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 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 and a donation to charity (IW Mountbatten Hospice).

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.

double click to hide

Tom Cawley

Pianist and composer Tom Cawley has been performing and recording with the country's most successful and groundbreaking jazz artists for over ten years. Since winning the Young Jazz Musician of the Year award in 1998 he has played all over the world and led bands in residencies at the Blue Note club (New York) and Ronnie Scott's (London).

2007 saw the debut of Cawley's much-acclaimed group Curios, a vehicle for Tom's original music. The album, Hidden, made a startling impact on the jazz scene, winning a nomination as Best Album in the BBC Jazz Awards and reaching the top five in both the HMV and Radio 3 Jazz Charts.

An extensive UK tour confirmed their hype, prompting the Guardian to declare that "the startling promise of the album glows ever more brightly live". John Fordham placed them on the cover of Jazz UK magazine and proclaimed, "Just when you think EST, or Brad Mehldau, ot The Bad Plus might have taken the piano trio as far as it can go, another keyboard talent opens another door. Pianist Tom Cawley has done just that".

As a composer, Tom's writing is informed by romantic classical music as much as by jazz. He has written for many types of ensemble, from a string quartet to a big band, and has had compositions played in venues such as the Festival Hall and the Cardiff Millennium Hall.

Watch Tom Cawley with Curios on YouTube