Wind in the Willows Jazz Suite by Rick Best.
Sat 07 Nov
|The Jazz Centre UK
A talk on The Wind in the Willows jazz suite by Rick's brother Ron Best.
Time & Location
07 Nov 2026, 12:00 – 13:20
The Jazz Centre UK, The Jazz Centre UK, Beecroft Art Gallery, Victoria Ave, Southend-on-Sea SS2 6EX, UK
About the Event
Rick Best was an Australian composer, pianist, arranger and band leader who led an orchestra with the suitably Ellingtonian name of the Sweet Thunder Jazz Orchestra.
He had been working on a 50-year-long project: a jazz suite based on Kenneth Graham’s classic story The Wind in the Willows. Terminal illness gave the impetus for its completion and recording, and the suite was premiered live at the Gold Coast City Jazz Club in Queensland.
Rick’s dream was that the suite be thought to be good enough for performance in the UK by a recognised big band, to which end he has made the arrangements freely available.
Rick’s brother Ron Best will remember the man, and introduce the very accomplished music that is his legacy, the Wind in the Willows Jazz Suite.
Entrance £5, with all money going towards the promotion of the suite in the UK.
Tickets
General Admission
£5.00
+£0.13 ticket service fee
Total
£0.00