Blackpool Jazz Party Ceases to Swing

by Clarrie Henley

One of the best jazz events ever to be staged in the U.K. came to an abrupt end when husband and wife promoters, Tom and Christine Baron, sent round-robin letters to all engaged musicians and to paying patrons stating that the Swinging Jazz Party (SJP) has been cancelled due to insufficient support and that all monies would be refunded.

Scheduled to take place over the first weekend in October at the Hilton, Blackpool, the SJP was the first all-under-one-roof jazz party to be staged in Britain and got off to an excellent start in the year 2000 with improvements taking place each year. It continued to gain in status and presented some of the best mainstream players from the United States and Europe. Among the stars who have performed there are Dick Hyman, Houston Person, Joe Wilder, Kenny Davern, Bob Wilber, Ken Peplowski, Harry Allen, Randy Sandke, Randy Reinhart, Duke Heitger, Warren Vaché, Dan Barrett, Bill and John Allred, Michael Moore, Frank Tate, Marty Grosz, Howard Alden, Bucky Pizzarelli, Jake Hanna, Jackie Williams, Ed Metz, Lars Ertstrand, Antti Sarpila and singers Becky Kilgore and Daryl Sherman.

A watershed was reached in 2006 when Tom Baron was forced to undergo open-heart surgery just before the event. Most of the work fell to Christine, who somehow struggled through it without showing the vestige of a split seam. However, it was quite an ordeal and with great reluctance they decided to pull the plug and call it a day.

Record dealer Jerry Brown and his wife, Ann, decided the jazz party could not be allowed to die and, in conjunction with retired university lecturer Brian Peerless, they set up the Norwich Jazz Party to continue in the same vein.  Tom Baron`s recovery from surgery was nothing less than miraculous and, bounding with new-found energy, he decided to continue with the Blackpool event. On the south coast, Dennis Simpson coincidentally set up the Brighton Jazz Party and suddenly, instead of one profitable jazz party, the country had three loss-making ones.  It was only a matter of time before one or two collapsed.

Brighton opted out of 2008 with the intention of running again in 2009, but bookings for the northern-based Swinging Jazz Party have been so disappointing that the Barons have decided to call it off before their losses could swamp them

It is difficult to understand why support should be so poor, for the program was of the highest calibre with several special presentations lined up, including an evening of jazz piano "From Morton to Monk" and an ambitious recreation of "A Night on 52nd Street" featuring the music of Louis Prima, Joe Marsala, Red Norvo, Art Tatum, Willie The Lion Smith, Sidney Bechet, Count Basie, Coleman Hawkins, Roy Eldridge, Stuff Smith and Charlie Parker. The U.K's rapidly declining economic climate could be a vital factor in the reduced support and perhaps the greater concentration of jazz supporters in the south might also be important. It is certain that as the graying jazz audience is now turning white, there are more jazz fans not inclined to travel.

Robin Duxbury, who has been doorman, M.C. and right arm for the Barons, told me: "Tom and Chris feel gutted as if they had let people down, but it is really the other way round. They have put so much into the Party every year. The public haven't a clue as to the hidden expenses, and there are so many pitfalls that we don't see. The organization is massive, and they have done it brilliantly and with enthusiasm. The British jazz fan owes them a great deal. The Swinging Jazz Party might be over, but we have a fund of musical memories that will last as long as we live."

A final word from Tom Baron: "Chris and I are extremely sad, but we have been left with no option but to take this decision. We appreciate the wonderful support given us by our 'regulars' but it seems the country can maintain only one such event and we wish every success to those who continue."

June 2008 issue | © 2008 The Mississippi Rag

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