7th ANNUAL PEMBROKESHIRE JAZZ & BLUES FESTIVAL

The 7th Pembrokeshire Jazz and Blues Festival, set in the heart of Britain’s only coastal National Park, takes place from Thursday, August 26th to Monday, August 30th (during the UK bank holiday weekend). This years’ Pembrokeshire Jazz and Blues Festival features 27 artists performing in 18 venues, and the festival takes place around Fishguard in South-West Wales. Among the highlights are Arun Ghosh’s Indo-Jazz quartet, which takes South Asian themes and injects them with elements of funk, jazz and urban beats; Organic’s soulful, swinging Hammond B3 trio chock full of groovy standards; and vocalist Molly Brown’s feel good mix of blues, jazz and swing. Sax master and founding member of Hawkwind, Nik Turner will be playing storming funk and Latin; and the Chocolatejazzsalsa Band bring their tasty Cuban sounds; while 5 Go Swing specialize in hot club-style Gypsy jazz. Also appearing are Youtuba, a knockout tuba quartet who have performed all over Europe and are guaranteed to leave any audience with a smile on their face. Also look out for superb slide guitarist and singer Will Killeen who has been described as ‘Ireland’s finest blues export since Rory Gallagher‘. Elsewhere, the Albino Frogs present their Steely Dan and Blockheads-inspired funk, fusion and jazz featuring superb original songs and legendary Pembrokeshire R’n'B act Cottonmouth thrill with their hard-driving grooves. There are also fantastic workshops throughout the festival, from how to play and dance salsa with Chocolatejazzsalsa to a brass workshop with the unique Youtuba. Says actor and comedian Griff Rhys Jones of the festival, “Impossible though it is to get the blues in Pembrokeshire in my experience, I am happy to support the coolest thing in West Wales since frozen crabmeat was invented – let the good times roll!” For more information on this fine festival, full listings and details about buying tickets, check out the Aberjazz website.