MELLIFLUOUS melodies and smooth sounds were heard above the clamour of shoppers at Swindon Designer Outlet as International Jazz Day was marked by a pair of local musicians.

Stevie Gilmore and Stevie Jaz, otherwise known as Gilmore n’Jaz had been asked by music legend Herbie Hancock to take part in the worldwide celebration.

In fact their Saturday gig at the outlet was the only one in Wiltshire.

Mr Gilmore said: “We did it last year but it was very low key. But we thought this year, if we were asked to do it we would go for somewhere higher profile and MacArthurGlen wants to make this space more like Covent Garden”

Ironically, they were playing in the same building where Mr Jaz was once an apprentice and Mr Gilmore’s father and grandfather both worked and just around the corner from the Mechanics Institute where they would watch live jazz music when they were youngsters.

International Jazz Day brings together players all over the world in a series of performances, from Albania to Zimbabwe.

Another Wiltshire musician was due to appear in the All-Star Global Concert hosted by US president Barack Obama at the White House. Jamie Cullum, who grew up in Hullavington, was set to take a break from Cheltenham Jazz Festival and fly out to the States to appear alongside other big names including Aretha Franklin, Sting, Al Jarreau and Hugh Masekela.

International Jazz Day came about in 2011 when the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation decided to highlight the role jazz has played in uniting people from different countries.

Jazz pianist and composer Herbie Hancock serves as a UNESCO ambassador for intercultural dialogue and is chairman of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, which runs the festival.