjoyed performances by some major names in the jazz world.

This led to them presenting the four paintings to Lynne Gornall and Roger Cannon of the jazz club at a meeting in the Castle Hotel in October with the intention that the jazz club sell them on to raise money for the annual festival which started in 1984 and the club has helped to organise since 2012.

Mike Chappell, a well-known local jazz pianist, and his wife Pam who were both organisers of the jazz club in the 1970s were also present at the launch concert where visiting French guitarist Jean Guyomarc’h was able to confirm that guitarist Marc Fosset was one of the musicians pictured in the paintings.

The jazz club, which is older than the festival, consulted its members and friends as they were unsure of what to do with the donations.

Lynne said they wanted the paintings to be bought by people who “respected the legacy of Brecon Jazz” and they hoped the paintings would remain on display in Brecon if possible.

She said: “It means they are public not private, so they can be displayed in Brecon for everybody to enjoy and see these top jazz names who have visited the town.”

Lynne and Roger consulted the senior curator Nigel Blackamore of the Brecknock Museum and Art Gallery, which already held one of Diana’s paintings of Brecon-based tenor saxophone Ralph Smith.

After Nigel identified the two works which would be added to the collection, he and

the members of the Brecon Jazz Club

started working out a way to buy the paintings.

When Mr Morgan heard about the paintings he offered to buy three of them. He is keeping one, another painting of Benny Carter, and donating the other two to the museum to be displayed to the public after Y Gaer, the newly constructed cultural hub and museum, is opened later this year.

When asked about his generous donation, Jonathan said: “It’s because I’m a Muse friend and I like to help the Muse, and I’m also a friend of Brecon Jazz and want to help Brecon Jazz. I’m a fan of the old Brecon Jazz as well. This bringing together of the jazz club and the Friends of the Museum, to help acquire the paintings and to provide resources for the club was something I was glad to assist with as the club puts on wonderful music of such high quality throughout the year which is a great meeting place for many people.”

Mr Blackamore said: “The large painting will make a very attractive and distinctive feature for future displays, and the smaller painting of Benny Carter will support other work in the collection.” He also said that he is hoping the paintings will be unveiled in a ceremony at Y Gaer to coincide with the launch of the Brecon Jazz Festival in 2019.

The chair of Brecknock Society and Museum Friends, John Gibbs, said: “We are delighted with this generous gift of Jonathan’s which has made the purchase of the paintings possible.”

Karen and Dave Coombe are delighted that Bernard’s paintings and his legacy will be part of Brecon and the future of the new museum hub as well as the jazz festival’s heritage.