SJF 2027 - Friday Day Pass

Southport Jazz Festival 2027 roars into action on Friday 29th January.

The Friday All Day Pass will get you access to all of these amazing shows!

12.50pm - 1.10pm - The Shevington Scat Cats

1.30pm - 2.45pm - 5 Way Split

4.00pm - 5.15pm - Tara Minton Quintet

8.30pm - 11pm - Matt Ford & Emma Holcroft with Swingtime Big Band

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5 Way Split

Modus Operandi is the incendiary new album from London based five-piece instrumental jazz
band Five-Way Split. This sensational ensemble’s vision is to carry the torch for classic hardbob
groups of the 1950’s and 60’s like Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and also the US
contemporary-bop scene, through their vibrant original compositions and distinctive
interpretations of hip / swinging material.

Five-Way Split are a renowned collective of very established players and Ronnie Scott’s
regulars, consisting of trumpeter Quentin Collins, saxophonist Vasilis Xenopoulos, pianist Rob
Barron, bass player Matyas Hofecker and drummer Matt Home. All very established players
in their own right who have lent their skills to a plethora of successful projects across the
international jazz scene.

While the snappy, melodic and harmonically nuanced themes from the pen of Barron, Collins
and Xenopoulos undoubtedly achieve their goal of paying tribute to the hard-bop greats at
the highest standard, the band also provide their own unique perspective to proceedings,
emerging from years of experience having collectively worked with luminaries as diverse as
Al Jarreau, Kyle Eastwood, Stacy Kent, Harold Mabern, Barry Harris and many more. As a
result, Five-Way Split are able to project a classic sound that is uniquely modernised.
Founded during the lockdown period of 2020, the band rehearsed relentlessly, eventually
reaching a rare and powerful stage where they seamlessly gelled as a unit, while allowing each
player’s individual creativity to thrive. As Collins explains: “Five-Way Split is a band born in 2020
at a time when performance opportunities were scarce, but creative energy was strong, by musicians
with a shared passion for continuing the lineage of Contemporary Bop Music.”
Their standout 2023 debut ‘All The Way’ was shortlisted on several end of year ‘best of’
album lists, and was also nominated in the ‘Best Ensemble’ category at the prestigious 2024
Parliamentary Jazz Awards.

Subsequently performing sold out shows at Ronnie Scotts, Pizza Express Jazz and the 606
Club, the band now present their best recorded work to date, which represents the sum of
each players’ musical experience, combined through hard work and special connection into a
collective effort that is nothing short of excellent.

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Tara Minton Quintet

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Tara Minton is an Australian born harpist, vocalist and composer. She is proudly endorsed by Les Harpes Camac and holds a master's degree in Jazz Performance from The Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Sought after as both a harpist and vocalist, Tara has worked with Björk, Tom Walker, Stan Sulzmann, Geoff Gascoyne, Emma Rawicz, Miranda Mulholland, Alice Zawadski, Ester Wiesnerova, Vivvienne Aerts, Faris Ishaq, The Ronnie Scott's All Stars, The Rotary Connection, Opera North, The Royal Ballet and the Australian World Orchestra.

In 2018 Tara was invited to accompany Björk for her first television appearance in over a decade on "Later... with Jools Holland." She then performed with her at Primavera Sound Festival before beginning her Masters in Jazz Performance at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Whilst studying, Tara played live with Tom Walker on "BBC Live Lounge" and recorded a Valentine's Day special live performance of his hit single, 'Just You and I.' In 2019 after completing her studies, Tara was invited as a headlining artist for Festival Internacional de l'Arpa Sentmenat. She also recorded 'By Appointment or Chance' with Canadian folk legend, Miranda Mulholland, which was later nominated for a JUNO Award.

In 2020 Tara released her critically acclaimed album ‘Please Do Not Ignore The Mermaid', exploring themes of climate change and mer-myth.

“An otherworldly collection that brings the harp centre stage” - The Sunday Times

Despite covid, Tara was a finalist in the 2021 World Harp Competition and in January 2022 she released ‘Two For The Road’ with bassist Ed Babar. The album was produced by Geoff Gascoyne (Jamie Cullum) and features Stan Sulzmann on tenor saxophone. That same year Tara was invited perform a full recital at the 2022 World Harp Congress in Cardiff and joined The Australia World Orchestra for The BBC Proms at The Royal Albert Hall, conducted by Maestro Zubin Mehta. In the Autumn of 2022 Tara featured with 'The Ronnie Scott's All Stars' for their celebration of the music of Burt Bacharach, recorded live at Ronnie Scott's and broadcast on the BBC.

“Bewitching" - Jazzwise

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Swingtime Big Band Featuring Matt Ford and Emma Holcroft

He's back!! You asked and we have delivered! After a knockout show in 2024 we have inundated with requests to do it all again.....so here we are, the Swing Spectacular Mk2!

Matt Ford is the UK’s most experienced and in-demand Swing Era vocalist. A veteran of over 2000 Big Band concerts, with the likes of The Syd Lawrence Orchestra, BBC Big Band, Len Philips Swing Orchestra and John Wilson Orchestra, Matt’s career spans 4 decades, and shows no sign of slowing down.
Matt has featured in 4 BBC Proms concerts (2011, 2013, 2016 & 2019), with live broadcasts of these on BBC Two, BBC Four and BBC Radio 3. Other TV and radio credits include; Friday Night is Music Night (tributes to Irving Berlin, The Gershwins, Alan J Lerner & Gene Kelly), BBC Big Band Special (30th Anniversary Special), SKY Arts 1 & 2 (Cole Porter in Hollywood & 100 Years of Big Bands), BBC Four (The Sound of Song), BBC One (The One Show), ITV (Titchmarsh) and BBC Radio 3 (In Tune).
Matt made his US Debut in October 2013 in Los Angeles with the John Wilson Orchestra alongside Seth MacFarlane, Anna Jane Casey, Sierra Boggess and Julian Ovenden, and followed this in 2016 with his debut in France, presenting a live broadcast on French national radio with his own show from the ‘Auditorium de la Maison de la radio’.

On the orchestral scene, over the last 20 years Matt has performed regularly with the BBC Concert Orchestra, Halle, CBSO, RTE Concert Orchestra, Northern Sinfonia, Philharmonia, John Wilson Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Scottish Symphony and Irish National Symphony Orchestras.

Matt has performed at many of the UK’s most prestigious music festivals, including Henley, Aldeburgh, Petworth, Malling, Thaxted, Cheltenham, Newbury, Harrogate and Newry. International festival credits include Grafenegg (Austria), Ovar (Portugal) and Musikfest (Berlin).

As a recording artist, 2022 saw Matt release ‘From Abbey Road’, a live Big Band album recorded at the iconic London venue’s Studio 2. The single release from the album, ‘I Wanna Be Like You’, not only reached #1 in the iTunes Jazz Chart, but placed in the Official UK Singles Chart Top 40.

2023 has seen Matt perform again with The Halle (Music of Bond), travel to Dubai (Vienna Ball with LPSO), to Portugal (Glenn Miller Orchestra UK), and make his debut with Opera North. In March Matt once again paid tribute to Frank Sinatra, with the Manchester Concert Orchestra, in Simply Sinatra at The Bridgewater Hall.

Emma has a very successful solo and small band career as one of the UK’s leading vocalists, who sings a wide repertoire of classic jazz standards and has received superb reviews from past festivals.

Swingtime Big Band became synonymous with friday evening sold out shows to a packed audience at Southport Jazz Festival. And who are we to change such a popular and successful formula. Led by Musical Director Jez Murphy the band is made up of 17 North West based freelance musicians who are the finest exponents of Big Band swing around. Based around a superb rhythm section the band shows off tight ensemble playing and excellent soloists throughout each section.

Most importantly the band always deliver a varied and highly entertaining programme of music.