Jed (John Ellis Dowell) Williams played many roles, not only as artistic director of the Brecon Jazz Festival but also as a founder of Jazz UK magazine, the Welsh Jazz Society and its long-running venue in Cardiff, the former Four Bars Inn.

He died suddenly in November 2003 at the age of 51.

Jed (pictured above right, on drums) has been commemorated ever since with an annual concert at St David's Hall, but this year for the first time he'll be remembered with a festival.

It features a programme of four days and nights of big name concerts and workshops in aid of the Jed Williams Memorial Fund, a charity set up to support young Welsh jazz musicians in their music careers, a cause close to Jed's heart.

Featured artists include leading names from the UK jazz scene, such as John Etheridge, Tina May and Dave O'Higgins, while guitarist Wayne Krantz is flying in from the USA specially for the event as a mark of his admiration for Jed.

Local artists from the Welsh jazz scene are also represented, like the Heavy Quartet, the Jones O'Connor Group, Paula Gardiner and Marcia Pendlebury, all of whom benefitted from Jed's support.

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Jazz 4 Jed Programme

Thursday 8 November

Dave O'Higgins Quartet - Cafe Jazz - 8.45pm

Friday 9 November

Heavy Quartet/Steve Coombe's Commute - Dempseys - 9pm

Saturday 10 November

Wonderbrass Workshop - Dempseys - 12.30pm
Tina May and Dylan Fowler Duo - Wales Millennium Centre Foyer - 5.45pm (free concert)
Brecon Roots: Tina May Quartet/Marcia Pendlebury and Friends - Sherman Theatre - 8pm

Sunday 11 November

Wonderbrass - Dempseys - 12.30pm
Jones O'Connor Group - Dempseys - 3pm
Wayne Krantz, John Etheridge, Laurence Cottle, Jeremy Stacey plus Dave Stapleton with Ben Waghorn - The Gate - 8pm

For full details see www.jazz4jed.org.uk

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Andy Roberts is a jazz DJ, radio presenter and producer of the BBC Jazz in Wales website