Good Morning England, and welcome to my blog, and to my ramblings all about local jazz.

Tonight, April 16^th, you can fill your jazz ears at Marlow Jazz Club, (that’s at the British Legion Hall near the railway station), where they will be celebrating from 8.30pm Louis Armstrong and Frank Sinatra with an ALL-STAR QUINTET FEATURING ENRICO TOMASSO, TRUMPET/VOCAL, DENNY ILET Jnr GUITAR/VOCAL

Denny has played for us at Hedsor Jazz in the past, but so far Enrico hasn’t!

BUT there is a trumpet player who’s name you will get to know.

He played Hedsor last week, and his name is Mat Hill, and I believe he is all of 23 years of age. Mark down the name, because you will want hear him again because he is a superb player.

Last weeks session had Mat playing alongside saxophonist Martin Dunsdon, and they will be back!

Martin has played with almost everyone, having been part of the Syd Lawrence Orchestra as well as the Glen Miller Orchestra. At the end of the evening (during which a lot of jaws dropped) a number of people came up to me to tell me they had just experienced the best night of jazz at Hedsor EVER!

Lets face it we have had quite a few great evenings at Hedsor Jazz but I don’t think anyone thought that this scratch ensemble would play such exciting and uplifting jazz. One regular jazz attendee said he had been lifted to a new plane! It really was a rich experience, one of those magic jazz occasions that we turn out for hoping to experience. Mat and Martin D were supported by Martin Hart on drums, Nigel Fox on keyboard and Peter Hughes on bass. My photos are below.

 

At the end of the evening whilst all were packing up, the band had broad smiles too, as they knew it had been special! 

Coming this week in the wake of that performance we have another trumpet/saxophone pairing. Lester Brown will be alongside saxophonist Frank Waldon. That’s This Thursday April 18^th from 8.00pm.  To goad them along we will have Al Pirrie on bass, Nigel Fox on keyboard and Martin Hart on drums.

Lester by now needs no introduction to the regulars at Hedsor jazz, and Frank has become a regular favourite over the past year or so. A great tenor sax player, working regularly in the more popular music field, but also enjoying life with the Filthy Six (no not the Dirty Dozen!), see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8P67sqNu-E for an example.

As many of you will know our regular pianist has been absent for some weeks now. Ken McCarthy has been forced to take a number of residences at and visits to hospital. He is currently at home in a state of recovery.

He misses us, and when I phoned him this morning he asked to be remembered to you all. Ken, how can we ever forget you, and all the joy your playing has given us over the years. Just stop annoying Maggie by kicking around at home and get back to playing at Hedsor Jazz (and all your other regular commitments) just asap.

In the meantime it is only right to especially thank Nigel Fox for stepping in on (but not stepping on) keyboard at Hedsor Jazz over this extended period of Ken’s absence.

And You , The audience?

Keep coming to Hedsor Jazz on Thursdays. We are almost unique in running jazz gigs EVERY WEEK.

Our last gig for April (Thursday the 25^th) is also a special. We will be celebrating and remembering some of the people who we used to see in our audience but who have since gone to that greater gig in the sky. So, for an evening celebrating those absent (jazz) angels we will have Vasilis Xenopoulos with us, and during the interval we will have a light buffet, all for the entry fee of just £10. An 8pm start as always. DONT MISS IT! 

Blog Time again, and updated info for Hedsor Jazz.

We are trying (very!) to establish a Facebook page that is actually ours, and manageable by Jazz Angels (the power behind the bank account!). At the moment as far as I can see, you can only get to it if you use the Microsoft search engine (Bing) and ask for Hedsor Jazz, NOT Hedsor Jazz Club. If you use any other search engine at the moment you will get the Facebook Page for the Hedsor Jazz Club, which isn’t anything like up to date. Please find Hedsor Jazz and “like” us, and it may well help us solve all our problems. Yes, just like Facebook has done for you!

In the meantime, and for the foreseeable future I will be writing, nagging, and ranting on about jazz and jazz at Hedsor Jazz every Tuesday (DV which being translated means Deo Volente, God Willing) via this blog.

Coming this week, April 11^th, it will be nothing like the poster you read last week!

We were going to have Johnny Thirkle on trumpet, but he is still away on tour, his travel plans having been disrupted. So in his place we have that young but exciting trumpet player last seen at Hedsor alongside Duncan Lamont Jr, Mathew Hill.

This time he will be playing alongside another saxophonist new to Hedsor Jazz, Martin Dunsdon. Martin is another experienced musician who amongst other things has been part of the Syd Lawrence Orchestra.  Martin is replacing Sue Greenway, who is unable to come to us this week but who has yet to issue a sick note!.

 

On keyboard we will have again this week the services of Nigel Fox. Thanks Nigel for stepping into the breach left by Ken McCarthy’s recent albescence due to illness. To complete the line-up this week we will have Peter Hughes on bass and Martin Hart on drums.

Last week was as advertised!! Lester Brown and Mark Aston did turn up, even if Marks hair didn’t!

It was an evening with a broad tune choice. Some tunes were well known to modern jazz fans  such as “Tangerine”, (which used to be the favourite solo vehicle for trombonist Roy Williams), “Bags Groove”, and “Wee”, but to open the second set “Cose Kale Mazel Tov”, was played, which being translated means “Good Luck to the Bride and Groom”. To add to this surprise, Lester played the keyboard!!

My photos for the evening, if not the sound, are below:-

For April 18^th we anticipate having Lester Brown with us again, this time his accomplice at the front will be that wonderful saxophonist Frank Walden.

Don’t forget all our gigs have an entry charge of just £10 per person, and our start time is 8pm. Also remember to have a look for our new Facebook pages and “like” us, but please ensure it IS the new Hedsor Jazz page, not the old one!

Later this week I will put up the gig list for May.

Next month our vice president Vasilis Xenopoulos is giving a concert as part of the Cookham Festival on May 15^th at Cookham’s Pinder Hall. With him will be pianist Paul Edis. Together they will be playing some of the material from their new cd “Feels like Home”

To quote the Amazon web page on this album:-

“Rooted in the jazz tradition, this is music that's eclectic, groove based and fundamentally melodic. Including elements of hard bop, Latin jazz, gospel and even folk, there are nods to Dexter Gordon, Stanley Turrentine, John Coltrane, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Bill Evans, Brad Mehldau, McCoy Tyner and more besides. This is honest music full of emotions, inspired and unified around the central theme of 'home'.”

So there you have it, 2 things Vasilis, The album and the concert.

To book the concert please go via the Cookham Festival web page

https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/cookham-festival/vasilis-xenopoulos-paul-edis-quartet-feels-like-home/e-oqeyrv

BUT to hear Vasilis you don’t have to wait that long, he will be with us at Hedsor Jazz on April 25^th!

Hedsor Jazz, a Quality Product!

 Welcome back from your Easter break.

 

We at Cronin Towers managed to meet up with some of our family over Easter, which made for an expensive Sunday Lunch, but I’m sure it made sense!! It was really nice to catch up over a leisurely lunch that we didn’t cook ourselves.

The Road Transport system seems to have failed again as my daughter and family travelled from Ipswich and were held up for about 2 hours trying to get off the A12 on to the M25. So a 2 hour journey becomes 4 hour journey. The journey she had back was further complicated by Cookham Bridge being again closed? Apparently a floating concrete block had broken free and struck the bridge supports, a la Baltimore! OK our old bridge is still in place, and I never knew concrete could float!!

Oh Well, we always have good, old, reliable, Hedsor Jazz to look forward to! 

And THIS THURSDAY April 4^th, we will have two favourite musicians coming in the form of Lester Brown and Mark Aston. Lester has been a regular trumpet player at Hedsor Jazz for over 5 or more years, and Mark has brought his reed instruments to Hedsor on many occasions. He does own a lot of them, but I expect he will bring at least a tenor sax with him this week.

The photos above were taken from a 2019 session where both Mark and Mike Wills brought an amazing selection from there collection of instruments!

This week, behind the front line, we are again indebted to Nigel Fox for filling the piano chair. On bass  it will be Al Pirrie and on drums Martin Hart (it says here!).

Our regular piano man Ken McCarthy is due to return home from Hospital today, and we wish him and Maggie all the best for a trouble free recovery period.  

Last week’s session with Duncan Lamont Jr on tenor and flute was enjoyable different, as we also had the Irish born actress /singer Jenny Howe with us. A truly entertaining evening and I know many of you have already asked for a return match! My pictures are below. Again it was Nigel Fox on keyboard, and Al Pirrie on bass with Martin Hart on drums.

 

Also below is the poster for April’s sessions at Hedsor Jazz.

 

Mike Jeffries has asked that we try and enliven the “new” Hedsor Jazz Facebook page by seeking for it via the Bing search engine. At the moment Mike is trying to boost the hit rate on it and make it a more popular result for searches for Hedsor Jazz. It will, I am assured, be made more up to date as we progress.

 

In the meantime rest assured that we will be at The Hedsor Bar every Thursday from 8pm with top quality live modern jazz, with occasional diversions of style, but they will ALWAYS be fun. Tell your friends, and if possible coerce them into coming.

 

Last week we had the assistance of a young man volunteering to do some of the sound engineer tasks that are not at the moment covered. Zac did a grand job, and although not able to help us every week, will come when his work shift pattern allows. He hopes to be with us again on April 25^th and is keen to get other younger people involved in our small venue kind of live music on the basis that once sampled, they will come again. Thank you Zac.

 

That’s it for now folks

 

TTFN

Geoff

 Ken McCarthy

Having only yesterday written in this blog that Ken McCarthy was looking forward to being with us at Hedsor Jazz again this week, and playing keyboard for us again next week, I have to report a setback.

Ken was readmitted yesterday to Harefield Hospital, and having spoken with Ken’s wife Maggie this morning, he is today having another operation to remove what the medics described as “debris” from his upper body area.

Maggie has asked that we offer up a prayer for Ken as he undergoes another stay in hospital.  I will say “Amen” to that. Harefield Hospital is run by the Royal Brompton Hospital group, and from personal experience of their expertise I can say he is in the right place. They kept me alive in 2002!

Geoff

JAZZ FROM GEOFF

It’s been nearly a week now, and Cookham Bridge has remained OPEN!! What a joy. 5 months of closure, and a good ½ hour diversion meant getting to anything in Buckinghamshire took just too long. Now, for me, Hedsor Jazz is just 10 minutes away! And achievable on roads nearly wide enough for 2 cars! 

I heard on the news today that a road in London (Old Oak Common Lane) was going to be shut for 4 years!! A typical 1½ hour diversion then being required! What do our elected representatives think they are doing!! I quote from the search engine:- 

Old Oak Common Lane runs between the area and East Acton, where residents go for shopping, schools and hospitals. HS2 Ltd has told residents it will have to close the road for four years for work on utility cabling and to lower the road for double-decker buses, and has submitted a planning application.

I’m sure all the planning applications will be scrutinised closely, and all will be normal, in 4 or 5 years time! 

So, what is Hedsor Jazz going to get this coming Thursday, March 28th 

Duncan Lamont Jr that superb melodic tenor sax and flute player, and such a good a friend to Hedsor Jazz, is coming and bringing with him singer Jenny Howe. Jennie hasn’t been to Hedsor Jazz before, and I’m sure she will bring some of the sunshine we need for Spring. There are so many literations you can do on song titles and the weather, so I’ll leave you to work them all out for yourself. But Spring CAN really hang you up the most! 

Duncan Lamont Jr

Jennie Howe

With them this week we will have Nigel Fox on keyboard, Al Pirrie on bass and Martin Hart on drums. 

I spoke with Ken McCarthy on the telephone over the weekend and he promises to be in our audience this week. That is great news. What is even better news is he is promising to be in the band the following week!! For that night (April 4th) he will be surrounded by Mark Aston on reeds, Lester Brown on trumpet, Al Pirrie on bass, and Martin Hart on drums. 

Last week (my photos are below) we had another newcomer to Hedsor Jazz, Trumpeter Ben Cummings (who had been once before to great acclaim) brought with him saxophonist Ollie Weston. AND they will be back, because they are and make a splendid team. It was a great evening of jazz, and a great evening for jazz tunes. I always enjoy hearing “Isfahan” from Duke Ellington's “Far East Suit” and I'm pleased that it is now getting more plays. 

For almost the whole evening we had on keyboard Martin Pickett. Sadly his clock was ½ hour slow, and he missed the first ½ of the first ½! And his absence just went to show how much a chordal instrument can be missed. The emptiness behind the notes can clearly be heard by the audience. Once established he went on to demonstrate just why we need a keyboard player in the mix! 

Stuart Barker was our bass player, and it was good to have him back with us again. He also has a wife (I have too, but his wife also sings jazz!) and Lucinda Fosker sang 2 tunes for us in the second set. Do check out her web site https://www.lucindafoskermusic.com/

I think it amazing that in the past couple of years we have had some really talented young musicians come to Hedsor Jazz who love to play jazz. I just wonder where the young audience is hiding? 

That’s it for now folks, if you already come to Hedsor Jazz and you enjoy it, tell others. In order to keep going and bringing the quality of product that we currently bring to enjoy at Hedsor Jazz, we need more of you to entertain!! “It Could Happen to YOU”. 

 Geoff C

Geoff’s Blog and Hedsor Jazz are very linked, but not joined at the hip.

Today I will write about Hedsor Jazz, and I will try and tell you what is on, but first I MUST bring you some good news.

I have spoken in the past few days on the telephone to both Ken McCarthy and Geoff Swaffield. AND they are both slowly getting better.

Ken has had some surgery, and he still has to undergo some tests and a further recovery period, but he hopes to pay a visit to Hedsor soon, just to be with us as part of the audience. He is still determined however to get back to HIS role in The Hedsor Jazz quintet just as soon as possible.

Geoff Swaffield is recovering well from a stroke, is speaking clearly and is now able to look after himself at home. When I spoke with them last week, both were hoping to go for a walk later that day! They both thank all of you Hedsor regulars who were kind enough to wish them well, registering your best wishes by signing the cards that were sent round the club in the past 2 weeks.

It was good to have such positive news last week.

As you may know, Geoff was our sound engineer, and it is possible that he may not want to come back to Hedsor to perform that roll. If anyone of our regular audience feel that they would like to take on that roll in his place do let myself, or Mike Jeffries know.

Now to who is coming to play at Hedsor Jazz this week, Thursday March 21^st?

It looks to be an exciting evening, because we have trumpeter Ben Cummings coming back for his second visit. As you may remember from his first visit, he also sings, and he was able to get our entire audience clapping as well.

He will be accompanied by a saxophone player who hasn’t been to Hedsor before, but who has played with Ben before. His name is Ollie Weston. In Ken’s place on keyboard this week, we have another of the Oxford contingent Martin Pickett. Joining him in the rhythm section will be Stuart Barker on bass and Martin Hart on drums.

Ollie Weston

 

You will get 2 hours of this star band all for just £10 per head. That’s YOUR head, not theirs! What’s not to like? That’s this Thursday, March 21^st from 8pm at “The Hedsor Social Club”, as we all used to chant!

The following week we have a return of one of our most loyal Hedsor Jazz’s supporting musicians, Duncan Lamont Jr. He is bringing with him a singer, Jenny Howe. I think this will be her first visit to Hedsor, but Duncan is used to working in the theatre world, and I’m sure if he wants to spend an evening listening to her, she is worth coming out for. With them will be Al Pirrie on bass. We have yet to book Kens replacement on Keyboard.

Duncan Lamont Jr

 

Last week Mike Wills and Sue Greenway entertained us with a whole evening of some less well worn tunes, with “You’re a Lucky Guy” by Charlie Chaplin, and Dexter Gordon’s “Hanky Panky” being just part of the evening.

We also had with us Alan Berry on keyboard, the first time in about 4 years that Alan has been with us. He is one of the keyboard legends of the area, having been part of the Lennie Best Quartet for about 10 years in the 1970’s. He is still the keyboard player for “The Sound of 17” big band, based in Ealing.

My photos of last Thursdays evening are below, and below them is the poster for April. 

Just look at all the good things coming weekly to Hedsor Jazz!

 

My blog this week, with news of Hedsor Jazz, is being written a day earlier than usual.

A life in retirement seems to have more things that need doing than one when working for a company!

First, who is on at Hedsor Jazz this week?

I am delighted to say we welcome back two friends from the Oxford jazz scene. Our one time regular reedman Mike Wills and that delightful lady saxophonist, Sue Greenway.

Sue and Mike at an earlier Hedsor Session

They will be accompanied by Hedsor Jazz’s trio of rhythm makers, including this week, Alan Berry on keyboard.

Be prepared for some activity, as the last time I saw Sue she encouraged the audience to take part in an action song!! No, not “Pick a Bale of Cotton”, but you may get the drift!

 

Alan Berry at an Ealing Jazz Festival

Alan Berry is of course in place of Ken McCarthy. Ken has recently had a spell in Hospital, is currently at home but with strict instructions not to drive and not to lift anything. We hope he will be able to be back with us soon, but we are using the time he is away to book some keyboard players who have been to Hedsor in the past, and whom you, our audience, have asked to see again. So do check this blog regularly to see who it might be.

Our start time is now 8pm so don’t be late, and our entry fee is just £10.

Alan Berry is a London based jazz legend. When I first came to live in Berkshire in the1970’s he was the regular piano player with the legendary Lennie Best Quartet. I used to see them at “The Bell” in Maidenhead in the days when you could park in the Station Car Park. Nowadays there isn’t one unless you drive a taxi, and the pub is called “O’Neill’s”, which is, I suppose, better than “The Slug and Lettuce”! Probably marginally better than calling it “The Rusty Ball” as well, but I think you get the idea! Anyone would think I thought things were better “in the old days”!

A CD was issued some years back with saxophonist  Dick Morrisey recorded at The Bell with Lennie Best and Alan Berry:-

 

Last week (pictures below) sadly had no relationship to our advertised program (!), but it was still a cracking session none the less. Stuart Henderson came and played trumpet for us before disappearing for a holiday in Australia, and he suggested that he would like to play with a saxophonist from Oxford called Mike Wilkins. Mike had played for us once or twice before, and in my view is now a really accomplished player, perhaps a bit hard toned and with some more rock phrasing, but still someone who knows how to play jazz. So a great evening was had, with Al Pirrie on bass, Nigel Fox on keyboard and Martin Hart on drums.

 

So do make sure you know how to get to The Hedsor Bar, and always do it on a Thursday. VERY SOON we can do it by crossing Cookham Bridge! Now there’s a tune worth bringing out again!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojkhhaC4rlM

 

Geoff