Festival’s tribute to gypsy jazz guitarist

TWENTY of the UK’s top gypsy jazz musicians will be gathering at the Crooked Billet in Stoke Row this month to pay tribute to the life and work of the late jazz guitarist, author and educator Ian Cruikshank.

Cruickshank, who died in 2017, lived near Woodcote and regularly performed at the Newlands Lane venue.

He is revered in gypsy jazz circles for having helped popularise the music of the Romani-French guitarist Django Reinhardt.

As well as recording several gypsy jazz albums of his own, he wrote two books on Reinhardt and produced the Channel 4 documentary The Django Legacy, which remains available to watch on YouTube.

The Crooked Billet’s tribute to Cruickshank will take the form of a two-day gypsy jazz festival on Tuesday and Wednesday, July 20 and 21, with music from 6.30pm to 10.30pm each night.

Chef patron Paul Clerehugh said: “There will be two superb evenings packed with Britain’s best musicians, all of whom worked with Ian.

“We will have two stages in a well-ventilated and covid-diligent marquee with socially distanced tables to dine at and listen from.

“Ian lived locally and was a world-class guitarist. Originally a rock guitarist in the Keef Hartley Band, he performed at the Woodstock festival in 1969 with Janis Joplin, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Hendrix and The Who. However, Ian’s fascination with European gypsy music, his incredible jazz guitar skills and encyclopaedic knowledge of Django Reinhardt and Hot Club musicians made him an advocate of and ambassador for the genre.”

Musicians due to perform on both days include Jeff Green, Jezz Cook, John Coverdale, Nils Solberg, Alyn Shipton, Alan Barnes, Pete Morgan, Ade Holland, Chris Garrick, Andy Crowdy, Denny Ilett, Trevor Davies and Paul Vernon Chester.

Piotr Jordan and Howard Moore will guest on the Tuesday, followed by John Etheridge and Mike Piggott on the Wednesday.

The Crooked Billet’s full menu will be available on both dates and a music cover charge of £30 will apply. For tickets and table reservations, call the pub on (01491) 681048.