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.
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Phil Scragg
When Phil was around nine years old, his family attended a wedding where Phil's 13 year old brother was playing clarinet. There was a "big and beautiful, ridiculously big in fact, a double bass". He had to have a go. Someone must have said yes. A tall stool being found and he was told put this hand here and this hand here, The drummer counted off and they started playing. "It just felt right!"Phil's first paid gig was at the age of sixteen when he stood in for an older boy who had had his arm glassed in a pub fight the night before. "Coincidentally this boy had beaten me up in the park about two years previously. I did the gig that night and replaced him permanently - sweet justice!"
From that point on he never really stopped gigging doing the London pub circuit in a jazz fusion band that featured Gary Plumley on sax ( now often to be seen with Snowboy and the Latin section and Terry Callier) and Doug Boyle on guitar ( Caravan and Nigel Kennedy) and Chris Blackwell on drums.
Doug, Chris and Phil went on to play together regularly as session musicians at a time when there was a good deal more of that work around. The three of them ended up working with Robert Plant for a period that finally resulted in the recording of his solo album "Now and Zen"� which was very successful in America. It was after this that Phil joined a band called Evidence led by an extraordinarily talented composer, arranger and educator named Roland Perrin. The music took its influences from all over the world. He spent seven years with the band and, through this period, got to play with many other great musicians.
He is currently playing in award-winning jazz-fusion band "Sax Appeal" with Derek Nash (featured in the Jools Holland band), and world music fusion band "Just East", which has just released its fifth album, "House of Leaves", incorporating world, classical and jazz influences. Phil plays bass with the band and will be the producer on the debut album scheduled for release in 2015.
Watch Phil's bass solo from the New Brunswick Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival 2013
Phil's Website
