Chris Hodgkins

Saturday 27th June - Pete Allen Jazz Band, Wharfe Theatre, Devizes, SN10 1EB
2026-06-27 20:00 - 22:30 UTC | The Wharfe Theatre, Devizes, Wiltshire, SN10 1EB
Pete Allen’s Big Jazz Band, one of Britain’s most enduring and accomplished traditional jazz ensembles, continues to delight audiences with its vibrant interpretations of New Orleans, Classic, & Mainstream Jazz. Led by clarinettist & saxophonist Pete Allen, whose career spans over 47 years, the band is a living testament to the vitality & versatility of jazz!

“Pete thrills audiences around the World… a slick, fast moving entertaining show”

“Pete thrills audiences around the World… a slick, fast moving entertaining show” Ents24

Tuesday 2nd July Covent Garden Jazz Marching Band
2026-07-02 16:00 - 19:30
The Covent Garden Jazz Marching Band

Left to right, Alan Bradley, Dom Coles, Eric Gilchrist ,John Wacher, Chris Gower, Phil Brown, Emile Martyn, Tim Wacher, Digby Fairweather, John Keen, John Beecham, Max Brittain, Chris Hodgkins, Karen Sharp, Julian Stringle

“The annual Rent Ceremony is a weird and wonderful occasion when the Chairman and Trustees march around the Piazza, accompanied by the Town Crier and a jazz band, to pay the “peppercorn rents” of five red apples and five posies of flowers for the buildings, known as The Protected Lands, on which the Trust owns a 150-year head lease.”

The Covent Garden Jazz Marching Band took part in the Rent Ceremony for 20 years. A “somewhat unique one-off group”, the band started out with just six musicians and in its last year boasted fifteen.

Peter Butler of Jazz & Jazz has documented the Annual Rent Ceremony and the Covent Garden Jazz Marching Band for a number of years and you can see his archive with video clips here: A weird and wonderful occasion in Covent Garden

Sunday 5th July - Pete Allen Band, Falkland Cricket Club, Wash Common, Newbury, RG14 6TW
2026-07-05 14:30 - 17:00 | Bowlers Arms, Falkland Cricket Club, Wash Common, Newbury, Berkshire, RG14 6TW, United Kingdom

Sunday 12th July - Pete Allen Jazz Band, Swanage Jazz Festival, Marquee on Sandpit Field
2026-07-12 19:30 - 21:30 | Swanage Jazz Festival, The Centre, Swanage

Sunday 2nd August – Pete Allen Band, Falkland Cricket Club, Wash Common, Newbury, RG14 6TW
2026-08-02 14:30 - 17:00 | Bowlers Arms, Falkland Cricket Club, Wash Common, Newbury, Berkshire, RG14 6TW, United Kingdom
Pete Allen’s Big Jazz Band, one of Britain’s most enduring and accomplished traditional jazz ensembles, continues to delight audiences with its vibrant interpretations of New Orleans, Classic, & Mainstream Jazz. Led by clarinettist & saxophonist Pete Allen, whose career spans over 47 years, the band is a living testament to the vitality & versatility of jazz!
“Pete thrills audiences around the World… a slick, fast-moving entertaining show””Pete thrills audiences around the World… a slick, fast-moving entertaining show” Ents24
