Rye Jazz Festival over the August Bank Holiday weekend actually kicked off last night (Thursday August 24) with gigs announced at The Standard in The Mint (Phil Law And King Size Slim) and at the Grapevine Champagne and Jazz Bar (Robert Reid Trio in the afternoon followed by the Bling Crosbies in the evening) at the top end of Conduit Hill off the High Street.
Notices (see above) have also appeared announcing the closure of East, Market Street and Lion Square because of concerts in The Butter Market under the Town Hall on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
The first starts at 2:30 pm on Saturday and features Arcelia with soulful folk music – and the jazz festival does include blues, roots, RnB, soul, funk, Latin and folk as well as jazz.
Sunday’s concert features the Turpin Hubbard Blues Trio from 1pm, and the Fabulous Red Diesel on Monday, also from 1pm.
However, apart from the “big name” concerts in St Mary’s church over four days, the festival also features around 40-plus events in total with nearly 30 performers (which means some soloists or bands feature more than once over the long weekend).
Around 10 venues will be in use over the weekend including St Mary’s, the Butter Market, and the Kino cinema (all near each other) as well as Rye Lodge, the Grapevine, the Queens Head, the Ethel Gallery (in East Street), the Kings Head up Rye Hill, and the Old Borough Arms and Simply Italian (by Strand Quay).
Rye Bay Crew say they are very much looking forward to performing at the Queen’s Head, Landgate, today (Friday August 25 from 8:30pm) as part of the festival – and will be playing music by Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Gershwin, Rogers & Hart and much more – including Rye’s Mayor Jonathan Breeds’ rendition of “Girl From Ipanema”!
No tickets, just draw up a chair in your friendly local with a glass of your favourite tipple and join in, from 8:30pm to 10:30pm-ish. They’ll be looking forward to seeing you there.
A bulky festival programme booklet is available around the town with full details at most venues, or visit www.ryejazz.com
Last week’s Rye News Opinion article on the festival has brought mixed reactions, but one thing missing this year from the roads apparently will be the marching band.
One of the busiest evening venues will be The Grapevine jazz bar (not surprisingly) as it is open every night with performances afternoon (4pm) and evening (8pm) and some artists appearing more than once – including the Bling Crosbies.
Another busy venue is the outside stage at the Kino Cinema with three performances each day Saturday, Sunday and Monday at 1, 3 and 5 pm.
The Nyetimber Terrace at the The Rye Lodge Hotel has performances at 1pm Saturday, Sunday and Monday with the added attraction of wine tastings on Saturday and Sunday at 6pm.
Photo: Rye News Library and Rye Bay Crew
Image Credits: John Minter .