Jazz, Gin & Blues in The Enchanted Loxwood Woodland

From 12 noon until 8pm, jazz and blues artists will be performing live in the sheltered woodland glades.

Curated by Simon Bates, the founder and organiser of the Loxwood Jazz Club, it will feature performers including The Alexandra Ridout Band, The Simon Bates Organ Trio, The Julian Burdock Trio and Spice Fusion.

For the gin lovers, independent local gin producers, including Cabin Pr essure Spirits, Ditchling and Madame Jennifer Distillery will be on hand to help quench thirsts, along with rea l ale from the award-winning Langham Brewery Cider from Silly Moo and m ead from Loxwood Meadworks’ very own heritage brews, re-imagined for the 21st century.

It’s an event that Simon has worked on with Maurice Bacon who runs the Loxwood Joust.

“I am a jazz saxophonist and I moved to Loxwood in 2009 and I attended a meeting at the village hall where they were talking about doing it up and they were wanting some fund-raising ideas. I said that I could set up a jazz club. We launched in December 2009 and we're still going.

“Maurice runs Loxwood Joust and he and I got together and had a chat. He is in the music business as well, and as musician to musician we chatted and he suggested that we run a jazz festival. We had the first one in 2019 and it was great. It proved very, very popular.

“I just think it captured the imagination with a lot of people around here and also from London and the south coast. Jazz, gin and blues, what's not to like! And the setting is a really important part of it all. We are in enchanted woodland. It is an outdoor festival but it is really fairly sheltered.

“And it is a limited number. We decided not to have a huge festival. We just decided to limit it to 500 people. You can still feel like it's a festival but you're not sitting behind a guy who puts his umbrella up or someone who decides to erect a gazebo. It just feels manageable.”

Last year was a sell-out but that doesn't mean there's any pressure to expand: “I would quite like to keep it to the size that it is. It's a number that is comfortable. We are surrounded by trees in this magical setting and I think if we had any more we might have to move to a different setting and then it just would not be the same.”

As for the music: “I'm looking for people that are going to be of interest to the audience and just remembering really that is all about entertainment. I've tried to get a balance of a few more established faces but also some of the younger people. We've got people from their early 20s appearing through to their late 50s at the festival.

“And I try not to have anything too outlandish with the music. I've been in the entertainment business for a long time and I have seen how you can turn an audience away with music that you think is fantastic but is really just self-indulgent. It is all about entertaining people and keeping the audience on your side.”

The Loxwood Jazz, Gin and Blues festival takes place in the Loxwood Meadow, RH14 0AL, just off the B2133 between Wisborough Green and Loxwood. There is ample free parking.

For tickets and more information, visit www.jazzginblues.co.uk; email [email protected], or call 07866 468632. Advance tickets £30.