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Booking & Location

Patron: Alan Plater CBE

Festival Director: Mike Durham

Assisted by a grant from the Northern Rock Foundation

WHITLEY BAY INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL 2009
Friday 10th - Sunday 12th July

The nineteenth annual Whitley Bay International Jazz Festival will feature as always the very best in classic jazz, from Ragtime to Swing. This year we feature no less than twenty-nine hot bands made up of more than 140 musicians from nine different countries - see list on right. And we are again at our new and very welcoming venue, the Village Hotel & Leisure Centre, Cobalt Park - see Booking Details page.

If you've been before, you'll know what to expect. If not, here are some of the nice (unsolicited!) things people have said about the Festival:

"As we Yanks say, it was a smasheroo! - the new venue worked out fine, despite packed rooms. I'm so glad I made the trip; the best jazz festival in Great Britain!" - Kathy Lewis, Chicago

"I think sincerely it's the best festival in Europe for organisation, standard of musicians and general atmosphere (spontaneous jam sessions)" - Henry Lemaire, MaMa & the Kids, Switzerland

"Four days of pure inspiration, and I wouldn't have missed one second of it - congratulations, a triumph!" - Frank van Nus, bandleader & arranger, Twente, Holland

"The UK's pre-eminent classic jazz festival" - Jazz Review Magazine, Edinburgh, Scotland

"Whitley Bay International Jazz Festival - the classic jazz fan's Mecca!" - Trygve Hernæs, producer, Herman Records, Norway

"Thanks for the Festival, it knocks every other one into a cocked hat - sheer unadulterated quality!" - David Kimmins, a happy punter!

"As usual, I have only one complaint - there were too many good bands, so I couldn't listen to them all: if I could only attend one jazz festival a year, Whitley Bay would be it" - Norrie Thompson, Edinburgh

"As a musician, I spent three marvellous days because your festival is the BEST in Europe: it's a huge pleasure to perform there, and it takes me a week or two to come down off my little cloud!" - Stéphane Gillot, Red Hot Reedwarmers, France

"A vintage year for an exceptional jazz festival - certainly the best in the world for the music we love: bravo!" - Michel Bastide, Hot Antic Jazz Band, France

"I don't know how you do it, but it gets better every year! We'll be there again next year, as will the four friends we brought along this time" - Laurie Wright, discographer and jazz author, Storyville Magazine

"Probably the best Festival of its kind in the world - if I could only go to one, this would be it" - Bob Erdos, owner, Stomp Off Records, USA

"The best classic jazz festival in the world, and I have played at most of them" - Bent Persson (trumpet), Stockholm, Sweden

"This is the best jazz festival I've attended since the New Orleans and Ascona festivals of the 1980's - and they take some beating" - Mike Hazeldine, New Orleans Music

"Whitley Bay is an exceptionally fine event - despite increasing airline costs and declining dollars, we intend to return next year" - Andy & Kathy Wittenborn, The Mississippi Rag, USA

• The Charleston Chasers (UK’s premier 1920’s hot dance outfit)
• Chicago Stompers (Italy – hot young ten-piece orchestra )
• Swiss Yerba Buena Jazzband (Switzerland, with Jean-François Bonnel and René Hagmann)
• Ten Doctors of Syncopation (Sweden – Henderson and more)
• Hot Five Jazzmakers (canada – joyous sounds of New Orleans)
• Matthias Seuffert’s South Side Special (Germany/UK Dodds tribute)
• Bent Persson & his Orchestra (international, 1930’s Armstrong)
• les Red Hot Reedwarmers (France – back to the Apex Club!)
• Michael McQuaid’s Late-hour Boys (Australia and the world!)
• The Hot Jazz Trio (Sweden’s masters of the real classic stuff)
• Ken Mathieson’s Classic Jazz Orchestra (Scotland’s finest)
• Spats Langham & his Rhythm Boys ("with vocal refrain")
• New Century Ragtime Orchestra (Tyneside – ragtime to hot dance)
• Wheatley’s Arcadians (string-band music extraordinaire)
• The Three Tenors (saxes, that is - France/Germany/UK)
• Four on the Frets (the finest in jazz guitar)
• Debbie Arthurs' Sweet Rhythm (sweet & hot, actually!)
• Keith Stephen's Hot Club Trio with Caroline Irwin
• The 1955 band (saluting Chris Barber & Ken Colyer) The
• Three Pods of Pepper (hot, hot, hot!) Clarinet Crescendo (international reed extravaganza)
• Norman Field’s Happy Harmonists (Brum & points west)
• Sjöström’s Tap Room Gang (Adrian Rollini rules, ok?)
• Paul Munnery’s Kansas City Jazz (from Moten to modern)
• Swing City Trio with Steve Andrews (Cumbria)
• River City Jazzmen (the band which discovered Sting!)
• Rae Brothers New Orleans Jazzband (Gatesheed)
• West Jesmond Rhythm Kings (West Jesmond, where else?)
• International Banjorama! (international)

SPECIAL EXTRA EVENT FOR 2009!

THE SAGE GATESHEAD presents
“YOUNG LOUIS”
in association with Whitley Bay International Jazz Festival

The first five years of Louis Armstrong’s brilliant recording career
recreated by Bent Persson and a hand-picked band of International stars

Hall Two, Thursday 9th July at 8.00pm: see separate page for details

"I'd like to say how much I enjoyed Whitley Bay this year. There was some amazing music to listen to and some lovely things to play. Congratulations!" - James Evans, sax and clarinet

"Possibly the biggest and most prestigious celebration of classic jazz anywhere in Europe" - Paul Bream, Jazz Alert

"Nice bands, nice people, perfect organisation - one of the best experiences of our musical life" - Jean Amy, leader, Steamboat Band, France

"A jazz festival for connoisseurs" - Chris Yates, Jazz North East