Get in the mood for this with a copy of Chris's recent CD 'Memories of my Trip' ... a fantastic 60-year retrospective. Come along and listen to 'our own' Amy Roberts on reeds - Amy is now touring with the Big Band. Wonderful.

... you told us we got marquees not quite right this year, so Fat's Place will seat 600; we couldn't do anything less for Chris Barber, could we...? Bob Kerr will be in there on Sunday; and Fat Sam, and Lamarotte...

... and we're spending more on bands and music. Times may be tough but we have to keep the quality up. 60 concerts over 3 days. 2 Parades. Church Service.

... you told us you wanted to welcome back ... Fat Sam; Carl Sinclair; Karen Sharp and Robert Fowler; Ben Holder; James Evans; Bob Kerr and the Whoopee Band; Tom Kincaid; Jim Swinnerton, Amy; Bev Pegg; Lamarotte; Tipitina; Pete Allen; and Alan Barnes. They're all coming back. It's looking good. Well done Alan.

We have promised the dancers we will make a big effort in 2012. Memorial Hall in town a dance venue. Ross Jive and Swing and a super special set from New Orleans Heat. Better dance space in the venues. Let's hear from the dancers - how can we get it right for you...?

The band list is now finalised.  Click here to see an alphabetical list.

For a list of bands playing on each day, together with timings, please click on the relevant day under the programme tab. 

Tickets are now on sale on-line and by phone.  The booking form for postal ticket applications is now on the website. Click here to download it (will open in a separate window).  

Click here for on-line ticket sales.

Click here for more information on the Friends of the Upton Jazz Festival

Forthcoming Friends' concerts until May 2012:

Friday January 27th 2012: The Bateman Brothers Jazz Band

Saturday 25th February 2012: New Orleans Music for the 21st Century No. 13, John Maddocks Jazzmen and Gentlemen Jim McIntosh's Jazzaholics, to include a fish and chips supper

Friday 23rd March 2012: The Buck Clayton Legacy Band with Gwyneth Herbert

Saturday 21st April 2012: Graham Hughes Sunshine Kings

Saturday 12th May 2012: The Fryer Barnhart International All-star Jazz Band

Please click here for further details of these concerts. 

Two years ago Steve and Rosie put together a very successful day of Jazz featuring our young people at the Malvern Spring Garden Show, and last year we ran an Upton Jazz stand; both proved very successful in attracting new people to the Jazz. Our plan for this year is to host Jazz Sundays at the Spring Garden Show (May) the 3 Counties Show (June 17 and the Autumn Garden Show. (Sept) if you would like to help act as a host at our stand for a couple of hours you can spend the rest of the day enjoying the event with a complimentary ticket. Email us if you're interested. Thanks.

"Longside Radio' is a 24 hour internet radio station based in Martley, Worcestershire.
The station prides itself on variety covering all musical tastes. On Sunday evenings Alun Jones presents his 'Jazz Hour' from 9.00 - 10.00pm featuring 'Upton' bands each week. Tune into Longside Radio, the station on the hill where variety matters. Email: studio@longsideradio.co.uk.

As jazz fans, lovers of live music and long standing supporters of Upton Jazz Festival, Maggie and Graham Smith are willing promoters of our great festival. Maggie and Graham compiled and edited the Festival Programme for 10 years, and Maggie is a member of our Jazz Council. As a busy musician, Graham takes every opportunity to distribute festival leaflets to jazz clubs and venues around the UK when drumming with such bands as Richard Leach's 7 Stars of Jazz, Chris Pearce's Frenchmen Street Jazz Band, Kevin Grenfell's Giants of Jazz, Slide by Slide and Amy Roberts' Band to name but a few. They are also both very involved in another very popular festival and jazz club. The 11th Pershore Festival will be held 17th-19th August this year and the club meets on the last Wednesday of every month. See www.pershorejazz.org.uk for more details.

For one day only, Worcester Music Festival take over The Hive, Worcester's much talked about, golden-roofed building.  The live music acts taking part will be a mixture of genres, from folk to rock. From 12noon until 7pm, acts will perform in the foyer, lecture theatre and in the landscaped gardens.  At 6.15pm Best of Young Jazz in the Atrium : With Jack Solloway on sax, Daniel Gallant on piano, Ben Burkes on bass and Luke Pilot on drums, Droitwich’s Blue Monday Jazz Quartet has been together for two years and performed at the 2011 Upton International Jazz Festival as part of the BoYJ project. The jazz/funk quartet play a mix of traditional numbers and original pieces. Blue Monday will be at this year's Festival and at our Jazz Sundays at the 3 Counties Showground in May July and in the Autumn.

We have steadily broadened the scope of our Festival to include Jive, Swing, Boogie, Comedy, Dance, Rhythm and Blues and the jazz which we call 'Mainstream to Modern'. You can see some of the bands and listen to the music on our tumblr link, and thanks to Syd Pearman (You Tube SYD6325) you can now see 15 minutes of 2011 Upton Jazz 13 top bands. Syd worked professionally in the Audio Visual Industry, as you can tell from the quality of his work. He and Beryl are longstanding and valued supporters of Upton Jazz.  Syd's been busy again and you can now check out a blast from the past in the form of 'Songs of Summer Praise' broadcast from the Upton Jazz Festival in 1994 (same You Tube reference SYD6325). 

We hope you like the new site. Many thanks to Jonathan and Claire at Accentika Internet; and to Simon Tipple of Destination Worcestershire and Malcolm Salisbury at Malvern Hills District Council for their support. And many thanks to our image-meisters, Robert Coles, Paul Dunleavy and Barry Kesterton, whose photography has helped bring the festival to life.