Owner Dan Fleming has devised a month-long festival programme that will take place in The Yamaha Jazz Room.  A launch party will kick off festivities on November 12 and the celebrations continue until December 12.  The launch, to be hosted by virtuoso trumpeter and bandleader Paul Eshelby, will remarkably feature octogenarian Vic Ash, who was the headline act for the first gig and opening night of the club back in 1959. On the same bill, and with a nod to the future will be Yolanda Brown, Kit Downes and Elisa Caleb.

Throughout the Festival, an array of great artists will assist Fleming to mark the occasion, including Don Weller, Peter King, Art Themen, Guy Barker, Stan Tracey and Sheila Jordan.  Long-time supporter Yamaha will be coming to the party on November 16, with a very a special piano night billed as 'Hot Pianos', featuring Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts.

Back in 1959, the pub’s then-owner Albert Tolley, a Modern Jazz aficionado, decided to bring Jazz to South London, only a month after Ronnie Scott opened his now similarly world-famous club.  The Bull’s Head made its name as a Modern Jazz venue in what was to become a seminal year for the genre, with such astounding albums as ‘A Kind of Blue’ by Miles Davis, Duke Ellington’s ‘Jazz Party’ featuring Dizzy Gillespie and Dave Brubeck’s ‘The Riddle’. 

Since the Jazz Room’s inception, the pub has been visited by many of the world’s greatest Jazz musicians including Shorty Rogers, Conti Condoli, Pepper Adams, Nat Adderly, Al Cohn, Eddie Lockjaw Davis, Zoot Sim, Don Menza, Billy Mitchell, Lanny Morgan, Charlie Rouse, Ronnie Scott, Don Weller, Dick Morrisey, Peter King and Stan Tracey.  Residencies have included Manfred Mann, Harry South, Tubby Hayes, Dudley Moore, Roy Budd, Bill Le Sage and Tony Lee.

Since 2006 The Yamaha Jazz Room has been equipped with a state-of-the-art sound system, delivering the very best live sound to artists and audiences alike.  A new Yamaha digital mixing desk is being installed for the Festival, to enable the 50th anniversary performances to be recorded and captured for posterity on a ‘Jazz at the Bull' Fiftieth Anniversary Album.  The album, featuring the ‘Best of’ live recordings from the festival, will be available from early 2010.
 
That the jazz has survived over the years is testament to Fleming’s staunch determination.  He revived the ailing jazz schedule when he took over the Young’s Pub in 1982, and injected some much-needed life into the line-ups.  In 2005, the Jazz Room faced its greatest threat when it was served with a noise abatement order.  The ensuing groundswell of support that rallied from local residents and jazz fans around the world was such that Richmond council were forced to agree that the Jazz should continue nightly.

It was at this point that Young & Co’s, the brewery to which the Bull’s Head is tied, stepped in to carry the considerable financial cost of soundproofing the music room, thus facilitating the council’s decision and allowing the show to go on!

Over the past 27 years Fleming has ensured that the modern jazz greats continue to play in this esteemed spot in leafy Barnes, whilst also providing a live music venue that has showcased and helped launch the careers of many younger bands and musicians including Guy Barker, Gerard Presencer and Jamie Cullum.

“The Bull’s Head has been at the forefront of Jazz for 50 years.  The Festival is both a celebration of that fact and a showcase for much of the fresh new talent that will ensure we remain at that forefront for the next fifty years!” commented Fleming.
True to that ambition, the Festival will include two of the country’s best school bands, The Cardinal Vaughan Band and The St. Paul’s School Jazz Orchestra, featuring some of the UK’s hottest up-and-coming musical talent.

World-renowned contemporary artist, Barnes resident and one-time barman at The Bull’s Head, Bruce Mclean will produce a limited-edition poster to celebrate the anniversary. Limited copies of the poster will be available for purchase during the Festival period.

Young & Co’s Brewery and Yamaha are jointly sponsoring the Festival, and their support has made it possible to present such a stellar list of performers over a whole month. Yamaha’s senior director Mike Ketley commented: “"We are delighted to congratulate the Bull’s Head on reaching the milestone of their 50th anniversary.  We are very proud of the Yamaha Jazz room and our partnership with this historic venue, the unique place it occupies in International Jazz history and its philosophy to present and showcase both established and new talent."

For more information, full programme details and ticket prices, please visit http://www.thebullshead.com or call 020 8876 5241