About Us
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The paragraphs below were written when this site first appeared. Unfortunately, the situation now is much less positive, and there are only two venues left in the area that regularly feature jazz. So, for now at least, what follows should be read in the past tense.
For such a relatively remote, mainly rural area, North Devon punches above its weight in terms of the availability of high class modern jazz (although to be fair this less true than it was when the site was first started). Still, there are at least three venues regularly featuring jazz. Admittedly, none of them are likely to be within walking distance of where you are, but that (literally) goes with the territory around here. One thing that has gradually become obvious, though, is that, apart from a dedicated few, the audiences at these venues rarely overlap: there are people you meet at one place who you've never, or hardly ever, seen in others. And just when you think you know most of the jazz followers in the area, you can go to certain events and find that you hardly recognise anyone there. Some people seem to turn up for a particular gig and appear to be enthusiastic but they're never seen again. The UK jazz scene certainly isn't short of great musicians - new young players of astonishing ability keep appearing all the time - but there is a problem with dwindling audiences and closing venues. So one of the main aims of this site is to try to create a source that brings together all the information available on the North Devon jazz scene, for locals and for visitors who want to find out what's on while they're here (or even time their visit to coincide with an event). |
