John Cumming passes away aged 72
Serious Productions founder and light of the British jazz community John Cumming has passed away at the age of 72
The British jazz community is paying tribute to one of its leading lights - John Cumming OBE, who has died at the age of 72.
Hailing from Edinburgh, he started out as a director in the 1960s and co-founded the Pool Theatre. John joined South Hill Park Arts Centre in 1970s to run the theatre and music programmes, and started the Bracknell Jazz Festival, building it into an international platform for contemporary jazz and improvised music.
In the 1980s, he founded Serious Productions alongside John Ellson, working with Orphy Robinson, Andy Sheppard and John Surman.** Serious and John would go on went on to help launch the internationally acclaimed London Jazz Festival**.
For his work with the music and creative community, he won accolades with the BBC Jazz Awards, the Parliamentary Jazz Awards and was awarded an OBE for his Services to Jazz.