Brecon Jazz programme announced

  http://www.breconjazz.com/en/   BRECON JAZZ 2012 LINE UP ANNOUNCED BY NEW OPERATOR Orchard, the new operator of the world famous Brecon Jazz festival has announced a compact and powerful programme for the August event, an interim year given the short timescales involved, which brings the festival back into the town of Brecon with a sprinkling of star names, Jazz favourites, emerging and Welsh talent, Jazz Club nights, innovative collaborations and a party atmosphere returning to the streets of the beautiful Mid Wales town (www.breconjazz.com). Friday August 10 brings the truly legendary voice of five-time Grammy Award winner Dionne Warwick celebrating 50 years in the business and 100 million records sold for a concert in the festival’s iconic Market Hall. Another big name gracing the Market Hall stage this summer is vibraphonist/vocalist Roy Ayers, the respected Jazz/R&B artist and renowned as the Godfather of Neo-soul making an exclusive UK appearance. Welsh pianist Huw Warren is involved this year as artist-in-residence, in collaborations with Thomas Stronen and Peter Herbert, and Jazz fans can look forward to performances by the likes of Neil Yates, Lighthouse, Trio Libero; Neil Cowley; Claire Martin; YolanDa Brown, Stan Tracey; Bobby Wellins; Alan Barnes, Kit Downes; Ginger Baker and many more. Orchard director Pablo Janczur worked with Huw Warren to put the programme together. Pablo said: “Orchard was appointed by the Arts Council of Wales at the beginning of May, so this month has been pretty hectic in trying to get the artists we wanted within the timescale. We aimed to recover the Mojo that people feel Brecon has lost in recent years, and hopefully we’ve put together a bill that is attractive to both a local audience in Wales and to the legions of travelling fans who have made Brecon Jazz such a special, and economically beneficial event over the years. Given the time constraints, 2012 was always going to be an interim year, but we have well over 20 gigs in the classic Brecon town venues, with colour and atmosphere returning to the streets of this beautiful part of Wales.” For more: http://www.breconjazz.com/en/