Back in 1954, the celebrated New Orleans clarinettist George Lewis recorded his album “Jazz at Vespers” in Oxford, Ohio. His band was the leading New Orleans revivalist band at the time, comprising veterans who had all been in on the birth of jazz. Playing in an Episcopal church, they focused on the spirituals and hymns that had been part of the music from the start.

Alyn Shipton’s band is made up of musicians who have all spent time in New Orleans learning from the founding fathers of the music. In these concerts – launched in May 2019 at SJE Arts in Oxford UK, and followed since by visits to more churches or other arts centres in converted church buildings – they re-explore the repertoire that Lewis made famous, from lesser known pieces such as “Sometimes My Burden Is Hard To Bear” to old favourites like “Down By The Riverside” and “Lord, Lord, Lord, You Surely Been Good To Me”.