It is with great sadness, we heard John Cumming OBE, previous director of Serious and longstanding JPN member, has died aged 71. He passed away peacefully on the 17th of May 2020 at his home.
John leaves behind an incredible legacy, having delivered an array of world-leading concerts and events across the UK, as well as running innovative and forward thinking educational and talent development programmes for musicians. Through his efforts in developing what is now the EFG London Jazz Festival, and the Bracknell Jazz festival, his career changed the way audiences experienced jazz and improvised music throughout the UK.
JPN Chair Kim Macari writes:
“There’s an essay by Siri Hustvedt called My Louise Bourgeois. She starts by recounting what Emily Dickinson said in a letter to friends when she read about the death of George Eliot.
“The look of the words as they lay in the print I shall never forget. Now, my George Eliot.
“SH then goes on to use the same phrase to describe her Louise Bourgeois.
“She is, of course, your Louise Bourgeois. But that is my point. My LB and yours may well be relatives, but it is unlikely that they are identical twins.
“With a man as warm, mischievous and utterly extraordinary as John, it’s no surprise that the past few days have seen so many sharing tales of their JC.
“His loss has been felt across the world. Soon we’ll be able to gather and celebrate him together – with some white wine, a negroni or a wee dram. But until then, and beyond it, we are all treasuring the memories of our John Cumming.
“Cheerio for now, JC.”
As well as being appointed as OBE in 2014, John was awarded Services to Jazz at the 2005 BBC Jazz Awards, and in 2012 from the All Party Parliamentary Jazz Appreciation Group. A vital part of Europe Jazz Network throughout its history and a supporter of Jazz Promotion Network, he was a mentor and friend to everyone he met.
If you’d like to find out more about John’s contribution to the jazz scene and cultural landscape in the UK, you can read the Guardian’s obituary here, and you can read more personal testimonials on the Arts and Parts website here.
Below, members of the JPN board have included memories and statements of their own about John and we will continue to add statements and memories over time.
Ros Rigby
The word ‘hang’ could have been made for John- that’s how he achieved so much- by hanging out with musicians, agents, managers, promoters- as friends. He could be critical (again after a few drinks) of certain things he felt could have been done better (and he was often right) but in all the time we worked together we never disagreed about the important things, and we seemed to share an inbuilt understanding of what would work and what wouldn’t.
And finally, as a friend, John was absolutely loyal and interested in one’s own life – whether at that point it included things he was also involved with or not. He contributed a huge amount to the musical life of this country and beyond, but was also a great human being, and he would want us all to go on enjoying life and sharing music together.
John Blandford
Sheffield in 1979 might seem an unusual setting to meet someone like John. But this was the first of a series of jazz festivals in Sheffield which ran for 4-5 years, initially at the Crucible Theatre, and John came from London with Ginny to act as Production Manager. At the time I was running Sheffield Jazz, who were actively involved in the festival.
The friendship started in what I later learned was standard practice for John. The festival finished on Saturday night, but the organising team met for Sunday lunch before heading off in different directions. It’s a long time ago now but I still remember it being a long and convivial lunch!
Our paths often crossed during the next few years. The following year I joined the Board of what was then the Jazz Centre Society, who were John’s main employer. This was also the era of Bracknell Jazz Festival and Camden Jazz Festival, and I regularly met John at both events.
From the late 1980’s we moved in different circles for a while; I was always a voluntary promoter, and I took a long time out when the day job and family commitments made promoting impractical. But when, several years later, I started getting involved with the jazz world again it was a great pleasure to re-establish contact with John, and the contact remained for the rest of his life.
One final incident: during a chat some eighteen months ago, it transpired we had both been at the Miles Davis/ Archie Shepp concert in London in 1967. So we discussed the bands and the line-ups, but we couldn’t decide who had been Archie Shepp’s bass player; I thought Charlie Haden, John plumped for Jimmy Garrison. Like a couple of nerds, we spent the next several days in email discussion as to who the bass player was, we both found circumstantial evidence to support our respective claims but nothing conclusive. But how I relished the discussion! And I hope John did too.