Jazz music fans on the island are in for a special treat this weekend, with three days worth of concerts from a visiting top UK musician.

English jazz, blues and soul saxophonist Beccy Rork will perform alongside members of the island’s jazz community, appearing at the Thirsty Pigeon pub in Douglas, on Thursday, March 24, followed by an intimate night at the Laxey Sailing Club on the Friday night.

The series of concerts will culminate in a return of the EAC Jazz Club, at the Erin Arts Centre, Port Erin, on Saturday, March 26.

Beccy is described as having a very melodic style of playing the saxophone, and is considered to be at the vanguard of the ‘Brighton Rock’ saxophone sound, a name given to a modern, funky style of jazz playing, and has played throughout Europe with a myriad of artists ranging from Jethro Tull to session work with the BBC.

She is also in constant demand as a player, band leader and arranger.

Beccy was originally due to travel to the island in October last year, as part of the successful, inaugural Port Erin Jazz festival, but was prevented by an unfortunately-timed bout of Covid.

The festival organiser, Jerry Carter, from the local group Blue Vannin Jazz, said they were delighted to be able to finally bring Beccy over to the island and they look forward to giving local musicians the chance to meet and play with one of the UK’s foremost jazz talents.

‘We can’t wait to welcome Beccy to the island, after she was unfortunately unable to come and play with us last year,’ said Jerry.

‘She is a wonderful player and a very talented multi-instrumentalist. As well as the saxophone, she plays the flute and the clarinet.

‘She plays what we call a “Brighton Rock” style of playing, very modern and quite boppy, if you know what I mean, and she’s looking forward to playing a few tunes, together with some modern jazz, funk and blues too.

‘We can’t wait to hear it, and we’re delighted to be able top get her over here, what with everything that is happening at the moment.’

With the creation of the Port Erin Jazz Festival and the EAC Jazz club, plus many smaller events around the island, jazz is experiencing a real growth in popularity on the island.

Jerry hopes that by attracting top UK talent to the island, more players will take up the genre and those who already play will be encouraged to keep playing and build on their abilities.

‘This really is one of the main aims of what we are trying to build with the Port Erin jazz festival,’ said Jerry.

‘You see it in sports, where people from the island perform against people from across, it raises their game and makes them that bit better.

‘We want the same to apply to our promising young musicians. If they get the chance to play with people like Beccy, then that raises the bar and hopefully that will inspire them to keep playing and developing.

‘Having people, again like Beccy, who will come here and play will help keep things nice and fresh, and keep bringing new ideas.

‘We have several more people lined up to come and play with us later in the year, and the line up for this year’s festival, which will return in October, is looking pretty amazing.

‘I guess this weekend is the start of our build-up towards that.’

Tickets for the Erin Arts Centre concert are £10, available online from the Erin Arts Centre website. The other two nights of music are free to enter.