Nairn International Jazz Festival – Nairn, Scotland

Nairn International Jazz Festival
Nairn, Scotland

It is said that the favourite Sunday pastime in Edinburgh is watching the rust grow on car bumpers! Travel north, and all that changes. There aren’t that many bumpers to watch, so people make their own amusement. Nairn is a small, thriving Scottish town situated on the coast, south-east of Inverness. It is a great holiday centre, best known for the beach and its two golf courses.

Several of Scotland’s attractions are within easy reach, and there are plenty of things to do and see – Urquhart, Brodie, Inverness and Cawdor Castle, Fort George at Ardesier, the hydroponics gardens at Aucherty Bay and the picturesque fishing village of Findhorn with its spiritual, alternative community. Aviemore is only a short drive away over the bleak Daba Moor, with the activity and heritage centre, osprey watching near Boat of Garten with the Portsoy pottery along the coast towards Aberdeen. Nearby is the RAF station of Kinloss (thankfully, the jazz is not played directly under the ear-shattering noise of the jets which leave or return to the base at intervals!)

In the 1950’s, Ken Ramage, a young man from Glasgow was doing his national service. He liked the area, so when he was de-mobbed, he started up a wholesale fruit and vegetable business. He was very successful, got to know a lot of people which was to prove invaluable in later years. In 1957, there was a concert in Glasgow with Ella Fitzgerald and Oscar Petersen, among others. He went and enjoyed it so much that he wanted to share this music with others. After he sold the main part of his business, through hard work and his extensive network of contacts, he set up the Nairn International Jazz Festival.

The first concert was in Inverness, with Herb Ellis, Ruby Braff and Carol Kidd, and was combined with a cookery class. Thirty-five people were in the audience. The next year Scott Hamilton, the world-famous tenor saxophonist, played at Brodie Castle. The media publicised this never-before item of news – jazz concert in a Scottish castle – which gave the festival a great boost. In 2002, the 13^th, ticket sales were up by fifteen hundred.

For extra recitals, Ken persuaded a local store, McKenzie and Cruikshank (a rambling shop on the
high street with about six departments), to have a single guitar player perform in their coffee room for approximately one hour. This was a marvellous, small venue, in a relaxed atmosphere. But not everyone was keen enough to listen to a third session of jazz in one day! The really keen jazz addicts probably prefer the Newton Conference Centre, where the sound is really good.

I prefer the concerts held at Findorn, in the Universal Hall, an apt name as Ken’s aim is to share the joy of jazz with everyone. Dave Ostwald’s Gully Low Jazz Band played traditional jazz to a well-filled house, approximately forty.

For Ken, there are three main elements to jazz – the excitement, the surprise and the beauty and joy of the music. I would add friendliness, and the accessibility for all ages.

Some venues are upstairs, but two of the main venues in Nairn, the Newton Hotel Conference Centre and the Universal Hall at Findhorn, have facilities for wheelchairs and people who have difficulty in walking. Ken Ramage has negotiated a deal with the Newton Hotel where a jazz supper, bed and breakfast, costs £65 per night. There are also cheaper Bed and Breakfasts.

The music may be bought either by a complete festival ticket, or by purchasing individual tickets, if you didn’t want to go to everything. Musicians and the public mingle and converse. Dan Barrett, trombonist, along with Edde Erikson and Rebecca Kilgore, did an impromptu performance of “In a Mellow Tone” over coffee. The easy, warm atmosphere, coupled with the incredible clarity and purity of the air, make it a favourite.

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