THE buzz surrounding this year’s annual Chipping Sodbury Jazz Festival seems to be just that little bit louder this year, thanks in no small part to a very special fundraising concert taking place next month.

This February, British jazz legend Digby Fairweather is joining forces with Bristol-based double bassist Cass Caswell, kicking off the Festival with some melodic tunes to suit everyone.

Digby is one of the stalwarts of the British jazz scene, having first picked up a trumpet at the age of 12 and becoming a professional musician in l977.

Connections with Sodbury’s own Stuart Hobday brought about the invitation to perform. Both have worked for the BBC; Stuart as producer and Digby as a broadcaster and presenter for BBC World Service, Jazz FM and BBC Radios 2 and 3 for around twenty years in total. The two of them met back in the l970s; "probably," says Digby, " when I was recording with the vocal group ‘Sweet Substitute’. But it’ll be great to see Stuart again.

And Digby is really looking forward to the Chipping Sodbury gig. "I first came ‘down West’ back in the mid l970s to play at the Old Duke on King Street in Bristol, and it’s great to know that it’s still a thriving venue for jazz. The music’s getting a lot more popular again now and young people really are intrigued by it and want to hear more."

Digby is definitely hoping that the gig in Chipping Sodbury will attract new jazz fans, as well as the ‘old faithful followers’.

"Until the Beatles came along in l963," he says," jazz occasionally showed up in the charts. Think of ‘Take Five’! And then of course there was the great ‘Trad boom’ from 1959 to 62 when Acker Bilk, Kenny Ball and Chris Barber had loads of real hit records. But all that changed immediately when the Beatles came along. Jazz never had a chance after that. One story I remember is about Bob Wallis and his Storyville Jazzmen who had two big hits in l961 and 2, and followed them up with six month residency at the London Palladium in Spring l963. By the time their residency was up, all the jazz clubs had turned over to rock music and the Jazzmen were out of work and broke up soon after. Bands like Georgie Fame, Zoot Money and the Yardbirds (with Eric Clapton) had conquered the world! And had it not been for specialist clubs – and the small surviving tourist circuits around the UK – jazz might not have survived at all. But you can’t kill a creative art-form – just suppress it for a while!".

"Part of the problem with jazz, I think" says Digby "is that the music has a habit of dividing itself into specialist areas and that puts people on their guard right away. And some jazz, especially the modern end, tends to be self-inclusive - and self-indulgent too - and sometimes forgets about melody. So for general listeners the Pavlov reaction is often to say " Oh, I don’t like jazz!". But then if you say ‘how about Ella Fitgerald? Or Nat King Cole? Or Louis Armstrong?" – well, sometimes their faces change!

"Of course we haven’t really had jazz of any kind on TV or daytime radio for years now. There’s a great deal of politics involved in getting jazz out to the public anyhow - something I’m in touch with the BBC about from time to time. But I’m convinced that a lot of young people – and new artists as well – are totally intrigued by the idea of it, and you can hear it in their music too. What we have to do is make it more available to them – right down to making sure people can download our music when they want. They’re never going to find it in the shops now and the only place I sell my CDs is at gigs."

So what is Digby hoping to bring to Chipping Sodbury?

"Nothing to challenge anyone’s eardrums!" he laughs. "I like to play Swing music – and nice melodies. My idol Louis Armstrong used to say ‘we’re here to please the people!’. And that’s what I hope to do – just like Louis!"

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Digby Fairweather is bringing his trumpet-cornet to Chipping Sodbury Baptist Church on Saturday, February 23, joined by Cass Caswell and guests.

Tickets, priced £12.50, are available from Swagger on Chipping Sodbury High Street or from Rounceval House Hotel, tel 01454 334410 or email info@visitchippingsodbury.com