A little light blogging, starting on a Monday!!

But continuing as usual on a TUESDAY!

Wasn’t last weeks session at The Hedsor Bar something else?

Two of the UK’s most iconic players joined together at Hedsor!, with another of the UK greats, keyboard player (usually in residence!) Ken McCarthy . 

Add our usual bass and drums (Al Pirrie and Mike Jeffries) and then have them joined for one number (in the second half) by a bass player who is another star in his own right, Andy Crowdey. AND then pinch yourself, because it IS The Hedsor Bar. (OK from the decor you knew it wasn’t Roni’s!).

I do hope that YOU were one of the relatively few there?

You mean you missed Bruce Adams and Art Theman?

my photos of the evening are below

Last week I did say that we would carry on at the Hedsor Bar every week until Christmas, BUT we will now have to miss December 11^th I’m afraid. The Hedsor Bar have asked us to lend out one of our Thursday nights for a special event of their own. So you may like to fit in your Christmas shopping night on the 11^th December.

If you feel that you will be a bit jazz starved because of our night off in December rest assured that there is plenty of the good stuff coming to Hedsor Jazz in the next 

few weeks!

Coming to Hedsor Jazz this week are two more great British jazz men. Trumpeter and band leader 

Pete Rudeforth will be joined by Duncan Lamont Jr on reeds. Both have a wealth of experience 

and have produced some wonderful music for us this year. BUT we will also have a special guest 

joining us on bass. Richard Sadler. There really is a lot to write about him as well, but to save 

my fingers you could always look up his CV   https://www.allaboutjazz.com/musicians/richard-sadler/

Looking on to the end of October, Thursdays October 30^th has a re pairing of Lester Brown on trumpet and Alam Nathoo on tenor sax. Throughout most of the past year we have paired Alam with trumpeter Stuart Henderson, (they were with us on October 2^nd). But we think it would be “good jazz” to see what a different pairing can bring, hence Lester and Alam on October 30^th.

By next Tuesday I should have produced another poster for you to drool over! NOVEMBER will have a complete Thursday of jazz. When I started out on my jazz journey there was a great LP by a band led by New Orleans trumpeter Wilber De Paris called “Old, New, Gay, Blue”.

It was in the days when “gay” just meant able to be tremendously enjoyed. We had “gay days” and we had “gay music”. Well why not come and “enjoy tremendously” Hedsor Jazz!

 

Always tell your friends what great jazz Hedsor Jazz produces. Yes, we have had to increase our entry fee, but it’s still cracking value, especially as there is a free car park.

PS, the software for Blogger used to be easy to use. As they have "improved" it, it has become more difficult to control!! It doesn't always do what I ask it to do. The spacing of the words this week has been uncontrollable, so I do apologise if it is a bit more difficult than usual to read!

Geoff

 

 

 

 

 

This weeks blog is slightly delayed, but you still have time to reorganise your diary in order to get you to this weeks Hedsor Jazz gig.

AND you might be wise to do so, because for your £12 entry this week, October 16^th,  you are going to get two British jazz icons. On trumpet Bruce Adams, and on tenor sax Art Themen.

 

Yes, you did read the poster correctly, this week Hedsor is featuring two of the most iconic players in the country in the intimate (ish) atmosphere of The Hedsor Bar. Starting at 8pm and being kept in time by pianist Ken McCarthy why not readjust your diary and come and listen to what is sure to be an exceptional evening of modern jazz.

 

As one of the directors of Jazz Angels I feel that we have been able over the past few years to bring to Hedsor some of the finest modern jazz you would be able to hear. Most weeks we have had some superb jazz played to some small audiences. It’s been a bit like putting some of the UK’s jazz stars on especially for you. We will attempt to do this every week up until Christmas, but after that we will have to see. For now come and celebrate live jazz with us at The Hedsor Bar.

Last week Lester Brown and Duncan Lamont Jr played for us, and I’m sure they played better than I have ever heard them do before. Strangely though Lester again suffered the "delayed on route" drummer syndrome, having only 1/6 of the first set to be played with drummer Dennis Smith on side. He had been held up on the M40 by a car crash. 

In the second set he more than made up for his initial behind time appearance, and swung and prodded everyone expertly along. Lester introduced him as “The Late Dennis Smith”, but his playing was more than ethereal!

Well done all. My photos from last week are below:

Later in the year we will put forward a plan for how we aim to enable continued jazz in Hedsor, but for now just keep an eye on either this blog, or on Hedsor Jazz’s Facebook page. 

A PS

Below is a snip from Bruce Adams web site showing a duet gig with the late Brian Kellock. Sadly his was a gig we were unable to bring to you. Brian was someone we both admired a great deal.

Another blog, another week of great music to listen too.

At The Hedsor Bar this week we have two musicians who have given a lot of their time to Hedsor Jazz over the years. On trumpet Lester Brown, and on saxophone Duncan Lamont Jr.

Both have played at Hedsor since before the man who led jazz here in the first place, trombonist Clive Burton, past away.

Both musicians play jazz in a very accessible way, and if you are new to the genre they are a great way of leading you in. Lester has come from the more traditional jazz end of the jazz field, whilst Duncan has tended to play and love the tunes associated with The Great American Songbook and showbiz. AND he knows all the stories about the tunes he plays as well!

 

Last week our jazz at Hedsor was on the slightly more adventurous side of the jazz spectrum. Still very accessible, but trumpeter Stuart Henderson and saxophonist Alam Nathoo played some sparkling and innovative jazz. Sparkling to the extent that you had to ask yourself, how can they think that fast?

 

Below is a add for an event in Cookham taking place near Christmas, but one that will still give a sparkle to anyones Christmas season. A player who is closely associated with Hedsor Jazz (OK, he lives near it and has played for us many times) saxophonist Vasilis Xenopoulos is coming with an excellent team of musicians, so do put it in your diary now.

 

Don’t forget that at Hedsor Jazz we have had to put our entry fee up to £12 and that we only can take CASH.

Below is the art for our October posters. If you have the opportunity do please print off and display. We do really need more people coming to our events.

 

I have been writing this blog, (https://jazzfromgeoff.blogspot.com), since around August 2005. 

Back in the day I had a lot to write about. You can look back via the app (https://jazzfromgeoff.blogspot.com/2005/08/), but just in passing, there were more local jazz events to go out too, including jazz at The Old Bell at Wooburn, The Fifield Arms at Fifield, and of course Hedsor, initially at The Garibaldi, and then to The Hedsor Social Club as it was then.

And there were jazz festivals galore. Mention back then in the blog of Brecon (now going again) Marlborough, and of course Swanage. Looking at my photo taken in Swanage that year there is Alan Barnes, but also on stage it looks like trumpeter Steve Waterman. They have both played Hedsor this year! Back in 2005, we would have been astounded if such stars had come to Hedsor!

Then there were the CD reviews. New stuff on cd to be listened to each month! Our sale of second hand CDs was started around that year as well, and they sold for £5 each then! Now maybe I can get £1 each for them (all the money does go to Cancer Research UK, and I have around £70 to pay in at the moment).

Yes you can stream your favourites now, but in a way actually owning the music, even in such a small way as by purchasing a CD, made you listen and value the music far more than listening to Spotify does. AND I must be one of the small army of people who listen when I can to the “live” broadcast of “Jazz Record Requests” on BBC Radio 3 every Sunday afternoon. To me there is something of a feeling of kinship with all the other listeners when doing so at 4pm on a Sunday afternoon. It may not be what Sundays are designed for, but still, it does bring to me a feeling of community to listen together with others.

And so to October 2025. Jazz in Hedsor is still going, but not at Fifield or at Wooburn Green.

But jazz in Hedsor is only just about surviving. 

Last weeks excellent session, with Pete Rudeforth on trumpet and Sue Geenway on reeds with Ester Ng on bass, all stars in there own right, pulled in 13 paying public to listen. Yes we paid the band, AND I apologised to the band for the non audience. Sadly they had seen that phenomena elsewhere before. 

Hedsor Jazz is carrying on weekly, and we have plans in place on December 18^th for a Christmas party! 

But we will have to charge those who come a bit more every week. 

From this week you will have to pay at the sign £12 per person to come in and listen. I know it is inconvenient, and we do only take cash.

Coming this week, October 2^nd, 2 more star players will be with us at The Hedsor Bar. Stuart Henderson on trumpet and Alam Nathoo on reeds. They are both absolutely wonderful musicians, and even at our increased entry fee, it is a bargain to see such quality in a little village like Hedsor, with club bar prices and free car parking.

Stuart and Alam

 

But don’t forget where it is, you would pay much more to hear jazz of this quality at London’s South Bank. AND at The Hedsor Bar, you can actually talk to the musicians and buy them a pint. Try that in Wembley Stadium. Oasis? No water!! 

 

WATER? Hedsor Wharf on the other hand became a river crossing around 1579 but became unused after 1830!

 

Pictures various below.

Good Tuesday bloggers. And as I write, a nice bright sunny morning.

First a bit of the not nice news.

As I have been hinting these past few months in this blog, Hedsor Jazz at a £10 entry fee hasn’t been paying its way. Even with an attendance of 20 people per week (and often we have had less paying entrants) we have been loosing money every week.

So sadly, from October we are putting our entry fee up to £12 per week. Yes, it does mean coinage, as we do only take cash at the door and it will be inconvenient, but we didn’t want to increase our charge to £15 (easier to handle notes!) for a weekly event. If there are 2 of you, we thought the increase would be just too much. Even at £12 per week, if we only get 20 paying attendees, we wont make enough money to pay our way, but it will go some way in helping us keep going.

We don’t intend to drop the quality of the music, I think what we get at Hedsor is amazing.

We still aim to have quality names like Bruce Adams and Art Themen (both together at Hedsor Jazz on October 16^th) amongst our guest list, and unless we can have a really interesting smaller band (like Alan Barnes and Dave Newton as in August) we intend to have a Quintet to provide the music (usually 2 at the front and 3 at the back!!). If you are a Jazz Angel (a monthly subscriber) you may want to adjust your gift to compensate. We hope you wont, but we realise that you can, and may need to in these difficult (especially for those of us on a pension) times.

So having got that bit of unpleasantness off my chest (of drawers?) look who we have coming this Thursday, September 25^th. On reeds multifarious, Sue Greenway from Oxfordshire, and on trumpet, ex Chris Barber, Pete Rudeforth. They are the 2 at the front, and included in the 3 at the back we will have on keyboard our musical director Ken McCarthy. We look forward then to a truly great evening, provided to us by well known and experienced musicians.

If you haven’t been recently why not give us another try. 8pm till 10.30pm with a ½ hour break for conversation at 9.30pm. Free car parking, club bar prices.

For our first £12 evening on October 2^nd we will have two favourites of ours at the front, Stuart Henderson on trumpet and Alam Nathoo on reeds.

Sadly (for more than one reason) I was unable to attend Hedsor Jazz last week, but Tracy (the lady near the front who takes your money) I have a couple of photos from the night. I am told by our musical director that it was one of the best nights we have had this year! I’m literally gutted that I wasn’t there!

Martin Dunsdon

Matt Hill

Stuart Barker

You will note that Matt Hill appears to be much younger than the picture of him in last weeks blog! Two trumpet players with the same name! The one above is the one we had!!

A Special Notice

A Jazzy Christmas with Paul Edis & friends - 5th December, Holy Trinity Church Cookham  Join us for a sparkling collection of Christmas hits reimagined as swinging big band numbers, sambas and much more. Performed by some of the leading lights on the UK jazz scene including Paul Edis (piano), Jo Harrop (vocals) and Vasilis Xenopoulos (sax), don’t miss this fabulous way to kick off the festive season...

 

 

Join us on Friday 5th December at 7.30pm

 

 

Tickets £15 Doors Open at 6:45PM Starts at 7:30PM Bar available before and during the interval Buy online or call Ros on 01628 476963   Holy Trinity Church Cookham SL6 9SP

Hi Everyone,

I’m sure when I was young time lasted longer!! Now after many life years my time seems to go by like sand through the fingers. You never seem to have enough. You can never save time, or make up time. You cannot go back in time and correct your mistakes (no, I am not admitting ever making mistakes, although there is enough evidence to contradict this!).

But how can it be that it’s Tuesday afternoon again. BLOG DAY!!

So lets try and live again, through the gift of memory, (that’s human memory not Microsoft’s!), the past jazz week, and remind everyone of what could be another memory landmark coming up for you on THURSDAY!!

So just to complicate things even more let’s put the last thing first!

This Thursday, SEPTEMBER 18^th, we have a return of that fine saxophonist and sometime member of the Glen Millar Orchestra, Martin Dunsdon. Another Guildhall School of Music graduate, as is our keyboard man Ken McCarthy. Martin is becoming a regular Hedsor musician, and is very welcome back with us again. The photos below are from one of his previous Hedsor appearances.

He will be joined by a trumpet player that I seem to have missed, Matt Hill. He HAS been to Hedsor before, but it was on one of those rare evenings when I wasn’t there!! Below therefore is a photo of him culled from off of the www.

 

Looking back to last weeks session it seemed to have all the makings of the unusual, when at the start of the evening it was apparent that we had NO DRUMMER.

So for the fist 4 tunes we had Al Pirrie and Nigel Fox hiding behind Lester Brown and Al Nicholls. Musically they were not hiding but coping remarkably well. Then, having flow in straight from Jersey (?) but with a delayed flight, we had a drummer, who set up very discreetly whilst the music flowed on. He joined in (very appropriately) part way through Duke Ellington’s “Do Nothing ‘till You Hear from Me”.

From then on we all realised what we had been missing...Elliot Toms on drums.

 

The rest of the evening was as you would expect. Al was in his usual booting form, and Lester was at his very best. A great evening was had by all.

BUT only if you were there!!

You still have the opportunity of getting to Hedsor Jazz in September, and we have some treats coming up in October:-

Oct  2^nd  Stuart Henderson trumpet with Alam Nathoo reeds

Oct 9th   Lester Brown trumpet, Duncan Lamont reeds, Dennis Smith drums,                                                                 

Oct 16th - Bruce Adams trumpet with Art Themen reeds

See you soon

 

Geoff