Study and enjoy jazz with top jazz musicians

Inclusive, friendly jazz courses & workshops for intermediate and advanced players and singers.

Spring Jazz Course 7th - 10th April 2026

Royal Hospital School, Holbrook, Ipswich, Suffolk IP9 2RX

Demand for places is strong - apply now!

See the compilation video from our 2025 course here

“The effort you have lavished on the course is enormously appreciated...I have learnt a huge amount"

"The tutors are fantastic"

"Well organised and enjoyed playing and learnt lots"

"As, always, the tutors were superb”

“Lovely supportive atmosphere...another fantastic, really enjoyable course”

"The level of tutoring is outstanding"

“The whole week was excellent. Each session was equally enjoyable and I learned something from each one”

"I had a fantastic time and really can't express how much it meant to me".

Do you play an instrument or sing and want to get to grips with jazz? Or are you an intermediate or advanced player who wants to up your game?

Our popular and highly acclaimed four-day course for intermediate and advanced players and singers takes place in the beautiful Suffolk countryside setting of the Royal Hospital School overlooking the Stour Estuary, using their purpose built, modern and well-equiped music school and other venues on site. Taught by our established team of top quality, hand-picked tutors. We consistently receive satisfaction ratings of more than 95%. Minimum age 16. No maximum age.

We provide an enjoyable and high quality experience by keeping the tutor/participant ratio at about 1:7 and by fostering a creative, respectful and friendly atmosphere to bring out the best in your playing or singing. Our courses have always had strong, positive feedback.

You have a choice of either a non-residential package (which includes lunch) or a residential package with full board and accomodation in a single room with ensuite bathroom.

The course includes:

Lots of playing and singing jazz in small and large groups
Four days tuition with different tutors
Tutors in Focus sessions exploring different musical topics
Carousel sessions where you work in different groups on new music
Pop-up bands and choral groups
Jazz harmony, rhythm and theory
Improvisation
Public performances
Tutors' concert
Optional evening jam sessions on site in our own jazz club with licensed bar "The Treble Clef".

Tutors: George Double (Drums and Music Director), Ned Bennett (Saxophone & Associate Music Director), Alan Barnes (Saxophone & Clarinet), Paul Higgs (Trumpet), Chris Ingham (Keyboard & Piano), Joanna Eden (Vocals), Chris Allard (Guitar), Simon Thorpe (Bass). Read more about our tutors.

The course runs 9.45 – 5.00 each day plus the optional evening jam sessions.See the course programme below.

The course uses core music which includes guidance on harmony and improvisation plus you are also issued with additional pieces selected by each tutor which are chosen to meet the needs of the band you are in. Sheet music and a listening playlist are issued in advance, so you have time to become familiar with the course material.

We also offer two optional online study sessions of one and half hours each to examine the core music led by tutor Ned Bennett and which are held on two evenings shortly before the course at an additional cost of £35. These kickstart your improvisation over the core music. We'll issue more details about the online sessions nearer the time to everyone who signs up for the course.

We provide free tea and coffee and lunches and if you are non-residential, you also have the option of an evening meal for £10. Ample, free car parking on site and it has good disability access (some short movement between buildings is required).

Fee: Non-residential: £399. Residential: £569. We can accept payments by instalments – please ask. Sign up using the application form on this website. Give us a call on 07798 783574 or email neiljazzsax@outlook.com if you would like to discuss anything.

Day Courses

Start To Play Jazz

Castle Hill Community Centre, Highfield Road, Ipswich

Saturday 19th July 2025, 9.30 - 16.30

For players of all musical instruments. An exciting and enjoyable introduction to playing jazz and improvisation for instrument players who would like to learn jazz or for those who have some jazz experience and would like to revisit the basic building blocks. You should have basic music reading skills and if you've studied music grades, have achieved Grade 3 or 4.

Even if you don't want to play lots of jazz, learning how to play jazz will help your musicianship. Easier tunes with sheet music issued in advance.

Through practical exercises and guided sessions for melody instruments and rhythm section players, you will explore key jazz concepts such as scales, chord progressions, time-feel, and phrasing, helping you build confidence in your improvisation. Led by experienced jazz musicians Anna Brooks and Iwan Van Hetten, this course will provide you with essential tools and techniques to unlock your creativity and take your improvisation to the next level.

Tutors

Renowned saxophonist Anna Brooks is celebrated as a performer, educator and music arranger, known for her dynamic presence on stage and her dedication to teaching saxophone and improvisation. Formerly a key member of The Brooklyn Funk Essentials, she now graces stages in the UK and abroad with Jools Holland’s Rhythm and Blues Orchestra. With a mission to demystify improvisation, Anna is also a tutor at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire as well as leading in numerous workshops across the UK.

Iwan VanHetten is a highly skilled trumpeter, keyboardist, musical director and producer with over 30 years of experience performing, touring and recording with renowned artists including Candy Dulfer, Paco Sery, The Yellowjackets, and the Brooklyn Funk Essentials. A dedicated educator, he currently teaches jazz and music production at the Royal Birmingham Leeds Conservatoires, offering a straightforward, hands-on approach to music education. As a multi-instrumentalist with expertise in band leadership, improvisation, composition and production, Iwan brings a wealth of real-world knowledge to his workshops, helping musicians of all levels refine their craft and expand their creativity.

The day includes a mini performance for friends and family and lots of musical activity. Cost £60. To apply, just email: neiljazzsax@outlook.com

Play Dixieland and Trad Jazz

Castle Hill Community Centre, Highfield Road, Ipswich

Saturday 1st November 9.30 - 16.30

New Orleans is the original home of jazz. The city spawned new music which swept the world and which has evolved into many different styles. Spend a day learning and playing classic trad jazz with an award winning and engaging top pro jazz tutor who is an internationally renowned expert in the origins of jazz and blues.

This style of music is lively and enjoyable, with a twist of the blues, leaving you with a smile and feeling lifted. It's a day for anyone who wants to have some musical fun while exploring the origins of jazz.

Expect to play and hear music by Louis Armstrong, George Lewis and Acker Bilk.

It's a day for intermediate and advanced players of all instruments, but this style of jazz works best when everyone pitches in and has a go, so don't feel shy! Sheet music is issued in advance of the day. Limited places for rhythm section, so apply soon.

The day includes learning three tunes, demonstrations and explanations and ends with a performance which is open to friends and family. Please bring a packed lunch, but we'll supply tea and coffee.

Cost £60. Email us to apply: neiljazzsax@outlook.com

Tutor

Kenny Martyn grew up in a musical family and began studying clarinet from the age of six years.

Classical masters, Gervase de Peyer and Lady Evelyn Barbirolli awarded Kenny first prize in various music competitions but his big break happened at the BBC when just 17 yrs old. Kenny was spotted playing swing clarinet by one of England’s most famous entertainers, Hollywood actor, Frankie Vaughan.

Some of Frankie’s musicians were from the Benny Goodman orchestra and this is where he began stylising American jazz music with Bob Burns, Benny's lead alto sax player and clarinet practicing partner.

Kenny has a library of original arrangements (copies) from the Library of Congress and has spent a lifetime studying and transcribing the giants of clarinet Jazz and Swing. Kenny Martyn’s virtuosity on clarinet is in constant demand worldwide and ensures the timeless legacy of Jazz Clarinet is heard in an exciting way by a new generation.

Spring Jazz Course 2026 Programme

Please note: some details of the programme may change

	Tuesday 7th April	Wednesday 8th April	Thursday 9th April	Friday 10th April
9.00	Meet & greet. Portable Appliance Tests for amps, etc	Informal jam & practice sessions	Informal jam & practice sessions	Informal jam & practice sessions
9.45	Course briefing	Course briefing	Course briefing	Course briefing
10.00	Instrumental & vocal tuition	Instrumental & vocal tuition	Small group, instrumental, drum & vocal tuition	Band sessions
11.00	Break	Break	Break	Break
11.20	Instrumental & vocal tuition	Band sessions & drum tuition	Band sessions	Band sessions
12.45	Lunch break	Lunch break	Lunch break	12.20 Lunch break
1.45	Tutors' Concert (open to the public - £7.50, free for participants and under 18s) Click here for online tickets	Tutors in Focus Sessions	Tutors in Focus Sessions	1.15 Set up concert
2.45	Break	Break	Break
3.00	Carousel session	Carousel session	Carousel session	1.30 Concert by bands and ensemble performance. (Open to public, free)
4.00	Band & singers performances. (Open to public, free)	Band & singers performances. (Open to public, free)	Band & singers performances. (Open to public, free)	About 4.00: Course ends
5.00	End	End	End
6.45-9.45	Jam session in The Treble Clef	Jam session in The Treble Clef	Jam session and tutor performance in The Treble Clef

Carousel sessions: Participants will be split into three groups before the course begins. Each group will attend a different session each day and so all groups attend all three sessions during the course. These are active learning events featuring learning and performances of specially arranged pieces of music for both instrumentalists and singers.

Tutors in Focus sessions: You choose options to study musical topics in-depth.

Practice sessions: Practice rooms are available all day to use if you wish to.

Pre-course social Monday 6th April: Access to residential accomodation is available from late afternoon on Monday 6th April with an evening meal followed by an informal jam session.

Our Brilliant Course Tutors

Depending on course numbers and composition, we may also have additional guest tutors. Sometimes for reasons beyond our control, tutor line up may change. All tutors have Enhanced DBS Clearance.

George Double

Drum tutor and Music Director

George’s playing and recording credits include Dame Shirley Bassey, Grammy Award Winner Jack Jones, Marc Almond, Ruthie Henshall and Kym Mazelle.

His West End and touring theatre record includes stints on Wicked, Guys and Dolls, Avenue Q, Sinatra and Anything Goes.

Active on the British jazz scene and appears regularly at Ronnie Scott’s club in London and elsewhere as a freelancer (with John Etheridge, Digby Fairweather, Derek Nash, Alan Barnes, Art Themen, The Joe Loss Orchestra and many others).

He is also curator of Hadleigh and Southwold Jazz Clubs.

George is the senior drum kit consultant for Trinity College London. His books and arrangements are published by Trinity and Faber Music, for whom he has run seminars and workshops in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Dubai and Abu Dhabi as well as at MusikMesse Frankfurt, the London Drum Show and around the UK.

He worked as an examiner for Trinity and formerly, Guildhall School of Music and Drama from 2002-2016. www.georgedouble.com

Ned Bennett

Saxophone & Assistant Music Director

Ned Bennett combines his time as a saxophonist, composer, author, arranger and educator in equal measures. Having studied at Bristol University and the Guildhall School of Music, he plays regularly at jazz clubs and festivals around the UK, often with his own project, The Harlem Meer Cats, playing pared-down arrangements of the Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway bands of the 20s and 30s. He is the author of many tutor books on saxophone and jazz playing, published by Faber, Wise Music, Boston Music etc, and teaches at a prestigious school in London. His arrangements have included large-scale vocal projects for Jacqui Dankworth, Joe Stilgoe, Claire Martin, and Clare Teal, and he often receives commissions for other orchestrations and miscellaneous compositions. www.worldofned.co.uk

Alan Barnes

Alan Barnes is a prolific international performer, composer, arranger, bandleader and touring soloist, best known for his work on clarinet, alto and baritone sax.

He has made over thirty albums as leader and co-leader alone and he has toured and played residencies with such diverse and demanding figures as Ruby Braff, Freddie Hubbard, Scott Hamilton, Warren Vache, Ken Peplowski, Harry Allen and Conte Candoli.

In British jazz, the young Barnes was recognized – and hired – by the established greats of the time: Stan Tracey, John Dankworth, Kenny Baker, Bob Wilber, and Humphrey Lyttelton. But he is equally respected for his longstanding and fruitful collaborations with contemporaries such as David Newton, Bruce Adams, and Martin Taylor.

He written many compositions and arrangements including “The Sherlock Holmes Suite”, “A Jazz Christmas Carol” and “Copperfield’ and runs a successful jazz record label, Woodville Records.

Alan has received over 35 British Jazz Awards including alto saxophone and best album in 2019 and has twice been made BBC Jazz Musician of the Year.

www.alanbarnesjazz.com

Joanna Eden

Vocals

Joanna Eden first established herself as one of the foremost singer/pianist/songwriters to watch in the 2000’s with a breakout album on Universal Records, airplay on the BBC, as well as touring with the likes of Jamie Cullum, Van Morrison, the Buena Vista Social Club and Ronan Keating at festivals all over the UK.

Joanna has written over 60 original songs, was a featured judge on BBC One’s singing programme “All Together Now” and is a highly sought-after vocal coach having mentored international mega star Sam Smith.“The reason I sing …..” says Sam Smith. She has run community music projects for Opera North, Saffron Hall, Addenbrookes University Trust, The Young Foundation and Anglia Ruskin University where she has been a tutor since 2010.

Her live show combines the energy and rhythmic diversity of Latin music together with the intimacy and honesty of her highly acclaimed jazz-influenced work. Joanna’s 6th studio album ‘Love Quiet’ is due for release this autumn.

www.joannaeden.net

Paul Higgs

Trumpet & brass

Trumpeter Paul Higgs is renowned as one of the UK’s leading trumpet players and composers. He is sought after as a versatile composer and performer in the varied world of theatre, film, TV, gigs and concerts. His album Pavanne reached Number 1 in the One World World Music charts.

Blending the traditions of classical and jazz, he is an accomplished music educator who has the ability to communicate the subtlety and richness of jazz to his students in an engaging manner.

Paul has performed with a wide variety of other musicians including Johnny Dankworth, Nancy Wilson and Shorty Rogers. For many years Paul was a Musical Director for the National Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Company. www.paulhiggs.com

Chris Ingham

Keyboard / Piano

Described by The London Evening Standard as “one of Britain’s best singer-pianists", Chris has led 200 festival and club performances of his Hoagy Carmichael, Dudley Moore and Stan Getz shows. His current repertoire project is Steely Jazz, a jazz quintet take on the compositions of Walter Becker and Donald Fagen. Musical director of film song quintet Jazz At The Movies and classic modern jazz sextet Rebop, Chris is also a record producer (Ruthie Henshall, Joanna Eden), author (Rough Guides to The Beatles and Frank Sinatra) and TV composer (Wartime Crime, How The Beatles Changed The World). Based in East Anglia, he curates jazz clubs in Diss (The Corn Hall) and Bury St Edmunds (Hunter Club) and gives one-to-one tuition in person and via Zoom.

www.chrisingham.co.uk.

Chris Allard

Guitar

Chris has performed at prestigious venues such as the Royal Festival Hall, Montreux Jazz Festival, The O2 Arena in London, Duoro Jazz Festival in Portugal, the Pyramids and Great Sphinx in Cairo, BBC Proms in Hyde Park, Beiteddine Arts Festival Lebanon, the Royal Albert Hall.

He has performed/recorded with Jacqui Dankworth, Russell Watson, Jamie Cullum, Charlie Wood, the BBC Big Band, Alison Balsom and Dame Cleo Laine, amongst others. Chris’s band has played all over the UK and in Europe, including the International Guitar Festival and Ronnie Scott’s.

His most recent solo album Invisible Landscape was his fourth as a bandleader, and received critical acclaim including: ★★★★ Guitarist Magazine.

Chris is also a Professor of Jazz at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where he is currently doing a PhD in contemporary jazz guitar.

www.chrisallard.co.uk

Simon Thorpe

Bass

Simon Thorpe is one of the UK's best-known and most versatile jazz bassists, nominated in 2016 and 2017 for a British Jazz Award.

Simon studied violin, guitar and drums before settling on the bass in 1991. He attended Guildhall School of Music & Drama where he gained the postgraduate certificate in Jazz & Studio Music, and an LGSM.

Simon has worked with many of the great UK and US names in jazz, recording and touring with Bobby Wellins, Stacey Kent (with whom he recorded five albums), Bheki Mseleku, Alan Barnes, Elaine Delmar, Scott Hamilton, Benn Clatworthy and Ray Gelato. Outside the jazz sphere he has played with artists as diverse as Amy Winehouse, Imelda Staunton, Imogen Heap, Alexander Armstrong, Maria Ewing, Mica Paris, Rick Astley (yes!), Sean McGowan of the Pogues and Scottish folk fiddle wizard John McCusker. He runs several of his own bands and is also known as a composer and arranger.

www.simonthorpe.com

Spring Jazz Course Application Form

To apply for the Spring Jazz Course, please download and complete the Application Form.

Application Form
PDF / 134.32 K
Acrobat Reader software (or similar) may be needed to fill in the PDF form on screen; not all platforms are supported.

You can either fill-in the form in Acrobat and email it to neiljazzsax@outlook.com and send payment via bank transfer (we will give you the bank details when you apply) or print and post the form with a cheque for your fee to Neil Bateman, 32 Kingsfield Avenue, Ipswich, IP1 3TA . Please contact us if you would like to pay in instalments. When you apply, please say whether you'd like either the residential or the non-residential package.

Course Fee Non-residential (including lunch) £399. Residential £569.
For Enquiries: 07798 783574 or neiljazzsax@outlook.com

Spring Jazz Course Sheet Music

Sheet music and the Course Handbook (which contains essential infromation) will be available to download from here. People who are on the course are sent a username and password to download.

Please print off and bring the Course Handbook and all the music for your band plus all the Core Music for your instrument/voice and bring it to the course because we won't be able to photocopy or print it for you.