Ted Preston. Swingtime in Springtime
When Jazz in Martinborough is discussed, Ted Preston is mentioned in the same breath as being Mr Jazz in Martinborough.
It is a measure of the man that he is quick to point out that the idea for a Jazz Festival was not his “that accolade belongs to the late Ian Cresswell”. The irrepressible Mr Cresswell press ganged a team including Ted Preston, Lee and Mary Quayle, and many volunteers into running the first Jazz in Martinborough festival (JIM) in 2011.
It is a community driven festival with retail, hospitality, caterers, wineries, service clubs, tech experts, promoters and community volunteers coming together to provide venues, accommodation and general support. It is a winning formula. A team led by Ted (producer), Lee Quayle (music director) and Mary Quayle, manager (youth development) will be bringing together a huge raft of people from the above community groups to deliver “swing into spring” with Jazz in Martinborough come the first week
of September.
Ted Preston was born in Greymouth, the eldest of three siblings. Gaylene, a Film maker and Jan, a gifted pianist “Australia’s Boogie Queen” complete the trio. The family moved to Napier where they received most of their schooling.
Following college, Ted became immersed in education with a successful career spanning primary school teaching, school inspection, educational policy development, a stint in the Education Review Office and eventually working as an advisor and consultant. Of all these roles, it was teaching in a small Hawkes Bay rural school that remains
his favourite.
Ted and wife, Anne, visited Martinborough for a weekend away from Wellington where they had lived for thirty years. They had no intention to buy but after staying a few extra days made a sudden decision to purchase, something they have never regretted. They have lived here since 2004.
The Patron of JIM is Rodger Fox (now deceased). Rodger willingly came on board; he had played in the Martinborough Town Hall in the 90s. The Town Hall had the best acoustics of any venue he had played in New Zealand and overseas. With his reputation as a top-class performer, Rodger Fox had no difficulty attracting leading jazz groups as well as gifted young musos to play in the first festival.
An objective is to keep ticket prices accessible. This public-spirited value has also seen JIM coordinate fundraising activities; raising $6000 and $10,000 for the Christchurch and Kaikoura Earthquake Relief Funds respectively. Because JIM has a special interest in the Town Hall, they donated the customised PA system ($18,000) and facilitated the installation of stage and auditorium lighting ($25,000). Scholarships are granted to young local jazz musos as part of JIM’s Youth Development programme.
JIM is a weekend bringing enjoyment to visitors and locals, as well as providing development opportunities for young musicians. Jan Preston’s Boogie Circus is the headline act on 3 September. The rest of the programme is to be confirmed. Ted Preston looks forward to you attending.
