Only an hour away with hundreds of fantastic gigs over the next two weeks. And tons of coverage on Radio 3. Here are some useful links. London Jazz Festival. There is loads of free jazz. The Barbican and the Royal Festival Hall are offering a lot of free gigs in the day times so a day trip to London, if well planned, could work out to only cost you the train fare and food. Despite the fact that there are literally hundreds of gigs some are already sold out so if there is someone special you have always wanted to see then get that ticket quickly.
If you don't make it but want to listen to musicians that will inspire your playing then get down to the Brighton Jazz Club on a Friday Night. The level of talent is phenomenal and the current programme is really superb. Brighton's best kept secret unfortunately.