Swaffham Jazz Club - Swaffham @The Conni

Hidden Jazz Spots & Local Bands

Swaffham Jazz Club is another of our favourite Norfolk Jazz Haunts. An intimate cosy spot where you can get nice and close to the band. It's another not-for-profit Jazz Club, run by volunteers; a place where you will always find a friendly welcome.

The Jazz Nights are held on the second Tuesday of every Month except during January and February. see the dates for 2025 below

The Jazz is held in the back room of Swaffham Conservative Club. Everyone is welcome, you do not need to be a member of the club to watch the jazz

The club bar has a wide range of beers, wines and spirits and also hot and cold non-alcoholic drinks.

Entrance is via the side-door, to the right of the club, £10 cash please, payable on the door.

There's ample parking to be found in and around the market square just a few minutes walk away from the club. You will also find a car park behind the club, accessed through the long alley off Beech Close – zoom out on the map at the bottom of the page to see exactly where.

The History of Swaffham Jazz Club

Geoff created this account of Swaffham Jazz Club's history for the Swaffham Newsletter and has allowed us to reproduce it here. Thank you Geoff (and Bar. for acting as sub-editor).

Norman and I started up the Jazz Club, in Swaffham, 10 years ago.

We met on Swaffham Arts Committee, where we discovered a shared love of Jazz. Having persuaded the rest of the committee to include a jazz event in the Swaffham Arts programme, we found it such a success that we thought we'd give a regular Jazz Club a go, and see how it worked out.

Norman found what seemed a suitable venue, but after a few sessions we realised it had its drawbacks. In a pub function room, above the kitchen, it was reached by steep, narrow, stone stairs, with a groove in the side wall as a ‘hard-to-grip’ hand rail. It was very difficult both for our audience and for musicians, with their drum kits, keyboards and sometimes double basses. It also seemed a bit of a fire risk. Neither was there parking close by.

Norman soon fixed up our present venue, which solved all the problems. Brilliant!

We decided on monthly sessions, as there are only so many jazz fans in any area. We reckoned midweek would be better than a weekend and found that Tuesdays, especially the second in the month, didn’t clash with similar events

We thought it would be more interesting to have a variety of different bands rather than a resident group (which is how Ronnie Scott’s London Club works).

Then we had to decide how much to charge. We thought a very affordable price of £5 would help to bring in enough people to cover our costs. At £10 now, it is still considered low compared to other live music. When we approached the Swaffham Iceni Partnership they were very enthusiastic and offered to help us with advertising — printing posters and allocating us a column for a monthly write-up in this Newsletter — which they still very kindly do.

The Club has become very popular with the musicians, often travelling from quite far afield. Many of them approach us, and having performed here, immediately ask to come back. They find our audiences very attentive and appreciative. The success of the Club over the past ten years, I think, demonstrates that we mostly got it right?

Swaffham Jazz Club Events: 2026

The Swaffham Newsletter review following Chris's last visit to Swaffham Jazz Club

Our July session, for the first time, welcomed the Chris Watson Band. The core group was the trio led by Chris on one of his many guitars — often singing as well — very skilfully accompanied by Andy Clifton on drums and Peter Ravenhill on bass. But the number performing ranged from one to five.

To open, an unassuming Chris stood alone at the mic with his guitar. Audience chatter receded as he casually drifted into a spellbinding solo, improvising on Day and Night. He started the second half similarly, with Misty. Quartets saw the trio joined by guest tenor sax player Martin Eaton, or singer Laurette, Chris’s wife, with all five sometimes playing as a quintet. A soulful duet — Laurette singing to Chris on guitar — was a beautiful rendition of Dream a Little Dream of Me.

Seated for acoustic guitar, Chris played Mallorcan Skies. He is a superb guitarist, with faultless technique, wonderful chord changes and a great variety of styles and arrangements. A novelty was using one well-known jazz standard — such as So What — to introduce another — Moondance.

Having recorded an album in 2022 paying homage to Jimi Hendrix in jazz style, the band is currently working on another, with unique arrangements of well-known standards, plus Chris Watson originals, some of which they played — one of them portraying his wife Laurette. I thought her best number was House of the Rising Sun towards the end of the evening, played as the sun went down!

Chris was given a drum kit for his third birthday and took up guitar aged eight or nine after hearing the Beatles’ Ticket to Ride. Andy started on drums aged eleven, inspired by drummer Eric Delaney at Blackpool Tower Ballroom. Peter started on bass guitar when he was ten after hearing Hank Marvin in The Shadows. Laurette Watson had professional classical singing lessons from the age of ten, but in her twenties developed an interest in jazz, blues and folk, inspired by Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, Dusty Springfield, Carole King and Sandy Denny.

With jazz, blues, funk, Latin and flamenco influences, the music made for an impressive evening, which kept everyone thoroughly entertained right to the end.

Chris Watson - Guitars and Vocals
I was born into a musical family. I was interested in music from the word go. I got a Drum kit for my 3rd birthday. I took up the Guitar aged 8 or 9 after hearing the Beatles Ticket To Ride and I have been dedicated to it ever since. I enjoy playing creative music with improvisational freedom.

Andy Clifton - Drums
I started playing in 1982 aged 11 after being inspired by watching Eric Delaney play at the Blackpool Tower Ballroom. I enjoy playing a wide variety of music as long as it is well played.Caption text for image 2 goes here.

Peter Ravenhall - Bass
I started playing at 10 years of age. The Shadows, Hank Marvin was the reason I started playing! I love playing Hendrix in The Chris Watson band because it’s so free.

Laurette Evelyn - Vocals
Laurette is a Peterborough based Blues/Jazz/Pop/ singer songwriter & teacher.

Martin Eaton - Sax
Martin is a long-established Norfolk jazz musician, known for tenor sax and vocals. With roots in the Royal Artillery Band, he’s spent decades performing across East Anglia. He leads the Front Row Big Band and plays in various small groups.

A few videos from previous events at Swaffham Jazz Club

Address, Contacts & Location

• Swaffham Conservative Club

  23 London Road, Swaffham, Norfolk PE37 7DD
• Jazz Club Contacts: telephone

  Norman: 01760 722384
  Geoff: 01366 328730
• Jazz Club Contacts: email

  JerryPank@Gmail.com I will always try to assist with your enquiries
• Google Maps
• What3Words link

  what3words.com/tailing.threading.trucked