In 1982 the late Mart Rodger and his wife Janet were on holiday in New Orleans. Invited to “sit in” with the resident band at Maison Bourbon on Bourbon Street he and the audience had a ball.
On the way back to their hotel Janet said “Why don’t you start a band called Mart Rodger Manchester Jazz when we get home?” So in October 1982, the band played its first performance.
Over the years celebrity jazz musicians such as Humphrey Lyttelton, Cy Laurie, Marion Montgomery Yank Lawson and many others have all guested with Mart Rodger’s Manchester Jazz. Upon Mart’s untimely death in March 2109, the band decided to continue playing but as Manchester Jazz.