THEY may have stopped playing regular monthly gigs at Golcar but the Savannah Jazz Band is back at its old venue for a Christmas bash.

“When we stopped playing at Golcar a few months ago we agreed to do a Christmas party gig,” said the band’s leader John Meehan who is also its drummer.

The gig is at the Royal British Legion Club in Golcar on Thursday, December 20 at 8.30pm.

The band plays an instantly recognisable brand of New Orleans style jazz and the Christmas gig has long been a highlight of its sessions in the Colne Valley.

The band, which was formed in 1979, continues to have a busy schedule with bookings across Yorkshire and on the continent.

But in the autumn, it decided that audience numbers at Golcar had fallen and no longer sustained paying the band and expenses.

The band was saddened that its monthly sessions in Golcar had to come to an end after a 33 year association with the Huddersfield area.

But having promised to put on a Christmas party gig for loyal fans, that’s what they will deliver next week and with it, plenty of jazz with a New Orleans’ swing.

The band is also playing a gig at Millbridge WMC at Liversedge on February 13 and has played three gigs at Carr Gate WMC, Wakefield.