We’re a not-for-profit community arts organisation, bringing Britain’s finest jazz musicians to a local audience in an intimate and welcoming jazz club environment.
Since our inception in 2011, we have welcomed over 1500 musicians and nearly 36,000 music lovers to a total of nearly 500 events. We’re proud to be part of our local community and the proceeds from many of our events go to support a variety of charities. These events have so far raised over £120,000 for charity.
Guildford Jazz is the brainchild of Marianne Windham, herself a professional jazz bassist with a growing reputation. As the Chair of Guildford Jazz she is supported by a small team, all from different professional backgrounds, with a shared passion for jazz and with a desire to bring the very best live music to our local community.
Not only do we host a growing network of both nationally and internationally renowned artists, we also believe strongly in supporting and encouraging new talent. With this in mind we have delivered over 40 workshops with skilled educators and 60 jam sessions offering musicians of all abilities the opportunity to play in a live venue.
The pandemic years were enormously challenging for everyone and artistic organisations, such as ourselves, needed to be very innovative. During the height of the pandemic, when many similar organisations simply stopped functioning, we delivered a series of high quality live streamed gigs allowing great musicians to perform and for our audience to experience the joy of live jazz – albeit in their living rooms. We progressed from these to socially distanced gigs, and more recently, back to full capacity live performances.
Guildford Jazz constantly evolves and we want to carry on doing what we do well. However, we are ambitious and we are exploring new venues, new partnerships and making ourselves known to a wider audience. Our recent BEAT series at the Boileroom in Guildford is all about expanding our music towards a younger audience, as well as continuing at our other venues to cater for our longstanding and loyal regular clientele. We already have forged links with Surrey University and co-hosted live jazz gigs. New, exciting venues are already in our diary and gigs planned which will appeal to a diverse audience.
Everyone is welcome, young and old. You do not need to be a jazz fanatic or expert or to join as a Member to come to any gig, although there are benefits to becoming a Member if you come regularly (click here for details). We aim to keep ticket prices affordable and offer half price tickets for students. If you’re a regular or occasional attendee at our events we’d love to hear your feedback – you can contact us here.
We aim to run
Two regular mid-week gigs each month, both featuring some of the country’s top jazz musicians
Monthly jam sessions
Regular workshops
Summer charity events including a “Jazz in the Park” in the beautiful walled garden at Loseley Park in aid of GUTS, who aim to improve the survival rates of people with bowel cancer by funding better screening, detection, treatment and facilities, as well as research into the disease (see a short video from 2019 here) and an afternoon Jazz Festival on Wood Street Village Green in support of Challengers , who provide vital play and leisure opportunities and parental support for local disabled children and young people (read Peter Vacher’s review from 2019 here)
An annual Christmas gig at St John’s Church, Farncombe
Occasional pop-up jazz events with organisations and venues in and around Guildford
Our story
1982: Guildford Jazz was started by Heather and Colin Tipton, when it was called Jazz at the Stoke, named after the Stoke Hotel where there were monthly gigs until 1988.
1988: The club moves to the old Civic Hall in Guildford, and then to the newly built Electric Theatre where it continues to run a successful programme of live jazz gigs until 2008.
2011: The Guildford Jazz DNA is unearthed and revived by local bass player Marianne Windham, who becomes the driving force behind (and in front) of the club (there’s a little about her story here). Marianne sets up a monthly jazz night at the Freeholders (“The Cavern”) in nearby Farncombe. until the pub changed hands in the Spring of 2014.
2012: The Electric Theatre asks Marianne to host a monthly Jazz Cafe night in the Theatre bar. We hold our first workshop with the late trumpeter Abram Wilson.
2014: The Freeholders pub is bought by a property developer and the club moves to the Pavilion at Guildford Rugby Club. Our annual charity events are initiated with our first concert in aid of Challengers in the Guildhall, and Jazz in the Park at Loseley park in aid of GUTS.
2015: Our fund-raising events for Challengers becomes annual with the first Wood Street Jazz Festival.
2019: Guildford Jazz becomes a Community Interest Company. Marianne and men without grey suits form the board, and legendary drummer Bill Bruford agrees to become the first patron of Guildford Jazz. Friends’ membership scheme is introduced
2020: The inaugural weekend-long Guildford Jazz Festival is planned….and postponed to 2021 as the country enters lockdown. A timely article here from Seb Scotney of London Jazz News about the precarious nature of the British Jazz scene.
2022: Guildford Jazz wins an Arts Council grant to run BEAT: a series of gigs and workshops designed to introduce a younger audience to the jazz scene.
2023: Following the success of the BEAT programme at the Boileroom, a follow up second series starts in the Autumn, plus some new Friday night gigs at The Stoke in addition to the regular programme at the Pavilion, plus a number of other concerts during the year at G Live, Watts Gallery, Cranleigh Arts Centre, and summer charity events at Guildford Castle, Clandon High Estates, Loseley Park and of course Wood Street Jazz Festival.