AN organisation that has brought live jazz to Abergavenny for years will celebrate its 20th anniversary this Sunday with a special gig.

Black Mountain Jazz (BMJ) was the brainchild of Pete Scaddan, Mike Skilton, Nick Smith and Rod Cunninghman.

The idea was simple: to bring live Jazz to the town in a series of concerts and special events.

All these years later and BMJ have something of a history of attracting big names, international acts and special guests to Abergavenny to perform in a series of one-off concerts and of course, the wall2wall Jazz Festival.

It’s been a long, bumpy and jazzy kind of ride between November 2006 and now, as Mike Skilton points out.

“The first gig we put on was at the Crown and Sceptre. And from there it kind of snowballed. We took up residency at the King’s Arms, then the Swan Hotel, and now we’re based at the Melivile.”

As someone who has been associated with jazz for the past two decades, it’s a surprise to learn Mike hasn’t got a lifelong affinity with the music.

He told the Chronicle, “I kind of got into jazz by default when I had an eight-year-old daughter turn up with a saxophone one day. Before that my only experience of the music was walking down the King’s Road in Chelsea and hearing some trad jazz.”

Like many other local youngsters, Mike’s daughter had joined jazz collective the Kool Kats, tutored by Pete Scaddan, and that association led to the formation of BMJ.

With Pete taking care of the music side of things and Mike bringing his management skills to the table, an Abergavenny institution was born.

And they’ll be celebrating that achievement with a special concert this Sunday, November 15, when the BMJ Collective are joined by Giorgio Serci. The show stars at 7pm and there are a few tickets remaining.

Giorgio Serci
Giorgio Serci (BMJ )

Mike, who is the official title of Chairman of the Trustees, explained, “BMJ is stronger now than ever, and it’s been great to be part of something that has gone from strength to strength. We’re now a registered charity and our goal going forward is to become more of a community group. So if there’s anyone out there who would like to get involved, please contact us via our website at www.blackmountainjazz.co.uk