Line Up
The 2025 Kirkcudbright Jazz Festival looks set to be an incredible showcase of the finest Jazz musicians in the UK and further afield.
Festival Bands
This year we have 11 bands performing in Festival venues together with further groups formed specifically for the Festival from a pool of musicians with members John Hallam, Roy Percy, John Fenner, Tom Kincaid, Uli Wunner, Clint Baker, Bill Jones and Thomas l’Etienne. Although band bookings have been agreed the line up remains subject to final confirmation in case of any unexpected circumstances.
Sarah Spencer’s Transatlantic Jazz Band, Kirkcudbright International All Stars, Rose Room, Quattro Mac Jazz, Lazy River Festival Jazz Band, Bits of Bix, Joe ‘King’ Oliver’s Music, Kid Ory Remembered, Hot Attic Band, Bold as Brass and Chicago Bears Society Jazz Band.
Sarah Spencer’s Transatlantic Jazz Band
Sarah Spencer formed the Transatlantic Band when she lived in the USA and traveled across the USA and the UK with the band from around 1997 until the present day. The Transatlantic Band plays New Orleans music, from the dance halls of New Orleans in the 1920’s, through the New Orleans Revival, to the legendary New Orleans Rhythm and Blues/Rock and Roll performers like Fats Domino and Little Richard.
During the COVID pandemic of 2020-2021, she and Hugh Crozier created around 200 collaboration videos with musicians all across the world, picking tunes that were, generally, out of the ‘standards’ repertoire but which swung and were in keeping with the New Orleans feel. The current version of the Transatlantic Band has incorporated some of those outstanding musicians into its lineup and has boundless energy.
Rose Room
Double Scottish Jazz Award-winning band Rose Room are Scotland’s leading ensemble influenced by ‘Hot Club’ Parisian Swing. Led by virtuoso violinist, two-time Scottish Jazz Award-winning vocalist and BBC broadcaster Seonaid Aitken, the band also features Scotland’s No.1 guitar maker Jimmy Moon on double bass with Danny Kyle Award-winning Tam Gallagher on rhythm guitar. On solo guitar, and continuing in Rose Room’s second decade as a band, is an exceptional talent from Glasgow’s Southside; guitarist Conor Smith. Expect the effervescent sound of Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli as they serve up a mix of 1930s standards, original music and Gyspy Jazz favourites with their signature flair and fireworks!
The Chicago Teddybears Society Jazz Band
The Chicago Teddybears Society Jazz Band originated in Manchester in the 1970s and the name came from a short-lived American television sitcom set in Prohibition-era Chicago. Fortunately, the band has proved more durable than the TV series and has entertained audiences across the UK and Europe for nearly fifty years now.
Kirkcudbright International All Stars and with the addition of John Hallam, Reeds Galore
Thomas l’Etienne (Hamburg,) and Uli Wunner, (Munich) have been friends and musical associates for most of their long musical careers, their style being strongly influenced by the Creole school of New Orleans clarinet playing. Frequent and long trips to the Crescent City have also kept them in close personal and artistic touch with today’s New Orleans musical scene.
Tom Kincaid’s influences range from Errol Garner and Oscar Peterson to Professor Longhair and Dr. John. He plays a diverse repertoire of mainstream swing & jazz standards, rock’n’roll and New Orleans blues, his swinging style and impeccable ear lead him to be one of Europe’s most in-demand pianists. John Fenner from age 17 played on Ocean Liners for 6 years, then worked at Quaglino’s, Cafe De Paris, and Showboat in London. He has toured and recorded with American greats, Bud Freeman, and Wild Bill Davison. Playing with Kenny Ball for 16 years, he recorded 13 Albums with the band. More recently, John has played with the Pasadea Roof Orchestra.
Roy Percy has worked with American performers Lillian Boutté, Barbara Morrison, Warren Vaché, Jon-Erik Kellso, Marty Grosz, Scott Robinson, Duke Heitger, and Evan Christopher, and many British jazz greats, most notably the legendary Humphrey Lyttleton. Performing has taken him all over the World, including festival appearances in the USA, Canada, South Africa, Switzerland, Germany, France, The Netherlands, Estonia, Finland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway. John Hallam, an outstanding and accomplished musician with a well deserved musical reputation is comfortable with many styles of music, bringing his warm sound and humour to any setting and equally at ease, whether playing clarinet, bass clarinet, flute or any of the saxophones from soprano to baritone.
Quattro MacJazz
Quattro MacJazz will jolt any crowd into spontaneous enjoyment with high octane, toe-tapping, 20s, 30s and 40s era jazz hits. Accessible, feel good, and impossible not to move to. The quartet is the cool cat’s answer to pop,
it’s jazz for people who don’t like jazz. Quattro MacJazz is a musical throwback to days you’re probably too young to remember, but too much of a romantic not to idealise. By the night’s end, your ears will be ringing,
you’ll have a song in your heart and a swing in your step. Don’t miss this happy mix of hand clappin’, foot tappin’ exuberant entertainment from the phenomena that is – Quattro MacJazz.
Hot Attic Band
Led by Sarah Spencer on sax and featuring“Magic” Mike Henry on trumpet, Mike Owen and Rob Pearce on trombones, Jim Swinnerton, on bass and Duncan Findlay on banjo and guitar this group should be “hot”.
Given that Mike Owen and Sarah both lived in New Orleans long enough to absorb some of its musical legacy we may get a less than usual playlist that features some near forgotten gems of jazz.
Lazy River Festival Jazz Band
Brian Mellor (Banjo/gtr & vocals) brings a massive legacy of performing at home and abroad with most of the best known UK bands. Nick Ward is a most experienced and sought after vintage and New Orleans style drummer playing an authentic 1920s percussion kit. Phil Rutherford (Sousa) is renowned for his superb playing and solid rhythm. John Moreman (Tbn/vocals) is a very versatile and entertaining performer. Veronica Perrin (Cnt/Tpt/Melodica/vocals) fronts the band and sings most vocals. Chris Perrin Clt/sax/pno is the leader and
founder member of the band. This entertaining and versatile group will play a mix of classic jazz standards
and possibly the odd novelty number. Enjoy their performance.
Bits of Bix
Anyone who listens to jazz most likely knows the name Bix Beiderbecke, an American jazz cornetist, pianist and
composer. Beiderbecke was one of the most influential jazz soloists of the 1920s, a cornet player noted for an inventive lyrical approach and purity of tone.He was also a child of the Jazz Age who drank himself to an early grave with illegal Prohibition liquor. His hard drinking and beautiful tone on the cornet made him a legend among musicians during his short life. The legend of Bix grew even larger after he died. The band is made up of Mike Daly, Thomas l’Etienne, Uli Wunner, John Hallam, Bill Jones, Tom Kincaid, Tom Langham and Roy Percy will play a set of tunes that will ever be associated with Beiderbecke.
Joe ‘King’ Oliver’s Music
Band includes: Clint Baker, Mike Daly, John Hallam, Bill Jones, Tom Kincaid, John Fenner, Roy Percy.
Joe Oliver was one of the most important figures in early jazz whose style of collective improvisation rather than solos is often referred to as HOT JAZZ. As well as composing a fair number of tunes, he was famous for for his use of mutes, derbies, bottles and cups to alter the sound of his cornet, producing a wild and wide range of sounds. He was the mentor and teacher of Louis Armstrong who idolised him and called him Papa Joe.
Using an instrumental line-up similar to that of his Creole Jazz Band, this group will transport you back to the HOT JAZZ era playing tunes from the Oliver song book.
Kid Ory Remembered
Band includes: Mike Owen, Clint Baker, Sarah Spencer, Thomas Langham, Jim Swinnerton, Graham Smith
Mike Owen leads this group. A true student of Kid Ory, nobody gets as close to Ory’s sound and style. During the time he spent living in New Orleans, he absorbed so much of the great trombone players who chose to never leave the city. Clint Baker (USA) is a true multi-instrumentalist. He knows the role of every instrument in a band from a musical and historic perspective. Depending on what the musical intention of the band is, he makes exactly the right contribution on whatever instrument he is playing, The rest of the group will provide a basis for these wonderful musicians to be able to pay homage to Kid Ory and his various bands through the years. It won’t be a sterile copying of the Ory bands but will have the same kind of feel and energy that made them so successful.
FESTIVAL HISTORY
Kirkcudbright Jazz Festival was established in 1997 as a small one day festival with only two bands and has now become a four day festival with international musicians and performers from all over the world.
The first Jazz Festival in the picturesque harbour and artists’ town of Kirkcudbright, took place over a Friday evening and Saturday, at one venue, during September 1997. The event billed as “Bonnie Galloway’s First Festival of Jazz at Kirkcudbright” was conceived and organised by local businessman and jazz fan, Ally Thomson.
Six bands were showcased playing mainly Dixieland and classic New Orleans jazz. The “headline bands” were the Chicago Teddy Bears Society Jazz Band and Brian Carrick’s Heritage Hall Stompers.
Ally recruited a small team and a duly constituted Jazz Festival Group emerged to run the second Festival. This event, which was not held until June 1999 was firmly rooted in “traditional” jazz. With support from the Lottery, Dumfries & Galloway Council and Groundbase, it was a much more ambitious affair, featuring ten groups in four venues, performing on Friday evening, all day Saturday and Sunday afternoon. For the first time, a marching band led a decorated brolly parade through the town on Saturday morning, and a Jazz Church Service took place in the parish church on the Sunday morning. In addition the concept of “dining to jazz” was introduced at a local restaurant. Leading bands this time were Phil Mason’s New Orleans All Stars with Christine Tyrell and the Apex Jazz Band from Northern Ireland.
2000 saw a further expansion of the Festival in terms of venues and bands, in jazz dining in local restaurants and, thanks to the support of locals and visitors, more taking part in the decorated brolly parade. The town was also becoming very supportive of the Festival with local businesses either sponsoring the event or supporting by advertising in the Souvenir Programme. This year saw the first visit of Mart Rodger Manchester Jazz and the very new but very well received Jazz Girl.
The next expansion took place in 2002 when it was decided to try a Thursday evening start and an extension into Sunday evening to allow a greater number of bands to be hired. This proved to be successful, thanks in no small part to bands such as Manchester Jazz, Keith Nichol’s All Stars and the Ken Colyer Trust Band. This year also saw the introduction of “Patrons of the Festival” which allowed individuals and businesses to demonstrate tangible support for the event.
Up to this point, the Festival Group was indebted to the Chairmanship of Ally Thomson, the Festival instigator, who retired through ill health. Ian McGibbon took over the Chair, and under his guidance over the next three years, the Festival consolidated its position as one of the leading Scottish Jazz Festivals. It featured a mix of the best of Scottish and English Jazz Bands playing in the traditional idiom and attracted visitors from throughout the UK and beyond.
In 2006 the Chairmanship passed to Rev. Frank Glendinning who had for a number of years conducted the Jazz Church Service. The Festival continued to adhere to its original philosophy of showcasing first class musicians playing in the Dixieland style; of using the best venues available; of providing value for money to the audiences and of improving the Festival. To this end, and for the 10th Festival, an international dimension was added in 2007 by bringing the Climax Jazz Band from Canada and the Barfota Jazz Men from Sweden.
During 2007, the Festival was re-organised and re-constituted as a Limited Company Number 315747 and as a Registered Charity Number SC038200. These changes brought benefits and drawbacks – benefits in terms of being able to claim “gift aid” on patronage and sponsorship and drawbacks in that one result was a considerable change in personnel in the organising group and a very rapid learning experience for some of the newcomers in mounting the 11th Festival which in fact proved to be the most successful yet in terms of audience appreciation of the superb music and entertainment displayed by those bands participating. These new members deserve the greatest thanks for their efforts and an acknowledgement of their commitment to the festival and the new skills they brought to the group.
The 11th Festival saw the first venture into “big band” territory with much appreciated and acclaimed gigs from Paul Munnery’s Harlem band. Unfortunately, it was not possible to bring this band to the 12th Festival but its place was taken by Ken Mathieson’s Classic Jazz Orchestra, making its initial appearance in Kirkcudbright alongside Dave Stradwick’s Sussex Jazz Kings and Dennis Armstrong’s Oliver Band.
Innovatively, the 12th Festival saw the introduction of “themed” gigs with Dennis Armstrong’s group re-creating the music and sounds of King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band while the Classic Jazz Orchestra performed one gig as a tribute to Bix Beiderbecke and the second was devoted to the music of Jelly Roll Morton. Additionally, Bill Salmond’s Louisiana Ragtime Band performed music from the dance halls of 1920s New Orleans.
