Marsden Jazz Festival première to get national BBC broadcast
Simon Fell and his performance with the Simon Fell Sextet at last year’s Marsden Jazz Festival – photo Peter Woodman
Reporter: Stuart Littleford
A recording of a high profile performance at last year’s Marsden Jazz Festival will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 over the Easter weekend.
The festival commissioned Dewsbury-born musician Simon Fell to write and perform a new composition for a specially-assembled sextet, which was performed at the Marsden Royal British Legion on 11 October last year.
His piece, ‘The Ragging of Time’, will now be broadcast on BBC Radio 3’s ‘Jazz on 3’ programme at 11pm on Monday 6 April.
The concert was commissioned in partnership with Arts Council England as part of the festival’s New Stream series of gigs, which support up-and-coming and experimental jazz artists.
John Quail, Chair of the Marsden Jazz Festival, said: “We were delighted we were able to persuade Simon to compose a piece for the festival and it was definitely my highlight of the weekend.
“We asked him to make New Orleans jazz dangerous – the soundtrack of modernity – and that’s exactly what he did. It was a fantastic experience for everyone at the gig and now people will be able to find out what they missed thanks to the BBC Radio 3 broadcast.
“It’s always a brilliant atmosphere during the festival weekend, and Simon added to that last year. The village buzzes with the sound of jazz from the historic Mechanics Hall to outdoor venues like the Marquee on the Bridge and intimate
pubs and clubs like the Marsden Royal British Legion.”
Simon Fell added: “I relish the possibility that each new commission gives me with the possibility to explore a new and somewhat different area, rather than just being a way of doing what I might be doing anyway. “The Ragging of Time reflects the fact that ‘ragging’ the time is what has made possible, in one way or another, just about all the music of the 20th century that interests me.
“The piece is a kind of bridge, or better still, a Time Tunnel which allows the musicians to slip backwards and forwards over the decades within a split second. But, as with any music involving improvised elements, we are also inescapably
and intrinsically of the Now.”
Thousands of people attend the annual three-day festival in Marsden every year. Last year’s event saw over 70 gigs take place at 24 venues, including pubs, clubs and cafes.
The 2015 Marsden Jazz Festival will be held between 9 and 11 October.
The headline acts will be announced later this Spring and tickets will be available from the www.marsdenjazzfestival.com website.
Author: Jude Gidney - Editor
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