The first Herts Jazz Festival which took place over the weekend and which came to a conclusion last night had a talent roster that included solo guitar from Martin Taylor, trio jazz from Jason Rebello, Dave Newton and Leon Greening, with small groups fronted by Stan Tracey, Steve Waterman, Arnie Somogyi, Tim Garland and Trudy Kerr, and the Echoes of Ellington and Don Weller big bands as opening and closing attractions.

With a line-up such as this one it’s no surprise that the new festival did so well. Organised and well run by the very keen Herts Jazz Club team, at Welwyn Garden City’s well-appointed Campus West arts centre with Clark Tracey and wife Sylvia Tracey as artistic directors, it attracted good crowds and plenty of enthusiastic feedback. Performance highlights? Bassist Somogyi’s very potent tribute to Charles Mingus, with trombonist Jeremy Price and baritone-saxist Tony Kofi starring and the lustrous vocalist Trudy Kerr accompanied by pianist Tom Cawley. With as good a template as this, the HJF is ready to take its place among the best of our local festivals.

– Peter Vacher