ONE of Oxfordshire’s youth jazz bands certainly has nothing to be brassed off about.

The Oxfordshire Jazz Collective has won a place to perform at this year’s Oxford Jazz Festival by impressing a panel of judges in a competition set up by the festival’s organisers.

Jazz Factor was started three years ago and is open to jazz bands from all of Oxfordshire’s schools.

The Oxfordshire Jazz Collective, which is run by Oxfordshire County Council’s Music Service, will now get to play at the Jacqueline du Pre Room, in St Hilda’s College, Oxford, on Thursday.

Collective manager Chuck Lloyd said: “I am very pleased. It’s like being a football manager. I tell them what to play, leave, and then they play.”

The group play a mix of traditional jazz standards and swing numbers.

They feature guitarist Ollie Farley, 17, bassist Andy Miller, 17, of Gosford Hill School, Kidlington, pianist Tim Smith, 18, of Wheatley Park School, Holton, trumpeter David Hepworth, 18, of Wood Green School, Witney, tenor saxophonist Simon Warder, 18, of Matthew Arnold School, Oxford and drummer Jake Morter, 18, of John Mason School, Abingdon.

Tim said: “It’s really really good. It’s a huge boost. I get up at six in the morning at start practising at seven.

“I’m auditioning for music schools in the autumn like the Royal Academy of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

“I’ve been having lessons since I was seven, but I stopped hating it when I was 15.”

David said: “We won it two years ago, but this time it’s probably more exciting because we’re a similar age. I’ve probably known these guys for five years now.”

The music service runs three jazz bands for different musical abilities with collective members chosen from the Oxfordshire Youth Big Band.

Mr Lloyd said he was pleased the service remained intact as councils across the UK grapple with cuts in public spending by the Government.

Mr Lloyd said: “The county council has found ways of keeping us going.

“We are one of the few music services left that has got council funding.”

For festival news go to oxfordjazzfestival.com