Lynn: You want to start Rog?
Roger: No, you start Lynn thats fine.
Lynn: Shall I say, Okay, I'll start from the beginning. Okay, cause if you ask anyone in Wales, the UK internationally, if you mentioned the word Brecon, they say the Brecon Jazz Festival. It's such a well known brand everywhere. It began in 1984. So this is it's 37, which is kind of not even middle-aged. It's still young. And it originally there lots of stories, lots of stories about its origins. And there is more than one story and we can tell you one, which is about inspiring people coming together. Enthusiasts, they were. Some of them were musicians and promoters, organisers, and people who like jazz. And they've been going to European jazz festivals such as the North Sea Jazz Festival in Holland and they'd seen what was happening there they came back and they thought, Well, you know, let's do that here. Sort of thing that happens, isn't it? And, you know, the beacons beautiful environment and you know that little kind of nurturing thing here in Brecon, and it got started. Now the early festivals were in the pubs in the open air and on the streets. It was a kind of New Orleans style event. Started local and but very quickly became very big. We started going about was it about 1986? Roger?
Roger: Yes, I think we went to the... As Lynn said, the very first festival was 1984. And I think that we attended the 1986 Festival.
Lynn: Yes, it took two years. We were living in the north of England then. So like many people all over we drove it was long drive, and you got to Brecon and there was a big sign by the round about saying welcome to Brecon Jazz Festival and you knew you were here. It was so exciting. There was never a program. You have to get here. And then you had to find somewhere where you could get the program.
Roger: And I think the other interesting thing about the festival in the early days was that it was community event.
Lynn: Yeah.
Roger: It's very much in the centre of the town. It involved just about everybody in the town one way or another. And as Lynn said, most of the venues, pubs, restaurants and so on, had some sort of involvement in it. Of course over the years, it grew, you know, as festivals do when it became a large, a very large international festival...
Lynn:...thousands and thousands of people coming and all the biggest names in jazz.
Roger: If you think of a big name in jazz, they will have played at Brecon. Yeah, almost certainly at some point in time. We did a this is only a couple of years ago in 2016. We had a small grant of support from national parks to produce a document really
Lynn: well the heritage really
Roger: It is about the heritage
Lynn: of the festival
Roger: We thought it was important to document all the names that had appeared. So one of the posters we produced was this one. Which lists all those names that we're talking about the big names. And you can see, we've gone back to 1984. And we brought it up to date to 2016.
Lynn:I mean, George Melly...
Roger: We missed a lot of names out as well.
Lynn: George Melly is the name lots of people know and Humphrey Littleton, but you know, Sonny Rollins, Jimmy Giuffre, Herbie Hancock, Ray Bryant, you know, they're really all there. and um...
Roger: Buena Vista Social Club.
Lynn: yeah. Oh, yeah. That was marvellous. We went to lots of them as well. We just used to go to them then we used to go
Roger: Count Basie Orchestra.
Lynn: Yeah.
Roger: complete orchestra. Yeah.
Lynn: Actually from the beginning. local musicians were involved as well. I mean, Brecon is very fortunate in having some really top local jazz players mainly who've worked and live here. Rather than moved here. Though some have moved here. And so they were involved too. So it's always had that local connection. And that's what started the Jazz Club. Actually, the Jazz Club started before the festival. The festival was 84 I think the jazz club started
Roger: I'd say it was in the 70s Yeah, so there's always been a jazz club. Yeah, it's quite an interesting thing about Brecon.
Lynn: yeah it's moved around a bit.
Roger:It has.
Lynn:Yeah.
Roger: One of its venues was the...it had been at the castle hotel for a time then it was at
Lynn: down the Struet
Roger: Yes,
Lynn: at the rugby club
Roger: and then the Wellington Hotel before they refurbished the first floor which is now being refurbished as
Lynn: it was called the Dukes Bar it was
Roger: It was called the Dukes Bar
Lynn: a lot of people would remember that
Roger: And they had a lot of memorabilia about the festival on the walls which which completely removed when they did the refurb. And, and we we got involved in the jazz club when it was operating from the theatre. Yeah, so that was what
Lynn: 2006 I think it was. We were running the Jazz Club by accident. We just happened to be there when the guy Bob said, 'well, you know, I'm not very well, and I'm probably going to move house. So don't think we'll be running the club anymore.' So we sort of looked at each other. And I think we were both working full time as well. We just sort of said, Oh, well, I think we think we could put on an event. So we collected people's emails about the 12 people who were there. And we, he gave us a list of contacts and
Roger: then musicians came forward and said, Look, don't worry about paying us we'll do it for free.
Lynn: pay for nothing. Didn't they.
Roger: We did it for three months. And then at the end of the three months, we weren't sure and then somebody else from the audience handed us a check for 500 pounds.
Lynn: Yeah. that was just fantastic.
Roger: we had no choice really we had to keep going.
Lynn: I mean people, people love the people love the jazz club. It's got a very warm feeling it's hospitable. And it's it's welcoming. We try and explain on the poster what style of jazz it is, don't we? And you know it's in two halves is first half and then the second half. And you can get you don't have to have alcohol, you can tea or coffee at the bar. Ruth's you know, really good range of stuff there. Yeah, it's really it's important socially, as well as culturally.
Roger: I think I think that's been important as well particularly in Brecon it's it's creating a social environment. It's it's a night out. It's not just it's not just to sit in a darkened room, listen to music, I
Lynn: and we introduce people to each other, don't we.
Roger: I mean Lynn's always organised. A meal, or a meeting where.
Lynn: beforehand,
Roger: beforehand yeah, and that's always pretty popular with at least You know, between what 15 and 20 people?
Lynn: Well, depends,
Roger: and sometimes more, and it is about social engagement.
Lynn: Yeah it is.
Roger: I think that's a very important part of it.