Good Morning Jazz Fans.

First, just to let you know that our Trombone Maestro, Clive Burton, has made such a fantastic recovery, that he not will only be there at The Hedsor Social Club on Thursday, but he will actually be playing alongside Mike Wills on Reeds. I know we all want him back, but I'm sure you are as concerned as I am the he doesn't over do it. But it is really GREAT news that he is back, and wants to be back with us at Hedsor. So Thursday, for the first time in a number of weeks, The complete Clive Burton Quintet! 8.30 start, £5 entry fee.

Whilst on the subject of our reed player, Mike Wills will be at this years Swanage Jazz Festival (16th to 18th July) with Paul Munnery's Band "Hootie and the Gang". See the insert above for its details. They play Saturday from 11.45 am in Marquee 3 (the one up that b...y hill).

On your way down from the hill, at 1.50pm, you can also catch Vasilis Xenopoulos with Nigel Price in Bar 7 (OK, us originals at Swanage knew it as The Victoria Club Bar). It's a pity that the program managed to get Vasilis with one of his "i"'s missing!!

For those of you who haven't yet caught on to the deep joy of the Swanage Jazz Festival, book very soon or you wont get in. Online booking can be got at by doing a google on "The Swanage Jazz Festival".

And talking of Festivals, the Marlow Jazz Festival (October 23rd at the Crowne Plaza Hotel)is coming together nicely. The latest addition to the cast is the Gipsy Jazz Band led by guitarist Malcolm Greenhalgh. As it is the 100th anniversary of Django Reinhardt's birth, I thought it appropriate to celebrate his centenary with a local Marlow band specialising in his music. Malcolm has also promised a couple of special guest added to the band.

Tickets for this All Day Jazz Festival will be available soon.

Well, have I had time for anything else this last week or so?

YES! I have relaxed over a couple of cups of coffee (this week it was the Brazilian stuff Clive Davis brought back from The Copacabana Hotel!)listening to some stride piano courtesy of Dick Wellstood.

I have always enjoyed this style of piano jazz, where the rhythm is kept going in the left hand, whilst the right hand plays the tune. Dick died in 1987, but a performance at a bar called "The Sticky Wicket" in Massachusetts was recorded on a punters "new" reel to reel tape recorder, and the Arbours label has it as a double album called (innotively) "Dick Wellstood Live at the Sticky Wicket" ARCD 19188. It is a must for all who like jazz piano. It is well recorded, uncut, and you get all his own announcements and the "enthusiasm" of the audience as well. Being a private recording, it was stuck away on a shelf and forgotten until 10 years after Dick died. Definitely a resurrection worth while.

Digging out this album reminded me that somewhere I had another tape of Dick, again in front of an audience, and "Dick Wellstood Live at the Cafe Des Copains" has now been digitised for my own collection. Artwork for both is above.

Finally I played a CD yesterday because it had fallen out of the "For Sale" box on the back seat of the car. Georgia Mancio has been learning the trade of singer for 10 years now, and somehow I had missed her. If you enjoy lady's what sing, seek her out. This latest album "Silhouette" is mostly her own songs, but she has a clean and distinctive voice, and surrounds herself with quality young players (OK John Pearce isn't that young, but Tim Laphorn is). It is a very good album, and just shows us oldies that there is still life in jazz yet. Roomspin Records 2412

However, as we all know, musicians can only survive, jazz can only survive, if you turn out to listen to it, and pay some money to do so.

Leave the seduction of the telly to others, help to keep live jazz ALIVE.