Coming to Hedsor Jazz THIS THURSDAY, March 2^nd 

are 

The Clive Burton Celebration Quintet.

 

Time does fade the memory, but the house band at Hedsor Jazz used to be that led by Clive Burton, a trombonist who was joined most weeks at the front line by saxophonist Mike Wills.

Clive Burton with Ken Rankine

Sadly Clive died in 2017 of lymphatic cancer and a tribute quartet was formed to come together to play occasionally at Hedsor the tunes that Clive liked to play. So this week, that ensemble will be at Hedsor, with Lester Brown, a trumpet player, taking on the trombone role Clive would have played and Mike Wills will be with him as show above from one of last years gigs.

So will our drummer Martin Hart, who took over leadership of the band at Hedsor when Clive died. Martin is now the only survivor of the Celebration Quintet to play regularly at Hedsor. Many who now come to listen at Hedsor Jazz didn’t know Clive at all but Clive's musical legacy still carries on with other fine musicians taking over the creative roles.

Some who come and play for us Thursday by Thursday Clive would have played with too, but some he didn’t meet, and it is a real pleasure to find new names to place before you. Coming in March is one such, Frank Walden a saxophonist who is coming to play alongside guitarist James Fenn. A superb combination of the up and coming generation of players.

Also coming soon is Alam Nathoo who will also be with us in March. A saxophonist who was nominated as a rising star in 2009.

There is a special star (who used to be rising) coming to Hedsor in March. No, he isn’t a falling star. He used to only be rising, but now he has really risen! And as a real star he works most days of the week. Vasilis Xenopoulos is coming to us on March 16^th to play alongside trumpeter Stuart Henderson.  Yes Vasilis is also doing Ronnie Scotts this month too, but at Hedsor the entry fee and the  liquid refreshment are so much cheaper! See his dates at https://vasilisxenopoulos.com/new-events

Stuart is an old friend of Hedsor Jazz, and knew Clive very well as they both lived in Reading. I for one dont take Stuarts star status for granted, he is an exceptional player. So March 16th should be a pretty special night. 

Keep an eye on this blog. Blink and lethargy will prevent you from hearing great live jazz at the incredibly value price of just £10 per head. Definitely not price matched to Lidl!

Last week we had a couple of guys that Clive would have known well. Al Nicholls on tenor sax and Max Brittain on guitar. And didn’t they do well!?

For the first half of the first set Max had to be not only guitarist, but bass player as well, as the nominated bass player for the evening didn’t know that he had won the prized Hedsor place that week.

Peter Hughes answered his phone and left the football game he was watching and got to us before the end of the first set. If you had been listening during this set with closed eyes, you would not have noticed the rearrangement, Max did a Brilliant job of playing the bass parts during piano sequences. Well done all. It’s amazing what a Gibson guitar can do! Especially when played by a musician of Max’s calibre.

Pictures from last week below

 

Do keep coming to Hedsor Jazz, and do tell your friends. Tell them of the high quality of music they will hear live at Hedsor. And it is unexpected, because it is live and because it is JAZZ!