We have been deeply saddened by the deaths of three of the mainstays of our wonderful Jazz Steps Live at the Libraries touring programme in 2020; Marie Ann Davis-Howes, Brian Pearce and David Shepherd.
Brian and Dave of Jazz Steps, alongside Marie of Inspire, were part of the original ‘dream team’ who founded our Jazz Steps Live at the Libraries programme, and worked tirelessly to develop it into the established success story it is today.
The programme, which celebrates its tenth year in 2021, has delivered around 200 gigs in libraries, reached an audience of several thousand, and has brought some high profile acts to our library stages.
This success owes much to Marie, Brian and Dave, and we will always be grateful for their contributions to changing people’s expectations of what can happen in a library, and for helping to bring so much joy and wonderful music to our audiences. They will be sadly missed.
Our virtual exhibition of the Jazz Steps Live at the Libraries Story has now been dedicated to their memory, as a small way of marking their huge contribution to the programme.
Our thoughts are with their families, friends and colleagues.
The first video made for Inspire featured Jazz Steps' Brian Pearce talking about the programme. Marie and Dave can be seen in the video setting up the performance area of West Bridgford library ready for a live gig.
