Tuesday again, and signs that Autumn is approaching. We also have signs of Hedsor Jazz’s run up until Christmas, so do keep eye on this blog for news of who and when, and perhaps even IF!

Coming this Thursday, September 11^th, we have a pairing that worked very well last month, so we have invited them back. Al Nicholls will be booting up his tenor sax, and he will be swung along by “our” trumpet man, Lester Brown. Not only that (them?) but we have a return of one of our one time regulars in the shape of Nigel Fox on keyboard. Add to the fray on drums a rare visitor to Hedsor Jazz, Elliot Toms.  Come along and cheer them on.

It just shows you that when the school holidays are over, our musicians take there places at holiday resorts up and down the country!

Photos below from the last time Al and Lester were with us.

 

You will observe that last time we were “experimenting” with setting up the band at the bar end of the room. We did this for a number of weeks, but it is thought for more than one reason better to revert to having the band at the entry door end of the room. Musically the sound is better (there are 3 reflective surfaces to surround the band) and less noise interference from the bar.

 

Last week’s session with Stuart Henderson and Alam Nathoo was again a master class in jazz improvisation, both melodic and chordal. Both musicians well know (to us) technical mastery was pushed along by our guest drummer for the evening, Dennis Smith and that well worn set of braces Peter Hughes. They were of course all kept in tune by our regular pianist Ken McCarthy.

Using less elegant language, it was a bril evening!

My photos from last week:-

One musician who has entertained us at least 3 times this summer has been singer Nanci Zhang.

Sadly for us she has now returned to New Orleans but hopes to return before this year ends. She holds Hedsor Jazz in high esteem (as we do her), she called it a special place, and we hope to see her again soon before too long.

 

I have a large collection of recorded music here at Cronin Towers, and usually don’t get to play a 10^th of it in any given year, but I was nudged (I was searching for the lyrics of “I Want A Little Girl”) into digging out a CD recorded in 1971. Tune titles back in the days when the tune was written ( little own when it was performed in 1971), we less thought of as being means of leading one astray!)

 

Those of you who lived in the area around that year will perhaps remember Tuesday evenings of jazz at “The Bell” in Maidenhead. Top rate players played there, just as they do for us a Hedsor now, with The Lennie Best Quartet as the backing. One guest band came regularly, The Alex Welsh Band! All of them were stars, and this week I pulled out a 1971 recording. It is a live recording of the band in full cry performing in Dresden. They were all great musicians, and generated a great sense of fun as well. Bridging traditional jazz tunes like “Dippermouh Blues” to swing titles like “9.20 Special”. But they also included what you can only really refer to as vaudeville tunes. On this recording they can be heard performing (in the local language) “If I Had a Taking Picture of You”.

One member of that band DID perform for us at Hedsor. Trombonist Roy Williams came to us I think 3 times, before a stroke curtailed his performing career.

I will say though that playing that CD again brought back the fun and the joy of those long gone years right into my front room.

Details below:-

The first blog of September, and believe it or not the Jazz Angels are already planning our Christmas Party (December 18^th).

And yes, I will mention what is coming to Hedsor Jazz this Thursday. BUT this week’s blog is largely taken up with a look back.

First, a look back at last Thursdays Hedsor Jazz concert.

I will comment that initially the music was competing with the bar crowd next door. I really hope that the amount of noise was compensating the Hedsor Bar with a large spend AT the bar, because it was LOUD!

Our concert last week was a really fun session led by “our” trumpeter Lester Brown, with assistance at the front from reedman Martin Dunsdon. Al Pirrie, Ken McCarthy and Mike Jeffries played in support from the rear. All were joined for part of the evening by our American guest singer Nanci Zhang. She will be sadly missed when she goes back to New Orleans, but she did sing about missing it!!

Photos below.

 

Looking forward to This Coming Thursday (September 4^th) we have one of those pairings that we did have a hand in creating. Stuart Henderson on trumpet and Alam Nathoo on tenor sax have, as individual players, often inspired us and caused us to wonder at there amazing musical skill and abilities, but towards the end of last year we paired them for the first time. The result was such that we decided that we must do that much more often. This week that pairing is back and we are adding in a guest drummer. Dennis Smith has (in the nicest possibly way) played around us for years! He was associated with Marlow Jazz 30 plus years ago and has been a stalwart of the West London jazz scene for even longer. An excellent drummer with a keen sense of humour, please come and welcome him to Hedsor Jazz.

 

Our sessions at Hedsor were started by the late Clive Burton in 2002, initially in “The Garibaldi”, and then after some months we moved across the road into what was then “The Hedsor Social Club”. Sadly for all of us, Clive died in October 2017. He was a warm and friendly character, playing trombone with great dexterity. He was also a great compere, and many of his catch phrases are fondly remembered (“you can tell he’s no athlete”, as a raffle prize winner moved to collect his prize). He was also a bandleader who always encouraged young talent to perform and often invited them to do so.

My reason for writing about him today is that I was recently given about 3 years worth of old Jazz Journals going from 2016 to 2018 and in looking through them I found a tribute to Clive written by Saxophonist Simon Spillett, one of those young people Clive encouraged.

On further reading, in a Jazz Journal published a month later I came across a letter that I had written in response to Simons tribute, (something I had completely forgotten writing), together with another letter from someone who used to come to Clive’s gigs before they moved to Somerset, (and he still reads this blog, hello Alan Bond). I thought I would risk prosecution in actually reprinting as a jpeg both letters (from the same JJ page!).

 

The photo in my letter came from the party at Hedsor we put on to celebrate Alan Grahams Life in Jazz. AND the photo with Clive blowing a pink trombone that was in the Simon Spillett letter came from a jazz festival we put on at St Pirans School in Maidenhead when Clive was asked to play a plastic trombone being promoted by Dawkes for young people to play. Clive did so, for a complete tune!

Today (well probably Thursday) we will be starting the creation of some new memories, things to talk about and write about in years yet to come. How fortunate these days that we do have both photographs and recordings of gigs we have been to in our past for us to dig out and relive both the successful and also less successful, “days of wine and roses”!

 

See you at The Hedsor Bar for another memorable jazz Thursday, don’t be late we start at 8!!