News
Friday, 01 April 2011
Oxford Jazz Festival returns bigger and better for 2011
Now in its third and strongest year, the Oxford Jazz Festival returns with a four-day jazz spectacular, featuring over 50 performances staged in some of the prestigious city's most historic and exciting venues.
Taking place over the Easter weekend, the festival features leading lights from the world of jazz, including Soweto Kinch, Norma Winstone, the Bobby Wellins Quartet and the Janette Mason Trio. This year's festival theme is Celebrating British Jazz.
New this year....
Since its inception, the Oxford Jazz Festival has taken place in an incredible selection of some of the city’s finest venues, including the North Wall Arts Centre, Oxford Town Hall and Saint Michael at the North Gate, the oldest building in Oxford.
New for 2011 will be a new series of performances held at the Ashmolean Museum; as well as daily free concerts held in the centre atrium, there will also be a spectacular evening event held in the rooftop restaurant.
Another new addition to the programme this year is the creation of different ‘jazz neighbourhoods’, making it even easier for festival goers to catch as many performances as possible each day. Pick up a special Jazz Map (available at performances and throughout the weekend at the Broad Street Tourist Information Centre) to help you navigate your way through the busy festival programme.
Other Highlights…
In addition to the performances, highlights of the festival weekend also include workshops, talks and of course, the return of youth jazz band competition ‘Jazz Factor’, which took place ahead of the festival on 27th March, at SAE Oxford. The winners of the competition, the Oxfordshire Jazz Collective, will perform a gig at the Jacqueline du Pre Music Room as part of the main festival weekend.
And finally, even after the programmed events have ended for the evening, festival goers are invited to head over to the ever-popular late night jazz jams at the Big Bang’s Jazz Cellar. The sessions, which invite amateur musicians to jam alongside the professionals, are always a raucous success, starting at 11.00pm each night and lasting well into the wee hours.
For more information, please visit the Oxford Jazz Festival website.
