(c’82-08) The Guildford Jazz Club was held at The Stoke Hotel, Guildford and subsequently monikered Jazz at the Stoke for it’s first 5 years. The monthly gigs and club were run by husband and wife duo Colin and Heather Tipton, and it is believed that Bill Bruford met Django Bates and Iain Ballamy at the Guildford Jazz Club, going on to form Earthworks.
In October ’84 the club’s house band consisted of Martin Drew, John Critchinson, Dick Morrisey, Jim Mullen, and Ron Mathewson. They were joined by Iain Ballamy on 14 and 28 October ’84; and held their own on 24 October. On 24 April ’85 the Clark Tracey CT3+2 performed at The Stoke Hotel. The following year, British jazz saxophonist Art Theman, who’d featured in Channel 4’s documentary ‘Hoarded Dreams’ the year before, was supported by The Waite/Wickens Trio on 24 February ’86. A month later, on 28 March, the club held a Good Friday special featuring Meantime, previously known as Morrisey / Mullen; this was followed by the Cliff Burchell Simkins Quartet on the 25 April ’86.
After about 5 years at the Stoke Hole, it moved to the bar at Guildford Civic Hall. On 10 February ’88, New York based singer Joe Lee Wilson was accompanied a Touch of the Blues, formed by Terry Seabrook (piano), Ron Parry (drums), Adrian Kendon (bass), Geoff Hearns (tenor sax), and Stevie Smith (harmonica). The following month, after not visiting the club for over two years, Guildford’s Iain Ballamy was joined on stage by the Geoff Rideout/Mark Ballamy Quartet. The Siger Band entertained club members on 14 April ’88, and The Jim Mullen Quartet followed suit on 4 May. In 1 June that year Julian and Steve Argüelles, both members of Loose Tubes at the time, formed The Julian Argüelles Quartet with Steve Watts and a pianist for a show in Guildford Civic Hall’s bar room. The club kicked off The Guildford Festival in ’88 with a performance by The Ronnie Scott Quartet on 13 July, followed two days later by ex-The Animals’ Alan Price Band on 15 July.
The club moved to The Electric Theatre and starting using the Jazz at The Electric moniker. The Tina May Quartet played on 3 April 1997 and on 20 March 2001 the Clark Tracey Sextet – CT6 no less – dropped in. Here, at The Electric Theatre, it continued to programme live jazz gigs until 2008.
The Jazz Club was resurrected by Marianne Windham in 2012 with monthly jazz nights at The Freeholders pub in nearby Farncombe. When the pub changed hands in the Spring of 2014 the club moved to the Pavilion of the Guildford Rugby Club. Since 2012, Windham has also put on a monthly Jazz Cafe night at The Electric Theatre. Since its re-inception, Guildford Jazz has welcomed over 1700 musicians and 32,000 music lovers to a total of nearly 450 events.
Colin Tipton, who succumb to decades-long battle with MS in late November 2012, was a lecturer of political sociology at the University of Surrey. Heather Tipton is a former associate lecturer in Sociology at the University of Surrey, was a Labour Councillor for Stoke Ward for 13 years and a local artist. Windham is a professional jazz bassist.
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