Chichester Jazz Club mourns its founder

Former club chairman Hugh Ashton said: “His partner for over 30 years, Prue Sokell told Chichester Jazz Club that he died from Covid at home with his family. There are no plans for a funeral but there will be a celebration of his life later next year.

“Bob, a lifelong jazz enthusiast, was well known in the south of England as a lecturer on jazz-related subjects at university and other adult educational establishments. He was the principal of the South Downs College, Hampshire.

“He also contributed jazz columns and record reviews to local media as well as hosting his own weekly music show on radio station WVBR, New York.

“His series of Jazz Studies prompted his students to question why there was no local jazz club. Bob took up the challenge, placed an advertisement in this paper which drew a response from four locals who met in The Castle pub – now the Chichester Inn – and the rest, as they say, is history.

“Initially, more of a jazz appreciation society, the club was formed in 1991 and was based at Chichester College, with Bob as its first chair. Through time, it moved from the College to Chichester High School to the New Park Centre before establishing its base at the Pallant Suite. During this time the club evolved into one on the south’s leading providers of live jazz, successfully featuring some of the best musicians and bands on offer in the UK.

“Bob had two books published – an authorised biography of trumpeter Kenny Baker, The Life and Times of a Jazz Musician and his historical presentation of post-war jazz in the area, Jazz Around Chichester.”