Friday 3rd May

NOTE TICKET PRICES - ROW SEAT £18.00 inc VAT, TABLE SEATS £20.00 inc VAT

Doors open at 19:00, show starts at 19:30

The son of the late trumpet legend Denny Ilett, Denny Ilett (Junior) has, for over 30 years astounded audiences with his bluesy inflected jazz guitar and vocal performances. A regular at Ronnie Scotts and numerous jazz venues across Europe, he’s first call for many of the top UK artists and big bands and for 20 years toured the world with the wonderful New Orleans singing music ambassador, Lillian Boutte. We thought it was about time that we treated the Witney Jazz to 'Denny Ilett the blues singer and guitarist.' Outstanding guitar skills, a very fine voice and outstanding band leadership mark this guy out as one of the very finest: And he’s on stage with an awesome band: Tom Berge (piano/organ), Paul Jefferies (double bass and bass guitar) and Kevin O’Rourke (drums).

Friday 17th May

NOTE TICKET PRICES - ROW SEAT £20.00 inc VAT, TABLE SEATS £22.00 inc VAT

Doors open at 19:00, show starts at 19:30

Critically acclaimed guitarist Chris Cobbson draws on his Ghanaian roots to create this show which features the rhythms and world jazz feel of the band (Chris on guitars, Phil Dawson - second guitar, Paul Jefferies - basses and Karl vanden Bossche on percussion). Chris has performed with a host of greats from worlds of jazz including Courtney Pine, Osibissa and Ghanain jazz ensemble Baraka and many more national and international musical ensembles. He has now formed his own critically acclaimed band to create a brilliantly musical soup of African and Western jazz sounds. Not to be missed.

Friday 7th June

NOTE TICKET PRICES - ROW SEAT £18.00 inc VAT, TABLE SEATS £20.00 inc VAT

Doors open at 19:00, show starts at 19:30

Julian Stringle has been entertaining audiences since he was in his early teens. A genuine example of a ‘Child Prodigy’ this - ladies and gentlemen - is one of the nicest guys in the business and a very, very fine musician to boot! ‘Jools’ has performed with just about anyone who is anyone in the jazz world, both as a virtuoso clarinettist and as a gifted saxophonist - he’s even a great singer! We have assembled a great band with Jools at its epicentre surrounded by Canadian superstar guitarist Dominic Ashworth, the incredibly popular drummer Nick Millward and bassist Paul Jefferies. This will be a show that highlights all the music that Julian is famous for - early swing to early funk and everything in between…..

Friday 5th July

NOTE TICKET PRICES - ROW SEAT £18.00 inc VAT, TABLE SEATS £20.00 inc VAT

Doors open at 19:00, show starts at 19:30

Jonny Kerry is a fabulous piano-accordionist, but he started musical life as a pianist and he’ll be exclusively playing piano and singing for this show. He’ll have chosen a selection of his own excellent songs as well as two large handful’s of great jazz standards to interpret. On stage with Jonny will be trumpeter extraordinaire (and ex-Queen’s trumpeter) Stuart Henderson , double bassist Paul Jefferies and shipped in all the way from Cheshire, the excellent drummer Gaz Hughes . A truly great band!

Saturday 20th July

NOTE TICKET PRICES - ROW SEAT £20.00 inc VAT, TABLE SEATS £22.00 inc VAT

Doors open at 19:00, show starts at 19:30

Led by the authentic Brazilian singer / guitarist Mario Bakula this ensemble promises sparkling, guitar & vocal Latin jazz in all its myriad of rhythms and styles. Mario is now London based, but he graduated from São Paulo’s Free University where he studied with such greats as trombonist Itacir Bocato, guitarist Renato Consorte, and pianist Nelson Aires to name a few! In addition to developing new arrangements of music by epic Brazilian artists such as Tom Jobim, Dorival Caymmi and Paulo Moura, Mario has recently been working on reinterpretations of Samba Jazz - the musical genre that emerged in Rio de Janeiro in the 1950s. So strap yourselves in, grab a Caipirinha from the bar and get ready for some of the most foot-tappingly exciting music on the planet.

Friday 2nd August

NOTE TICKET PRICES - ROW SEAT £18.00 inc VAT, TABLE SEATS £20.00 inc VAT

Doors open at 19:00, show starts at 19:30

Saxophonist and composer Iain Ballamy is a hard man to pin down, you can find him performing or on recordings alright, but the sheer number of musical environments he fits his unique playing style into are huge: from Saxophone Concertos, through ECM label recordings with some of the words finest artists to Jimi Hendrix, Iain performs everything with a wit and passion that marks him out as one of the UK’s finest musicians. So, expect a nod to different musical directions, but above all much exceptionally fine playing, not to mention a modicum of humour. Iain appears with Frank Harrison (piano), Paul Jefferies (double bass) and Mark Whitlam (drums).

Saturday 14th September

NOTE TICKET PRICES - ROW SEAT £18.00 inc VAT, TABLE SEATS £20.00 inc VAT

Doors open at 19:00, show starts at 19:30

Nicolas was originally destined for classical guitar greatness after studies at Switzerland’s Fribourg Conservatoire, but jazz and other styles beckoned and advanced studies at America’s Berklee Scool of Music followed. Nicolas’s sound is deeply rooted in his love of the classical guitar, which lends itself to the Eastern musical flavours Nicolas is identified with. Add Flamenco and jazz into the mix you have the original and exceptionally creative magical sound of Nicolas Meier. A firm favourite with Witney Jazz, Nicolas will return with his excellent and rather unique violinist - Richard Jones, bassist Paul Jefferies and the fabulous percussionist / drummer Demi Garcia.

Thursday 19th September

NOTE TICKET PRICES - ROW SEAT £20.00 inc VAT, TABLE SEATS £22.00 inc VAT

Doors open at 19:00, show starts at 19:30

Widely recognised as one of the classiest Jazz and Swing singers and/or double bassists in the UK, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Nicola Farnon has a remarkable musical pedigree: both parents were professional classical musicians with her great uncle being no less than the award winning classical composer Robert Farnon. Originally trained as a classical cellist and pianist, Nicola started singing and playing double bass in her twenties which led to a jazz career that has now spanned 30 years. Nicola has played and recorded with such jazz luminaries as Digby Fairweather, Jim Mullen, Bruce Adams and Alan Barnes and alongside class jazz acts as diverse as Eliane Elias, Courtney Pine, Georgie Fame, Tony Kofi, Michael Garrick Jazz Britannia Orchestra, Sir John Dankworth and Dame Cleo Laine. On stage Nicola is a class act with a passionate and swinging style, outstanding personality and a charismatic stage presence to match – with an uncanny ability to adapt her performance to captivate and embrace any audience. Nicola will perform with multi award winning pianist David Newton and drummer Phil Johnson.