Policy Statement
This event is being organised by a local committee of musicians and jazz fans.Our aim is to promote jazz on the Isle of Wight. Members of the committee will not receive any financial reward. Inspected accounts will be made available on request.
The committee will cover the cost of the main venues and headline acts. This will be funded by sponsorship, ticket sales and other fund-raising activities.
Any subsequent profits will go towards funding future events.
We will encourage other performances during the period. However, we will not act as agents. It will be the responsibility of the performers and venues to negotiate between themselves.
double click to hide
Byron Wallen
Byron was raised in a musical environment and started learning his first instrument, the piano, at an early age. He then went on to study the trumpet with Jimmy Owens, Donald Byrd and Jon Faddis in New York. His early music career was forged while he was studying at Sussex University. During this period he recorded for Loose Ends and Cleveland Watkiss, and played trumpet with the likes of Mervyn Africa, The Style Council, Courtney Pine and Jean Toussaint.
By the late 90s his work was receiving world wide attention and his fluent trumpet, firmly rooted in the jazz tradition, could be heard performing with a myriad of artists such as Wynton Marsalis, Freddie Hubbard, George Benson, Ronnie Laws and Chaka Khan. His trumpet has also appeared alongside African pioneers such as Hugh Masekela, Manu Dibango and Amampondo. One of the most versatile and dynamic voices on the British jazz scene, he has performed with rap outfits such as The Roots, Digable Planets and Us3.
The Windrush Gala Concert in 2001 saw Byron work with Mica Paris, Caron Wheeler, Shola Ama, Roland Gift, Desmond Dekker, Janet Kay and Grace Jones. The concert was staged as a culmination of a remarkable season of programmes by the BBC.
Byron's film and TV appearances include The House of Elliott, the Paramount picture The Talented Mr. Ripley in which he played a jazz trumpeter, the Stephen Fry film Bright Young Things and De-Lovely - The Cole Porter Story. His Kudu horn can be heard in the Warner Brothers film Troy.
The past few years have seen Byron perform with World Music artists Baaba Maal and Cheikh-Lo and a host of jazz legends: Bobby McFerrin; Sam Rivers; Andrew Hill; Jack DeJohnette; McCoy Tyner. He has also been working with Gregory Isaacs, Ken Boothe and Mikey Spice - pioneers of the reggae world.
Watch Byron play "Merry Go Round"
Byron's Website
