We love jazz singer Debs Hancock because she’s one of us here in Abergavenny, helping to promote and direct the events that make BMJ one of the leading jazz clubs in the UK.

But she’s more than that. Her smoky, velvet, sophisticated tones have graced stages at jazz festivals in Cheltenham, Swansea, and Fishguard and reached wider audiences on radio with such presenters as Jamie Owen, John Hellings, and Rhys Phillips.

Debs is devoted to the legacies of the great jazz divas, such as Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Nina Simone, and Dinah Washington. The Great American Songbook is her book.

She performs with the best accompanying musicians in Wales and is no stranger to versatility: this season she’s a member of Welsh National Opera’s community chorus, singing in works by Beethoven and Dallapiccola.

David Hobbs is a well-known face on the South Wales jazz circuit. His musical journey started in earnest in the early 1980s, as a classical guitar performer and teacher, although he also made some incursions into the rock and punk rock guitar world in the 1970s.

Since having taken up the jazz guitar in the late ‘80s, he has accompanied many instrumentalists and vocalists, often in a duo or trio setting.

A multi-instrumentalist, David is also known for his role as a double bassist and bass guitarist, having played bass with a wide range of South Wales jazz bands. More recently, David has also been wielding the tenor sax”

Take it away, Debs and David!