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2025 Line-up

Bass Guitar

Rainey's Revue

Rainey’s Revue bring you music from the 1920s/1930s featuring Ma Rainey’s classic songs and a selection of well-known tunes from the era.

The music has been arranged by RICHARD EXALL (sax/clarinet/flute) in conjunction with Musical Director, DOM BARNETT (piano). 

 

The established rhythm section of SAM KELLY (drums) and MARIANNE WINDHAM (double-bass) are complimented by the acoustic jazz-influences of TONY QUNTA (acoustic guitar).  AMY ROBERTS (sax/clarinet) teams up with Richard to form the horn section and fronting the line-up on lead vocals are GEMMA DORSETT and CHRISSIE MYLES.

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Wearing a mixture of influences like classical music, songwriters like Janis Ian, James Taylor and the well-traveled folk of Paul Simon, Jana has her own distinct voice that continues to evolve. Born into a musical family and raised on the green outskirts of Bratislava (Slovakia), Jana was immersed in music from a young age. As a child, she was already performing traditional Slovak songs and went on to study classical music in Austria and France.

 

In 2014 she was to become a flautist in Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra in Czechia when she decided to pursue the career of a singer songwriter and moved to London. Her debut album Foreigner Face  (2022) was co-produced by Fred Mollin (Billy Joel, Jimmy Webb) and was nominated in the 'Emerging Artist’ category of the British Blues Awards, a testimony to its cross-genre appeal.Jana’s sold out headline tour introduced her music to a wider UK audience and saw her first international collaboration with Varga Quartett Wien, an Austrian classical string quartet based in Vienna led by her brother Pavol.

 

Currently, Jana is making a regular guest appearance on the critically acclaimed ‘Joni Reimagined’ show (homage to songs of Joni Mitchell) where she has recorded and continues to perform live with platinum selling artist Rumer. Jana’s music transcends boundaries and takes audiences on a timeless journey. With a genuine passion for storytelling, she weaves rich narratives into every note, evoking emotions and connecting listeners to the heart and soul of her music.

 

“A really classy sound, a fascinating mixture of styles…original”  Paul Sexton (The Times, Prog Magazine, BBC)

“The stuff Carnegie Hall shows are made of” FATEA 

 

“Amazingly beautiful” Janis Ian

Jazz Samba

Mark Crooks

Nigel Price

Marianne Windham

Demi Garcia Sabat

Featuring leading tenor saxophonist MARK CROOKS and award winning guitarist NIGEL PRICE (as you’ve never heard him before!) , ‘Jazz Samba’ spotlights Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd’s ground-breaking 1962 recording, the first ever fully fledged bossa nova album recorded by American jazz musicians. A commercial success, it topped the LP charts on its release and produced its own pop hit single – ‘Desafinado’.

 

"First gig of the Spring season at the Bonington and it was a cracker. Taking its inspiration for the Stan Getz/Charlie Byrd album of the same name, the band played a variety of samba, bossa nova and other Latin tunes. The audience loved it!" Jazz Steps, Nottingham

 

Mark Crooks is a lyrical and passionate saxophonist in the Stan Getz mould. He has appeared at jazz clubs and festivals throughout Europe, and at the Lincoln Centre in New York and is a long-standing member of the John Wilson Orchestra with which he has played regularly at BBC Proms. And guitarist Nigel Price is of course one of the unsung heroes of the British Jazz Scene! Over 500 appearances at Ronnie Scott’s, 3 years with the James Taylor Quartet and winner of the British Jazz Awards and Parliamentary Jazz Awards.

 

Percussionist, Demi Garcia Sabat brings a wealth of experience in Flamenco, Jazz, Arabic, Latin, Iberian Folk, and pop music, having toured all over Europe, North Africa, and USA, with Marianne Windham, the founder of Guildford Jazz and a well-respected and in demand player completing the lineup on double bass.

Betty Accorsi is an Italian-born saxophone player, multi-instrumentalist and composer currently based in Brighton. She started classical saxophone from a very young age at the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi in Milan, but her growing passion for jazz prompted her to move to London to pursue a Master’s in Jazz Saxophone at Trinity Laban, then in Performance at Goldsmiths University.

 

After completing her studies at the height of the 2020 pandemic, Betty moved to Brighton and she regularly performs across the South of England. Betty's main project is the Betty Accorsi Quartet, formed with pianist Finn Carter and drummer Scott MacDonald, fellow students at Goldsmiths and popular musicians in the London jazz circles. In-demand bassist Andy Hamill (Van Morrison, Martin Taylor, Ibrahim Maalouf) joined shortly after. In December 2020 they released The Cutty Sark Suite, an album of original compositions that introduced the Quartet’s sound as jazz blending elegant and melodic soprano sax lines with an intensely dynamic rhythm section.

 

The album was played in its entirety at a live-streamed concert for the 2021 Brighton Fringe Festival. The second album Growing Roots was released on the 15th July 2022 featuring pianist Daniel Hewson (Groove Armada, Madonna, Incognito), alongside MacDonald and Hamill. Betty’s approach has evolved into a refined, evocative, lyrical jazz blending her many influences into a cinematic style reminiscent of Pat Metheny, John Surman, and Jan Garbarek. Growing Roots was funded by the Help Musicians Music Of Black Origin (MOBO) Award.

 

The Betty Accorsi Quartet has performed most notably at Pizza Express Soho, the Pheasantry Chelsea, Hampstead Jazz Club, the Verdict Brighton, Brighton Jazz Festival.

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Sarah Jane Eveleigh

A Petersfield local and firm favourite at The Strange Fruit Jazz club, Sarah and her band did an an excellent set last June, so good they're coming back next year.

Sarah Jane is a passionate and gifted storyteller, and has been described as, "a great architect of song", who, "brings a level of style, accuracy and class to her performances".

Churcher's Jazz Band

The Churcher's Jazz Band were playing on home ground and used that advantage to wow the audience last June.

They are exceptionally talented and well rehearsed, led by Director of Music Helen Purchase they were the band everyone wanted back in the post festival survey. 

The Remedy

We were going to play last year, but organising our first festival and playing was too much (we sound like Dennis Waterman, "wrote the theme tune, sung the theme tune". 

However, we been asked constantly to play in 2025 and we're delighted to do so. Featuring Livvy on vocals, Sam Woodland on guitar, Col on sax, Jason on drums plus a bass player, we'll be playing jazz standards with a few Amy Winehouse numbers as well (of course).

The Bedales Big Band is a vibrant ensemble of talented young musicians, aged 13 to 18, who bring the exhilarating spirit of a traditional Big Band to life.

 

With a diverse repertoire that spans the energetic grooves of funk, the soulful melodies of the 60s, and the timeless compositions of jazz legend Duke Ellington, each performance is a celebration of creativity and passion.

 

This dynamic group not only showcases their musical skills but also fosters teamwork and lifelong friendships through the joy of jazz.

The Bedales Big Band

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Jack Guy's Blues

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Hampshire based guitarist/singer Jack Guy has been in many different bands from metal to jazz and everything in between.

 

Currently playing for the post punk outfit “big trousers” he’s making a departure from the usual heavy riffs and shouting to put together a blues band especially for Petersfield Jazz & Blues Festival, consisting of some of the UKs top session musicians!

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