JAZZ Jamaica and their mighty dance groove should be permanent ambassadors to the United Nations of Good Times.

But long before their veteran leader, Gary Crosby, strummed his double bass and pointed Jazz Jamaica towards the wild world of jazz swing and pumping reggae grooves, a chance meeting with Bob Marley changed everything.

“It was something that I’d always dreamed of, meeting the great man, and one day it happened,” said Crosby, who brings Jazz Jamaica north for their first appearance at this month’s Ribble Valley Jazz Festival.

“The week before I’d been riding on a double-decker bus listening to Marley on a tiny ghetto blaster, travelling through Shepherd’s Bush.

“Then Marley came to London, not long after he had written Punky Reggae Party, and he stayed at a house in Chelsea.

“There was always a big crowd there, punks, rastas and dreads, and you hoped to see him.

“We’d all hang together, and one day we got through the door, and Marley was just sat there, chatting and talking.

“He was just a very normal, nice guy, but to be in his presence was an incredible experience.

“I was maybe 14 or 15, and then he turned to me.

“He gave me a nugget of advice that I always treasured, and has stayed with me all my life.”

Crosby saluted Marley and that special moment when Jazz Jamaica covered Bob Marley and the Wailers album Catch a Fire on a world tour.

“That was a very great honour, you know, playing Stir It Up and Stop That Train – and at every gig I recalled talking to Bob Marley all those years ago.”

Crosby was always surrounded by music, his uncle, Jamaican Ernest Ranglin, composed and produced music for Jimmy Cliff, Prince Buster and Marley.

It is music for the head as well as the hips, Jazz Jamaica fusing the Caribbean rhythms and the big band tradition.

“Jazz, I believe, forgot about the dance element, and it became too intellectual.” said Crosby.

“The emphasis was on how skilful a musician was, sort of I’m a genius, put me on a pedestal.

“Some jazz musicians became too precious, but now that’s beginning to change with a new generation taking the music in a different direction.

“It is a lot more instinctive, there’s a new sound emerging.

“It is a bit like punk jazz, they are not conforming and that’s brilliant.

“I’ve heard a lot of good things about the Ribble Valley Jazz Festival and we can’t wait to get there.

“We want our gig to be the big party of the festival - and even people sitting down can wiggle their toes.”

Jazz Jamaica, Ribble Valley Jazz Festival, Grand Theatre, Clitheroe, Friday, April 28. For details contact 01200 421599 or rvjazzandblues.co.uk