Festival 2009
Jazz in Wales?
Brecon may be having this year off, but the Porthcawl Jazz Festival welcomes all.
This years Porthcawl Jazz Festival will be held on the 17th, 18th and 19th of April.
Make your jazz seaside jazz this year. Only 25 miles from Cardiff.
To see what we had on in last year's festival please click here, and please keep checking back for updates to this year's festival.
Also, a reminder to shopkeepers in Porthcawl that the annual shop windows competition for the best dressed
"Jazz" window will be running as usual.
Next year photographs of all entries will be displayed on our webpage.
For more information on Porthcawl, please visit the Welcome To Porthcawl website.
Roy Davies leads this well established 5 piece jazz and swing band, based in South Wales.
Keith Little specializes in the swing music of the 30's and 40's with a repertoire that takes in Fats Waller and Roy Eldridge.
One of Wales' most popular jazz bands who play regularly around South Wales as well as at various Jazz Festivals�notably Brecon and Lyme Regis.
Lewis Clement is a Welsh born pianist, currently completing a B.mus (Hons) Jazz at Birmingham Conservatoire.
Jigsaw is a South Wales based trio who combine the idioms of jazz with an uncompromising rhythm and grace.
This quartet is a jazz unit playing a range of exciting numbers by Miles Davis , Oliver Nelson, Horace Silver, Gerry Mulligan and others. They recently supported Digby Fairweather and Don Weller.
Kenny Ball is a legend. Probably the greatest test of an artist's success is his durability. Kenny is now a genuine institution, and the most successful jazz trumpet player this side of the Atlantic. His landmark recordings of the 1960s such as 'Midnight in Moscow' catapulted him to worldwide fame, and since then he has become a living legend.
We are honoured to welcome him to this years Porthcawl Jazz Festival
Janice Mitchell is a jazz and blues vocalist from Buffalo, New York, drawing on gospel roots to deliver jazz standards, R&B, & blues vocals in her soulfully unique fashion. She has also performed live as a backup vocalist for Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Fabian, Yvonne Elliman, and numerous others.
Jim Beishline has become one of Western New York's most recognized pianists by performing with high profile musicians in the Buffalo area and throughout the U.S. for over 20 years. His extensive repertoire of popular music and jazz from the 1920's through the 1990's make his performances exciting and enjoyable, whether he is performing solo, or with a trio.
Janice performs regularly with The Jim Beishline Trio and also as a duo with Jim on piano, and we look forward to seeing them at this years festival.
For more on Janice Mitchell please visit her website here, and for Jim Beishline please visit his website here.
Formed in 2007 by some of the best jazz and big band players in South East Wales, and appearing for the first time at Porthcawl Jazz Festival, we are very pleased to announce that the Capital City Jazz Orchestra will be with us in 2009.
The Capital City Jazz Orchestra play at Dempseys in Cardiff every month and played at Margam Festival in the summer and at Level 3 St. Davids Hall with Alan Barnes as guest.
This year we are delighted to welcome the renowned saxophonist and clarinetist Alan Barnes to our 2009 festival. An extremely busy jazz musician and arranger, Alan has played with the Midnight Follies Orchestra, the Pasadena Roof Orchestra, Tommy Chase and the Humphrey Lyttleton Band.
He broadcast regularly over a ten-year period with the BBC Big Band and Radio Orchestra and has toured and recorded with big band leaders, Dick Walter, Kenny Baker, Bob Wilber, Don Weller, Stan Tracey, Mike Westbrook and John Dankworth. Alan has appeared regularly as a member of the Laurie Holloway orchestra on television's Michael Parkinson show and Strictly Come Dancing.
For more on Alan Barnes please visit his website here.