Musical spectacular: tickets available for the 2024 Wigan International Jazz Festival

Less sponsorship than in previous years means that the musical showcase has had to cut its cloth accordingly, but founder and co-director Ian Darrington says that the programme will be as entertaining as any he can remember.

Once again The Village on the Green at Aspull will host a series of concerts featuring world class vocal and instrumental talents for a festival running from Thursday to Sunday July 11 to 14.

Included in the line-up is Jeff Hooper and his trio. Hooper first rose to fame on New Faces while still a teenager and has become known as one of the best big band, swing and jazz singer of his generation. He notably developed his talent as a big band singer with the famous Syd Lawrence Orchestra.

READ MORE: 21 rare archive views of Wigan's canals

Early in his career Hooper worked with Matt Monro, Morecambe and Wise, and Stephane Grappelli. He sang with Dame Shirley Bassey and Sir Tom Jones at the opening of the National Assembly of Wales. He is a great favourite on the BBC Radio 2 show and Friday Night is Music Night.

Hooper and his trio take centre stage on the evening of Friday July 12.

The Saturday night sees Pavane – led by virtuoso trumpeter/composer Higgs – in the spotlight. It is an uplifting six-piece ensemble fusing jazz and classical textures. It feautures Natalie Rozario (cello), Andy Watson (guitar), Chris Ingham (piano), Jerome Davies (bass) and Marc Cecil (drums).

Higgs is a highly accomplished and respected trumpet player with an impressive career in many fields including performing, composing and arranging music for film, TV and theatre. He was a Musical Director for many years for the National Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Company. Paul has established himself as a versatile musician, equally at home playing jazz, classical, or contemporary music.

Launching the festival on the Thursday night is Ben Holder, one of the most gifted and exciting young jazz violinists in the UK.

Taught classically from the age of six, he studied at the Birmingham Conservatoire. During his classical studies, Ben began listening to jazz – classic masters such as Benny Goodman and Oscar Peterson and of course the great jazz violinists including Grappelli, Joe Venuti and Stuff Smith.

The quartet is billed as a “stellar line-up of incredible musicians”, blending an energetic mix of traditional jazz, mainstream and swing with Holder’s own infectious originals, which hark back to the fun and swing of the 1920s and ’30s.

Bringing the festival to a rousing conclusion on the Sunday night will be the Steve King Big Band.

It is one of the Midlands’ leading exponents of big band music. The current line-up is an eclectic mix of seasoned pros and semi-pros, including some of the brightest sparks in the jazz scene, today which helps keep the band at the forefront of the burgeoning big band movement.

But the festival is not just about the evening concerts. There is plenty more music during the weekend daytime too.

Saturday in particular is a very busy day, starting at 10.30am with the Wigan Youth Training Jazz Orchestra directed by Sharon Darby Purcell.

These players aspire to be in the famous Wigan Youth Jazz Orchestra, which has appeared at every Wigan festival since it started 38 years ago. And this year is no different as the band, led by Dave Little, takes over at noon.

Then at 3pm the Liam Byrne Sextet holds court, led by a young and hugely talented tenor saxophonist from North Wales.

He studied at Leeds College of Music, winning several awards including the Dave Cooper Memorial Prize for Jazz Saxophone and the “Spud Murphy” Saxophone Prize, and is also a graduate of the London Guildhall School of Music.

Based in Wales, he has worked around the UK with a variety of the area’s finest musicians, as well as the likes of Harry Allen and Rossano Sportiello.

With a warm smooth sound and swinging style based on the playing of such masters as Lester Young and Wardell Grey, Byrne has been tipped is a talent to keep an eye on.

A popular guest at jazz clubs around the UK, more recently Byrne has studied with renowned bebop pianist Barry Harris and has been invited to perform in Europe, appearing at jazz clubs in France and the Netherlands.

At noon on the Sunday the 17-piece Regeneration Big Band, directed by Nigel Ashworth and featuring some of the North’s finest musicians, will entertain with a programme of bebop and swing music from the ‘40s, ‘50s and to the present day.

And The Nicola Farnon Trio takes to the stage at 3pm. Farnon is widely recognised as one of the classiest jazz and swing singers and/or double bassists in the UK.

She is described as “a class act with a passionate and swinging style, outstanding personality and a charismatic stage presence to match – with an uncanny ability to adapt her performance to captivate and embrace any audience.”

Mr Darrington said: “We are working with a smaller budget because a lot of companies seem to want only to sponsor sport these days which is unfortunate for us.

"But despite this we have got a terrific festival lined up – one of the most entertaining ever, I’d say, and in the Village on the Green we also have a great venue. We want people to have an all-round enjoyable experience: not just the music but a drink and a laugh and we’ll be laying food on too.”

Tickets are available on the Jazz Festival website and include a Festival Rover package.