Jazz from Geoff

 

First of all, The Alan Barnes gig at Norden Farm that I mentioned last week. It was book able, and I have!

As far as I know 3 of the Hedsor faithful will be going, which includes ME. It is being held in the main theatre, not in the bar style of more recent years. Social distancing rules apply, and face masks must be worn. Do check out their website for more info.

https://norden.farm/events/alan-barnes-saxes-18

Alan Barnes and Greg Abate at The Swanage Jazz Festival 2017

Next, the Angels have had another meeting!

With our treasurer braving a return to Spain we thought we would gather for a quick coffee and an hour of discussing the possibilities of a return to live music at Hedsor Jazz before he went. I hasten to add that NO firm decisions have been or can yet be made, but we do think it is possible, but with a number of criteria in place. Social distancing of course, a maximum of 25 in the audience (at the moment this is all that will be allowed). The musicians will have to bring their own microphones and we would need to collect the contact details of all who are there for infection tracing purposes. From a building operators perspective I do think that Hedsor Club has covered as much of the safety criteria as is possible.

Yesterday we discussed the possibility of running some sort of Christmas event on the date we had set aside for it this year (17^th December).

A Hedsor Jazz Christmas Audience in 2015

It was felt that if the doors and windows still had to be left open (as Hedsor Club have to do at the moment) then it would probably be unacceptably cold by then, so that is something we will have to see. We would also need to run a trial (as described in previous blogs), possibly on October 29^th, the nearest Thursday to Halloween! Many of the 25 of the audience have already signed up for this! I don’t think we can charge for this, but we can request a donation! We will pay the musicians who come to play!

There are a lot of uncertainties, but there are possibilities. We can check your temperature on entry (thank you Mr. Swaffield) and alcohol hand cleansers are in place at Hedsor. If we provide food at Christmas we would have to ensure orderly queuing! IF we can manage a well know star performer to come to our proposed Christmas gig, as has been our norm, then we may well have to pay more for our tickets than before. Tracy, our revenue collector, will take cash, but the Hedsor Bar will only accept contact less payment (touch card, smart phone).

Will it be worth it? Largely that all depends on YOU.

I know that the virus hasn’t gone away. I know that most of our audience is “of a certain age”. Therefore it all has a risk level. I think an evening of jazz at the Hedsor Club looks a lot safer than Brighton beach on a bank holiday.  As I write this approximately 2 people per day die from Covid 19. 50 people per day from Cancer. I have also recently experienced dining out in 3 different places, and my experience in the bar at Hedsor was equal to the best of my dining experiences, and a lot better than one up-market place in South Bucks that was NOT socially distancing seemingly AT ALL!

If it is felt by all of you that it is worth our while organising this ticketed event, we are happy to do so. Do PLEASE LET ME KNOW via Octogeoff@outlook.com what your view on this is.

I wont write more now, but do mull this all over, and perhaps later in the week I will point you all at more jazz that is online or available via electronic means, to be enjoyed in the rich environment of your own home!