Review: Outstanding talent brought jazz and blues festival's most ambitious programme yet to life
The 2024 Lichfield Jazz and Blues Festival presented its most ambitious programme for many years, with a huge variety of music ranging from contemporary jazz to big band swing, funk, jive and salsa.
It came to a climax at the Guildhall on Sunday with a spectacular programme featuring two outstanding big bands - the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Jazz Orchestra and the Walsall Jazz Orchestra - plus blues from the Emma Jonson Band and small group jazz from the Svarc/Hanley/Longhawn Trio.
Earlier in the festival, trombone star Dennis Rollins was special guest with the band of Lichfield trumpeter and guitarist Nick Dewhurst at the Cathedral Hotel, with outstanding tunes including Nick’s new composition Sunset With Santana and Rollins' own funky tune Shake It Down. The trombonist has worked with pop artists including Blur and Jamiroquai as well as his own bands, and his creative skills are always matched by a sense of joy in music making.
He was brilliantly backed by Nick’s band, featuring pianist-singer Tom Lindsay, bass guitarist Paul Robinson and drummer Carl Hemingsley.
