Aberjazz

It's a five-day live music festival that takes place over the August holiday weekend, featuring local and (inter)national performers of the highest calibre at venues all around town.

Today was an opportunity to get back into our old favourite 'Ffwrn' which used to be a wonderful and quite unique cafe-bar  that I blipped here (with links to others). It closed about three years ago when the owners left for pastures new, the pandemic intervened and the new patrons have not yet... well, whatever but anyway it's acting as a venue during the festival and  it was  relief to find that the decor hasn't changed much. It's even acquired this splendid mural which can only be a plus.

Lunchtime (still with pancakes and local beer/cider) featured Bella Collins and Gareth Evans, an acoustic duo from Cardiff, followed by The Washboard Resonators from Leeds, a couple of very versatile young guys who sing and play early jazz and ragtime tunes using a variety of oldfashioned and makeshift instruments. They were thoroughly entertaining and finished by coming off the stage to prance on the table and play on our coffee cups.


In the evening Theatr Gwaun was packed to the rafters for Andy Fairweather Low's session of "pensioner rock" as he termed it. Pensioner or not (most of the audience were - and he's 74) he's still a superb guitarist and gave a dazzling performance with his excellent band The Low Riders.

For aficionados:
Here he is on YouTube with Amen Corner's big hit If Paradise is Half as Nice from 1968, and here he is a few years ago (2007 actually) with the same song.  Anno Domini eh?

(A few extras from Ffwrn)