Good Morning Jazz Fans,

So its raining and grey, but YOU know that good times are just around the corner! Well there round the Hedsor Social Club Corner tomorrow night, Thursday 9th March anyway!

AND its going to be a very special night too. The launch of Martin Harts new CD "Mind Games", with The Clive Burton Quintet (of which he is a founding member) and some of the guest musicians that appear on the CD. I am informed that one of these will be that wonderful guitarist Peter O'Brian. Party food, plus your opportunity to purchase said cd. Ask nicely and I'm sure Martin will sign a copy for you.
We will also be selling jazz CD's at silly money prices, just to help your collection grow. We did this for the first time last week, and it was a very popular addition to our evening. Don't forget to pay at the RED cash box your £3 entrance fee, and of course do still buy a raffle ticket.

Hedsor is a really unique jazz venue. Its small and intimate, with plenty of opportunity to get to know other fans as well as the musicians. It does need your active participation to keep it anything like solvent, (welcome back our treasurer, John Dutton, from Spain, by the way!!), especially in these times of closing venues. And just as a matter of interest, Cores End Church have discovered they need an entertainment licence now under the new rules!!

Coming up soon is Mothering Sunday, and pianist Ken McCarthy has asked me to let you know about his gig that night, so attached to this email is his flyer (blog readers will also be able to see it).

This week I have carried on listening to LP's by that unique British musician Bruce Turner. A couple of us have discovered that we are both fans of this alto player, and have been digging in dark corners for the music we haven't played for some time.

In my blog this week you will find a resume of his life that was published in the Telegraph on his death in 1993. He was such a gifted player, and considering the LPs I have been listening too were from his Jump Band period (1959 - 1963) he was showing a freshness of approach that totally disregarded any of the popular trends of that periods jazz fashions. Even though he studied under Lea Konitz, he wasn't playing bop (despite the "dirty bopper" label) and certainly wasn't playing Trad! But it was tight small group swing. And to think that the band failed its first BBC audition too!! Just shows you how out of touch the BEEB were in those days. The LP's I have dragged out and listened too are, in order, "Jumpin at The NFT", which was originally on the "77" Record label as 77-LEU-12, "Accent on Swing" which was on the "International Jazz" label as AJZ/4/LP and finally "Going Places" which was on the Philips label as BL7590. Over the period of the jump band, the personnel changed a bit, but the instrumentation was always Alto, trumpet, trombone, piano, bass and drums. It is well worth keeping an eye on the second hand shops for copies. Again I will put the cover artwork on my blog.

that's it for now folks

Geoff C