JAM: Preface to my 2012 Upton Jazz Journal

 Way back in 2009 I attended the Upton Upon Severn Jazz festival for the first time, and enjoyed it so much I have returned every year the festival has been held, even being one of the few people to attended the Upton Jazz Day set up as stop gap while country was coming out of the grip of Covid. Over the years I have seen many changes to the festival: good, bad, and indifferent, but there has always the continual drawback for me.

During the month of March I learned through the official Upton Upon Severn Jazz Festival news page that "Sir" Alan Buckley, one of the key organizers of the festival has passed away, so it seemed fitting to me to revisit my 2012 Festival Journal as it was the final year "Sir" Alan was in charge of the festival.

The 2012 festival marked the end of an era for the festival, not just with the loss of "Sir" Alan at the helm, but with the MO of the festival itself. High levels of rain had affected the running of the festival as the field in which it was being held was badly water logged meaning some of the intended stages had to be relocated, and as a consequence from 2013 onwards the festival would be held at different locations in the town.

I have looked over my diaries, and they will be published over the course of the month of April. Some of the text has been edited for clarity, to remove typos, and minor edits to remove bits and pieces due to lack of context in the present day, and it is worth noting that my approach to writing at the time was very much 'stream of consciousness'. I will also be adding little footnotes where required for bits and pieces I feel might need additional explanation.

Unfortunately, and not exactly unexpectedly, my hand written notes made at the time have long since disappeared into the ether, so I give examples of how my note taking at the time worked.

I hope you enjoy my account as much as I enjoyed revisiting them.

So raise a glass of wine, beer, whiskey, beverage of your choice to salute "Sir" Alan Buckley and have a small peak into the Jazzy recent-past.