Your April News.

Spring Greetings Jazz lovers,

Dave Jones must be the hardest working pianist in Wales. After last months gig for us, on the 20th March, with his ‘Trunk of Funk’ band he appeared in Newport for an afternoon event with Sarah Couch singing and the Jazzolina Trio. This Friday [4^th] he is in Hay on Wye with drummer John Gibbon.

Happily this gifted and versatile musician was welcomed back with us this month to the Plas Hotel with Dick Hamer on Thursday 17^th. April.

Dick Hamer is a wonderfully fluent tenor sax soloist with a big, round, warm tone on the instrument. He names his three main tenor sax influences as Dexter Gordon, John Coltrane and Joe Henderson.

He has graced our stage before but here he is with Gethin Liddington to remind you what a swinging player he is.

https://youtu.be/L8oIL-Gqm8Q?si=acTNkuq7CKtxM9om

Jenny Jones will be singing with Dick and is the talented jazz vocalist who has performed with Dick Hamer many times as well as singing with the Capital City and Morriston Big Bands. The foundation rhythm section was Alan Vaughn – bass and Nick Hislam – drums.

Please note that our May jazz night will be on FRIDAY 30^th and will feature the fabulous Tomos Williams with Aiden Thorne and Matthew Homes.

The next Aberjazz event is The Transatlantic Hot Club  in Ffwrn on Sunday 4th May at 2:30pm

Swansea Jazz is now based at the Cu club in Mumbles and has an excellent programme of jazz weekly on Wednesdays, well worth travelling for. https://www.swanseajazzland.co.uk

If you haven’t yet renewed your Membership for 2025 please do.

More news later when the weather goes back to normal and we are confined to ‘indoors!’

All the very best from the NJ Team

Review of the set played at the Plas Hotel on Thursday 20/3/25, by Dave Jones’s “Trunk of Funk”

So what is FUNK; you my ask?

Music where the rhythms are strong, clear and hypnotic and the phrasing of the melodic and chordal instruments is bluesy and very vocalised.

Well we were treated by all of the above when Dave Jones’s new “Trunk of Funk” group played for us at the Plas Hotel on Thursday 20^th March. The reverberating intense rhythmic drive of the group presenting us with many of the classic numbers from the masters of the genre.

The driving rhythm provided by Elliot Bennett (drums) and Jon Goode (Bass) provided the ideal platform for Ben Waghorn (sax), Paul Carr (guitar) and of course Dave Jones on keys, to provide a showcase of the music of ‘Funk’.  You may recognise many of the origination artists and their compositions that were presented to us during the evening.

The set comprised Cissy Strut (The Meters), Red Clay (Freddy Hubbard), Dirty Old Man (Tom Scott), In a Sentimental Mood (Ellington, but inspired by the Steps Ahead version of that tune), Elektric City (Chick Corea) … and then the 2nd set – Blue Miles (Chick Corea), Mercy, Mercy, Mercy (Joe Zawinul), Cantaloupe Woman (Grant Green), Little Sunflower (Freddy Hubbard), and finally The Chicken (Jaco Pastorius).

So ended another enthralling evening of yet another variation of the music we call Jazz.

News March 2025

Greetings NJ members and friends,
I hope that your St. Davids day was full of sunshine and daffodils like mine.
Our February presentation with Keith Little Swing Four band went very well and you can read reviews in the Western Telegraph and Observer.

Gethin Liddington in full flow with Keith on keys and the rhythm kept on beat with Bill Lynn (from Bath) and Greg Evans on drums.

Jimi Hendrix once asked “Are You Experienced?” but I am now asking “Were you surveyed?”
Most of the February audience were kind enough to partake in our survey to gain your opinion on our way forward with Narberth Jazz music, and so now we know that:-
Piano is the most popular featured instrument.
(Was this because it happened on a night featuring a great pianist?)
This was followed by Blues, then Mainstream and Gypsy jazz
Surprisingly Trad/Dixie and Bop scored quite low.
Your committee will be dissecting these results and making decisions over the next couple of meetings. We may repeat the survey for a couple more months to expand the response base.
Please if you have any preferences (or hates!) please let us/me know.
This month our live session is provided by Trunk of Funk, the new band led by keyboard
maestro Dave Jones and featuring ace sax player, the perfectly named Ben Waghorn. We have enjoyed several visits from Dave’s acoustic bands but this new unit have been making waves around south Wales for the last few months and so we knew they would go down well here on Thursday 20th March.

Our future events will include
• 17/4/2025 Dick Hamer 4 with Jenny Jones
• Friday 30th May 2025 Alec Clarke; Aiden Thorne trio,

Aberjazz have The Ross Hicks Trio on March 7th in Peppers and the Patrick-Barrett-Donlon Quartet in Peppers on 21st March.
See Aberjazz Home Page
Brecon Jazz are celebrating Women in Jazz with Tammy Payne Quartet on 11th March. They also remind us that Brecon Jazz Fest is 8th – 10th August this year.
Not Jazz but worth noting, is a new multi arts festival in Tenby this month called Y Lle Da/The
Good Place from 21st to 23rd. https://www.ylledathegoodplace.co.uk
Also Tenby Jazz ‘Sunday Brunches are back again starting in April with Dave Cottle
See Tenby Jazz – The home of Tenby’s Jazz Brunches
If you enjoy classic and vintage jazz, I can recommend Old Friends Radio I found it here
https://streamdb7web.securenetsystems.net/cirruscontent/ofrn
Also on BBC Sounds look out for Add to Playlist – Add to Playlist – Julian Joseph and Aoife Ní Bhriain open the new series – BBC Sounds
That’s all for now
The NJ Team

Narberth Jazz News for January 2025

Greetings  Jazz lovers,

Happy New Year, may 2025 be full of love, peace and good music for you.

Our performances started the new year with a very happy and high energy night of dance music with THE NUMBERS RACKET; with Dom Norcross and Elaina Hoss Thursday 16^th January.

This long running band six piece jump and jive band have been keeping dancers swinging for quite a few years now and led by our own Narberth sax star, DomNorcross.The bands featured singer is Elaina Hoss who has appeared with Dom on many occasions.

Next month we bring to you  KEITH LITTLE SWING FOUR on Thursday 20^th February.

The Keith Little swing four ensemble, featuring acclaimed trumpet player Gethin Liddington. Known for his virtuosic skill and dynamic performances, Liddington brings a vibrant energy to the group, elevating their performances with his masterful command of jazz and swing.

Their repertoire ranges from classic jazz standards to lively swing numbers, ensuring an unforgettable experience for audiences of all ages.

With each performance, the Keith Little Swing Four captures the essence of the golden age of jazz, blending technical precision with infectious rhythm.

Their music is guaranteed to get toes tapping and spirits lifted.

Please renew your Membership this month to enable Jazz in Narberth to be live and thrive.

To renew for 2025 visit our website www.narberthjazz.wales

Click on “Events/Tickets and Membership Renewal” and “Get Tickets” which will allow secure Card payment.

Or if you prefer pay by BACS transfer to:- HSBC bank, Narberth Jazz,

Sort Code 40-23-21. Account Number 11620630

Note: The Payee Account Type is ‘BUSINESS’

Best wishes

The NJ Team

NEWS DECEMBER 2024

Greetings Jazz lovers,

How nice it was to welcome Vic Partridge and his merry fellows to play a set of New Orleans tunes for us at the November session. Ron King proved a strong lead on trumpet and John Scantlebury matched him on clarinet and sax, together with th ‘bone’ of Terry Williams stomping out the old songs with great gusto, reminding we old grey hairs of the time we first came to love the music we call jazz.

The audience responded to the exuberant and humour filled evening of music that resonated with them.

Our next event will be with our local favourite musician Dom Norcross with Elaina Hoss and the Numbers Racket.

This will be at the Plas Hotel on Thursday 16^th January 2025.

 Also of interest is the Event put on by the Queens Hall, Narberth on the evening of Friday 20^th December.

It will be the Cardiff Big Band known as the SIGLO SECTION and will feature Luke Andrews.

Tickets £19 BUT with a discount to £17 for Narberth Jazz Members.

Please contact Queens Hall – The Siglo Section ft. Luke Andrews or phone 01834 861212

You may have seen the BBC TV programme last week where Ursula Harrison – a bass player from Wales—became the winner of BBC Young Jazz Musician 2024.

Photo: BBC.

You may remember her from a performance she gave at the Plas last April, with the Eddie Gripper Trio.

So from all of the hipsters that bring you Narberth Jazz may I wish you a wonderful Christmas Tide and looking forward to an interesting and enjoyable New Years programme we hope to bring to you.

Big thank you to all for your support.

Which unfortunately reminds me that your Membership Renewal [or even joining application] is now imminently due for 2025.

To renew please ‘buy’ a renewal ticket from our website:-

Membership Renewal 2025Narberth Jazz

Or if you are joining or rejoining please use the web page Membership | Narberth Jazz where your details and permissions will be recorded for your application and our records.

You may pay direct to the Bank  via BACS or just ‘buy a ticket’ from Events / Tickets & Membership Renewal from the Web site  https://narberthjazz.wales/events/

Thank you and have a great Christmas and New Year.

The Narberth Jazz Team

Jazz News and posts for October /November 2024

Hello Narberth Jazz People,

Our Autumn season has so far been an absolute classic with Dale Storr and last month the great Alan Barnes with John Gibbons merry men.

Alan remembered playing in Narberth many moons ago, and I could not recall when it was so I looked out my old Queens Hall diaries and found that it was 1996 when he played a duo set with his long time piano partner Dave Newton. At that time the hall boasted an ancient upright piano which I arranged to be tuned some time before the gig. Dave was very kind about it’s shortcomings unlike Stan Tracey who’s legendary capacity for cursing was unleashed when he played with a Welsh 9 piece a little later.

We have found it difficult to find interesting local Trad jazz players to grace our  live music nights, and so we have asked a top notch bunch of Traddies from South Wales to come and play this month. Banjo and guitar Vic Partridge brings his Hot Five to delight us this time around with toe tapping tunes that you are sure to know.

You can see him here https://youtu.be/CwJ8CTf17KI?si=yetPebRtY9gUMSI6

playing Chinatown my Chinatown.

 ‘Lovely stuff from a quartet with attitude and a commitment to swing. Trad jazz alive and kicking. Great fun in abundance.’

This will be our last presentation of the year so make sure to be there on Thursday 21^st November.

Aberjazz in Fishguard are hosting live jazz jams hosted by Nick Hislam at Peppers on the first Wednesday of each month, starts at 7.30pm.

Pianist and accordionist George Whitfield hosts sing along sessions at the piano at the Star pub Narberth also on Wednesdays.

Don’t forget that The Queens Hall will be presenting a Christmas Dance with the Siglo Section big band. To take advantage of the Queens Hall offer

they would like to extend the concession price of £16 (+£1 booking fee) to all Narberth Jazz members. If any of your members would like to purchase, please ask them to call Box Office on 01834 861212 and quote Narberth Jazz.

Our festive dance gig will start the 2025 New Year with a bang on 16^th January with the legendary Dom Norcross and the Numbers Racket with Elaina Hoss

Happy Christmas!

AND looking forward to seeing you at our ‘gig’ /events throughout 2025.

From the team at Narberth Jazz.

Narberth Jazz News for September 2024

Hello Narberth Jazz people,

Welcome to the autumn season of our monthly live jazz sessions. We continue at the Plas Hotel Narberth who have hosted us so generously for the past few years. Don’t forget that members can suggest any changes to the NJ set up that they would prefer. We have used several different venues in the past and we are open to all suggestions.

Our next event at the Plas will be from the recognised expert on New Orleans piano styles and players, Dale Storr from Sheffield.

Dale is the best New Orleans player I’ve ever heard”~ Richard Hawley

Described by Jazz Journal magazine as the “piano man’s piano man…” and “a national treasure” , Dale Storr’s musical journey has now brought him recognition as one of the UK’s leading exponents of New Orleans piano.

Inspired by his parents record collection of early Rhythm n’ Blues and Rock n’ Roll, the evocative music of New Orleans quickly became a passion for the young pianist. He immersed himself into the styles of heroes like Dr.John, James Booker, Professor Longhair, Allen Toussaint, Fats Domino and Huey ‘Piano’ Smith to name but a few. His piano studies took him to Sheffield where he established himself as a highly sought after pianist backing many top blues stars from the U.K. and America.

However the music of his beloved New Orleans was always going to take precedence and from 2008 Dale went solo with his now acclaimed ‘Sounds of New Orleans’ show.

“Storr’s music is authentic barrelhouse pianism and singing and should be on the play list of all broad minded jazz lovers~ Jazz Journal magazine

We have enjoyed his intoxicating piano mastery, and sharing his encyclopaedic knowledge of the crescent city. Dale will draw you in with the rich history behind the music telling the often risqué stories of his much loved piano heroes.

He will be weaving his magic for us on Thursday 19^th September.

Next month we are proud to present one of the true stars of British jazz when Alan Barnes comes to play for us with the John Gibbon Trio on October 17^th.

Alan Barnes is a prolific international performer, composer, arranger, bandleader and touring soloist.  He is best known for his work on clarinet, alto and baritone sax, where he combines a formidable virtuosity with a musical expression and collaborative spirit that have few peers.

His range and brilliance have made him a “first call” for studio and live work since his precocious arrival on the scene more than thirty years ago.

His recorded catalogue is immense.  He has made over thirty albums as leader and co-leader alone, and the list of his session and side-man work includes Bjork, Bryan Ferry, Michel LeGrande, Clare Teale, Westlife, Jools Holland and Jamie Cullum. He has toured and played residencies with such diverse and demanding figures as Ruby Braff, Freddie Hubbard, Scott Hamilton, Warren Vache, Ken Peplowski, Harry Allen and Conte Candoli.

In British jazz, the young Barnes was recognized – and hired – by the established greats of the time:  Stan Tracy, John Dankworth, Kenny Baker, Bob Wilber, and Humphrey Lyttelton.  But he is equally respected for his longstanding and fruitful collaborations with contemporaries such as David Newton, Bruce Adams, and Martin Taylor.

Alan Barnes’s unique musicianship, indefatigable touring, and warm rapport with audiences have made him uniquely popular in British jazz.  He has received over 25 British Jazz Awards, most recently in 2014 for clarinet, and has twice been made BBC Jazz Musician of the Year.

I was relishing the prospect of Barnes’s casually consummate musicianship, deadpan humour (he could be a comedian, if jazz ever fails him), and indomitable belief in a respected place for the music’s rich history in this eclectic and often forgetful world.
John Fordham – The Guardian.

Barnes plays music that was radical 50 years ago but he infuses it with so much passion and energy you could believe it was minted on the spot, which is always part of the story with jazz.
John L. Walters, The Guardian.

In November we bring you will bring the New Orleans band style back to Narberth with the Vick Partridge Five.

Don’t forget to get your tickets from

Events from 1st January – 21st NovemberNarberth Jazz

See You soon

Declan and the NJ team

Dale Storr to entertain us at the Plas Hotel on the 19th September.

Dale Storr – one of the UK’s leading exponents of New Orleans piano, with plenty of stories to tell about his much-loved piano heroes. So come and hear and see this virtuoso New Orleans pianist and story teller.

His encyclopaedic knowledge of the crescent city will draw in the audience with the rich history behind the music, telling the often risqué stories of his much loved piano heroes. Heroes like Dr John, James Booker, Professor Longhair, Allen Toussaint , Fats Domino and Huey ‘Piano’ Smith to name but a few.

“Storr’s music is authentic barrelhouse pianism and singing and should be on the play list of all broad minded jazz lovers”~ Jazz Journal magazine

July Jazz News and reviews.

Jazz on a summers afternoon.

Sunday the 28th of July saw our Narberth Jazz’s 4th annual garden party at Lampeter House.  Unlike last year, it was a beautiful day, with sun and blue skies.

So late in the afternoon we started the party with gypsy jazz from the Swinging Nettles.

“The Swingin Nettles” are a 4 piece gypsy swing band from South Pembrokeshire, who inspired by the swinging music of 1930s legends Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grapelli, play the infectious rhythms of that time.

Next up it was the Keith Marshall Quartet with Angharad Sanders providing the vocal refrains who performed many well-known show standards for us. The quartet was a nicely balanced Piano / Reeds / Bass and drums, with Angharad weaving the melodic refrains.

Then it came time for the Keith  Marshall Little Big Band to take the stage.

The Keith Marshall Little Big Band is an exceptional jazz and swing ensemble with a big sound that creates memorable musical experiences. The band is based in South Wales, they produced a powerful sound, keeping the energy high. Their music bristles with expert musicianship and enthusiasm, including some memorable individual jazz solos. With vocals from both Angharad Sanders and Andy Matthews highlighting many show tunes and jazz standards.

The band’s extensive repertoire includes different styles of music that span decades: jazz, swing, ballads, as well as some arrangements of more recent popular tunes. The band delivered contemporary styles as well as the classics of jazz and swing. This group of exceptional musicians presents a big sound, delivering terrific  live music for our pleasure.

Altogether a wonderful afternoon / evening was had by all, beautiful weather, picnics and Pimm’s adding to the musical enjoyment . Narberth Jazz would like to thank Julian Williams for his hospitality and allowing us to user Lampeter House once again.

June Jazz News from Narberth Jazz.

Our usual ‘reviewer’ isn’t available at the moment so; as a poor substitute here goes.

Clark Tracey Quintet Play the Plas Hotel Narberth.

As the concluding part of their UK tour the quintet played their final event for Narberth Jazz at the Plas on the 20^th June and the only event that they played in Wales.

The concert was delivered in two cracking sets with enthusiastic appreciation and applause from the audience.

Clark was kind enough to send us this after returning home:-

One of my new favourite venues!  We really enjoyed playing there and the hospitality from everyone was outstanding.  Thank you!

Good luck with the venue – I’m always keen to perform there again in any guise so please always bare me in mind.

The final quintet line up consisted of –

Clark Tracey – drums

Simon Allen – Tenor / soprano sax

RJ Gilbert – alto

Dave Newton – piano

Al Swainger – bass

Next up for Narberth Jazz will be our forth Garden Party at Lampeter House on SUNDAY 28^th July. Doors 3pm music 4-9pm

The weather man would suggest that towards the end of the month it may!! be like real summer.

Now the usual plea from the committee

We have 7 local people on our organizing group and we would welcome anything that you could offer to help / support / run Narberth Jazz.

If you have a little spare time please call Gordon on 01437 541277 for an informal chat. It can be good fun!

Other news from the County.

Tenby Jazz are very hopeful to resume their ‘dinner jazz’ events shortly

Don’t forget the Aberjazz’s Fishguard Jazz & Blues Festival from 22^nd to 26^th August.

On the airwaves:

BBC Sounds

A new series called ‘The Power of Jazz’ hosted by Jeff Goldblum ( no mean piano player) explores the relationship between jazz and rock, hip-hop, dance and pop.

It reminds me of a series of records in the 60’s called ‘Jazz for people who hate jazz’.

Tune in and enjoy

Best wishes to you all

From the NJ team