LIVELY summer sounds are set to jazz up Lyme Regis on Sunday as a new quartet splashes into town.

Sunsplash is playing smooth and soulful township jazz at the Marine Theatre on August 14.

Pianist Philip Clouts has assembled the set which features music from the greats of South Africa.

Born in Cape Town, Philip said he’s loved South African jazz since childhood. His father, the respected poet Sydney Clouts brought the family to London in 1961 to escape South Africa’s apartheid regime. But growing up hearing the records that his parents had brought with them, he came to realise what was special about this music – it felt like home.

Speaking to the talented musician ahead of the show, Philip said: “Music was an important part of the soundtrack at home.

“I think my parents were able to associate the good times they’d known with the records they brought over.”

Philip had just finished his studies in Cambridge when he realised he wanted to contribute to his own culture instead of studying other ones and decided to concentrate on the South African jazz style that had followed him to London.

He said: “I often just develop new music by improvising at the piano.

“My father was profoundly affected by the landscape around Cape Town, and I like to think that living near the sea in Lyme Regis has drawn me closer to his ability to express his response to nature.

“South African jazz has an incredible life-affirming quality, using the simplest musical building blocks to a very joyous effect which can be infectious.

“We’ll be playing pieces that connect directly to the audience, very melodic and with catchy rhythms”

n Sunsplash will be performing at the Marine Theatre in Lyme Regis on Sunday August 14 at 8pm.