On Thursday THIS WEEK, we have a special guest joining The Clive Burton Quintet at The Hedsor Social Club. Sax legend DUNCAN LAMONT will be joining the front line.

Read more about this fabulous player at http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/musician.php?id=1773

A JPEG of the poster for this event is included in the artwork above, please print off a copy and display it where more people can see it.

And you thought you could rest after our concert!!

Geoff C

I thought I would like to let you all know, those who came and those who didnt, that our Cancer Research concert last night at The Hedsor Social Club has raised nigh on £900 for CRUK. Thank you to all who made such a result possible.

AND the music was wonderful!

AND the music will stay wonderful all next week. Tuesday at Mo's gig at The Bourne End Community Centre you will see a very similar front line to last night, with a change of personnel in the row behind!!

AND on THURSDAY back at Hedsor (now fast becoming the home of the local jazz scene) we are having not only the full Clive Burton Quintet, but saxophone star Duncan Lamont as well.

Keep telling your friends, keep coming out!

And together we WILL keep live jazz alive.

Geoff C

The Hedsor Social Club, Hedsor Road, BOURNE END, Buckinghamshire SL8 5ES

Tel: 01628521921

Hi there jazz fans.

This little reminder is all about the concert at The Hedsor Social Club this coming Friday (March 28th). I just wanted to make sure those of you who are coming knew it was at The Hedsor Social Club NOT The Bourne End Community Centre as in previous years.

You will find a map above for its location (in Hedsor Road) and it is next door to the garden centre. Ample car parking is there, and its FREE.

Also Please feel free to bring your own food, as only crisps and nuts are available from the bar. But do buy all your drinks from the bar, they are very reasonably priced, and it is only through the good offices of the Social Club that we can run this event (and all the other jazz we run there), so please patronise the bar.

I'm really looking forward to it now. The music, I know, will be to a very high standard, it always is, but we are adding in 2 very special people to this years concert. Lynn Garner is a singer who always sends shivers down my spine, she has a tremendous ability to get to the emotional centre of any song. We also have John Slater, another very talented musician, playing trumpet for us this year. He is equally at home on keyboard or bass and he also has a wacky sense of humour. But so has Lynn G, so it could well turn out to be a memorable evening!

There will be a raffle, always a highlight on a Thursday, and I think the prizes are up to the usual Thursday Standard!

So come along, bring your own picnic, and a good time will be had by all.

AND Cancer Research UK will benefit from all the profit we make.

Geoff C

First up, as I write, it is a sunny morning, but with a forecast of rain and snow, AND it's Easter! So I would like to wish all who read this (and probably those who don't too!), a very happy Easter Time. Easter marks a time of fresh beginnings, putting the Winter behind us and helping us look towards the warmth of Summer. With turbulent financial times around, it is also a good time to observe that there is much that we can see in the natural world that gives joy, and is free! If properly prepared and clothed for it, even being out in the cold rain can be a stimulating experience!

And so to jazz.

We had an excellent session at Hedsor on Monday, with Vasilis X joining James Fenn and his team. Great music, but we must have more in the audience if we are to carry on with these quality evenings. Just so that you know who is coming for the next Jazz Monday (21st April) we are combining the talents of James and his team with both Vasilis, and Pete Billington on keyboards. It should be a stunning session, so put a reserve in your diary NOW.

Our next Hedsor gig now, will in fact be NEXT FRIDAY! It's our,now annual, effort to raise money for Cancer Research UK. So many of my friends and family have been affected by this disease that, for me, supporting it is a no brainer. But just to entice you to spend the £10 entrance fee for this cafe concert style presentation, we have not only the remarkable talents of Clive Burton and his Quintet, but in addition, the trumpet of John Slater, and the wonderful vocal talents of Lynn Garner. It should be a great jazz evening AND a great fun evening too. There are a few tickets left, and there MAY be some on the door, but to be certain of yours, go to Crocks and Crystals in Bourne End (01628 528712) or Delizioso in Cookham (01628 522202) in the next day or so.

We were thinking that the band would use Thursday (27th) to rehearse, and we were going to let the public be part of that night as long as they had a ticket for the Friday Concert. BUT, the band has already rehearsed, and they WILL NOT BE THERE ON THURSDAY!

After this Concert event, we are not resting on our laurels (uncomfortable), but we are inviting the occasional guest to appear with the Quintet at Hedsor on our regular Thursdays. The first one will be star saxophonist Duncan Lamont, who will be with us on APRIL 3rd. Duncan has been around for a little while now, has played with everyone (including the Quintet in the past) and we are very much looking forward to his coming to Hedsor, and to YOUR ATTENDANCE there as well!!

Enough now of the gratuitous violence (well, I know I nag).

When you are stuck at home, and you do want to listen to some jazz music, there appears to be an unlimited choice these days. OK, so you do have to find a record store first, but there is some great music from the past to catch up on at home.

Maxine Sullivan became more famous when in 1938 she sang in the Benny Goodman Carnegie Hall concert. A lovely CD of her post war years is now available on the Legend label (CD6004), covering her work between 1944 and 1948. As well as the "Loch Lomand" that caught our ears with BG, here we have some wonderful songs like "Mad About the Boy", "I Cant Get Started", "Miss Otis Regrets", as well as some less well know ("Cry, Buttercup,Cry"). The accompanying musicians include Ellis Larkins (piano), Everett Barksdale (guitar), the Larry Johnson Orchestra, and a number of string sections. A lovely reissue from an almost forgotten period.

A more recent addition to my singers list is Karrin Allyson. Born in Great Bend, Kansas, she brings a warm sensitive smoky feel to her work. She has a number of albums under her slim belt, the one I have listened to this week being a very interesting reworking for voice of John Coltrane's "Ballads" album. All the tunes he played on that recording are here, very sensitively performed, with some superb backing by, among others, John Patitucci on bass, and James Carter on Tenor Sax. Its a Concord recording CCD-4950-2.

As usual, artwork for these albums can be seen on the blog. Karrin has very good website at http://www.karrin.com where you can even download some of her tracks to sample the sound.

That's it for now folks. As I said at the top, do have a very Happy Easter, don't eat too much chocolate, and I hope to see you all on Friday 28th March at Hedsor for the Concert.

Geoff C

Todays Nag will be a short reminder of the next few events in my jazz calendar, starting with:-

Thursday, Hedsor has no actual guests. Mike Wills our regular, and restored to health saxophonist, will be with us for the next few weeks on Thursdays, so do come along and hear some of the harmonies that he and Clive create between them. Last week was a real joy!!
Usual start time of 8.30 pm, usual entry fee of £3, usual raffle hilarity, lets hope that more than the usual suspects turn up!!

Fifield on Sunday, will be a repeat of Thursday, with the exception that it is free to get in, and is funded by a more valuable raffle!! Oh yes, the start time is 8 pm, not 8.30 pm. The landlord likes to get to bed early on a Sunday!

Monday the 17th is our regular Guitar night at Hedsor, with James Fenn in the chair. He brings quality players with him, so come and pay your £5 and see who he brings with him this time! Please tell your friends about this event. We have enjoyed some remarkably talented evenings on these Mondays, but without an increase in audience numbers, this event will have to close (unless I can find a rich sponsor!).

The BIG jazz event in my year, and this time also for Hedsor, is the Cancer Research Jazz Concert on FRIDAY 28th March. Easter will be over, so you wont be "lent" on, but we do want a good turn out for this fundraiser. Remember ALL the profit goes to Cancer Research UK. It promises to be a great evening musically, but we all have more fun when there is a big crowd. This year, joining in the "Dixieland to Swing" theme will be the wonderful Lynn Garner. Tell your friends, print the poster (attached) and put it up for all to see, lets make this one SPECIAL.

A couple of CD's with guitar themes to them have been liberated as far as my cd player this past week, one of them so surprising I couldn't believe it had gone unnoticed in the sales stock for so long.

Guys and Dolls was a super show that I first saw when I was still wearing short trousers. It has some memorable tunes, many of which have become jazz standards. So, perhaps I thought that Harry Allen and Joe Cohn were just going through the financial motions when they recorded a whole album of the songs. I do mean songs, because Rebecca Kilgore and Eddie Erickson join Harry and Joe alongside Chuck Rigg on Drums and Joel Forbes on bass to add the words to the music! It's a wonderful album. Harry Allen is of course well known for his middle period style sax playing, melodic, swinging, punchy sometimes, but always tasteful. Joe Cohn on guitar I hadn't heard so much of before, and is perfectly well suited to join Harry as the front line. For me, for a lot of reasons, the best track on the album is "Sit Down Your Rocking The Boat", but they are all there, "If I Were A Bell", "Luck Be A Lady Tonight", "I've Never Been In Love Before" etc, etc. It's on Arbors Records Jazz Label ARCD 19354.

The CD that had literally been knocking about in the bottom of the box is one by, I presume, a German Guitarist Wolfgang Muthspeil. I don't have any sleeve for this, and all the music looks as though it has been written for or by Wolfgang himself (I may be wonderful but I could be wrong!), Its a trio format, and is a great funky fusion sound. It's called "Bright Side", and is on a label called Material Records and was released in 2005. I'll do some more research before next week, but do look out for it, or him, because its terrific modern jazz.

Well, that's it for now folks,

Turn out for live jazz, or it will get turned off. "thejazz" closes at the end of the month!

Geoff C
http://jazzfromgeoff.blogspot.com/

And you all thought it was safe now to STAY IN!! WRONG

Because there are so many things to go out for this week, and into the not too distant future. AND they are all near YOU, AND don't cost much more than £5 each (bar one).

That one first, is the Concert we are organising for Cancer Research UK, which is a £10 ticket price. A PDF file with all the details is attached. Please note, it has been amended to include the news of our two super guest artist. There may be more coming, but I have run out of room on the poster, so you will just have to come and see on the night. Please support this very worthwhile cause.If you can print and display the poster near you, please do.

THIS WEEK
Tomorrow, Tuesday 4th March, There will be Jazz at The Bourne End Community Centre Bar from 8.30pm. It will be a small group and singer organised by drummer Terry Parsons. Entry, including a light supper, and a raffle, is £4.

Also tomorrow, slightly further a field, guitarist Tim Saunders will be playing The Brook Green Hotel, Hammersmith, together with saxophone star Duncan Lamont. 8.30 pm start, free entry to the cellar bar.

Thursday, our regular gig at The Hedsor Social Club has the return of our "regular" sax star Mike Wills. Expect some wonderful harmonies. 8.30 start, £3 in plus a raffle.

Sunday, at The Fifield Inn, Century Jazz play host to that wonderful saxophonist Pete Cook.

Rushing towards us at the speed of time, Our next James Fenn guitar led evening at Hedsor is Monday 17th March. 8.30 start, £5 to get in, and that's it, NO RAFFLE! Tell your friends, we need the audience, the music is wonderful, but people don't know that yet!

Two bits of round plastic that you might like to consider adding to your round plastic library this week.

Most recent first is a DVD (yep, you can watch AND listen) of the Liane Carroll Trio LIVE at the Brecon Jazz Festival. It was recorded last year, and has a typical session from this wonderfully entertaining singer. Described by Julian Joseph as having a "smoky voice" (well ,she used to be able to sing, play the piano and smoke, all at the same time, now the law only allows her to sing and play the piano, and THAT only in suitably licensed premises, because, as we all know, live music is dangerous to your health), she has got a very distinctive sound. She conveys real emotion for all she performs, and some of her songs (Dublin Morning) will become future standards I'm sure. Its a good hour of concert, reasonable filmed, the sound is slightly hollow and needs the wick turning up a bit, but on the whole does give you a satisfying echo of her performance. Songs include the aforesaid Dublin Morning, and other favourites like "That Old Black Magic", and "Caravan", which allows the other two members of her trio to feature. Nothing, however well produced, is as good as hearing and seeing the performance itself, BUT Splash Point Records SPR007DVD is a great souvenir of her recent live act.

Going back to 1974, I've dug out from my vault this week a CD that I paid £13.50 for!! Ruby Braff might have been known as "the poisoned dwarf", but his playing was magical, lyrical, and so complete. In 1974 he played a concert in New York, and the CD has all of the music. With him, as his foil, was guitarist George Barnes. They produced magical music together, but there association was short lived, as they found they couldn't stand the site of each other!! BUT happily the music lives on. Light and springy and full of tunes you know. "There Will Never Be Another You", "Thou Swell", "Squeeze Me", and even "Here There And Everywhere" by Lennon and McCartney. The label is Chiaroscuro, and the number is CR(D)126. And it is a great listen!

As usual, the artwork will be on the blog.

TTFN

Geoff C