A little earlier than it has been in the past few weeks, my blog info for the week!

And in reverse order to my usual one, first of all a CD I have enjoyed again this week.

One of Nigel Prices, this time with singer Georgie Manciao. It is a beautiful and minimalist CD with only the addition of bassist Julie Walkington. One could argue that it is late night listening (which it can be and very comfortable for that time of night it is too) but it is a cracking listen for any time of day. Nigel is a very thoughtful accompanist to a singer with a delightful voice and I found the album quite captivating. A lot of well know tunes, all made to sound as though they had never been performed before. “ That Old Black Magic”, “Moonlight in Vermont”, “Come Rain or Shine” (the albums title song), are all songs that we thought we knew, but now performed with such delicacy that you wonder why you had never really listened to them before. It’s on Roomspin Records as number 41. You my have to contact Nigel to get one, but it is 47 minutes of uncomplicated music. Uncomplicated that is unless you try to play the guitar notes yourself!! www.nigelprice.biz could be your starting point.

Next an advert for another persons gig!!

On Sunday Night at Norden Farm from 7.30pm you can enjoy Five Star Swing. Hedsor Jazz has 2 links to this band. Justin Swadling plays in it, and he has played for us a couple of times at Hedsor. AND from time to time, our bass player Ken Rankine plays in the band. Band leader pianist Colin Smith has asked for a plug so here it is. Well worth another night out.

Before then and also at Norden Farm on Friday, Tina May will be performing. If you have yet to get your tickets ring the box office now!

Norden Farms week can be found at

 http://nordenfarm.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=a4ea7c7c64d78c40c67990477&id=4387c49c51&e=a19096871e

Back to CD’s again. I have an unopened copy of John Coltrane’s complete Atlantic Recordings. This is a box set of 7 CD’s called “The Heavweight Champion”. Amazon have it  £71.99, with a reference to some used copies at £34.99. If some one would like to make me an offer I can’t refuse, then the set could be yours.

Finally (or even ultimately) this weeks gig at Hedsor Jazz has, in addition to the full Clive Burton Quintet a wonderful guitarist from Reading, Jez Cook. This should be a lovely evening of first class jazz, all for half the price of a Norden farm evening, i.e. just £6. If you haven’t been to Hedsor Jazz for a while (and I KNOW that many of you haven’t!), why not come for this one.

Finally and finally, I still have tickets for our Christmas Party on December 19^th, which has Tina May as our star guest. They are £10 each, and you need to buy your ticket BEFORE the night to ensure you get in. We only have 85 tickets in all.

OK, Just tell me where the time goes?

So, this weeks blog is late again. But NOT TOO LATE to let you know that this week, November 21^st, it is a standard presentation by The Clive Burton Quintet, our regular regulars.

But you know the great standard to expect. Great tunes, great musicians. And all for just £6 each!! A great price!

I wont disguise the fact that we could do with a greater audience on a regular basis. The more people in the audience, the better the music (and the warmer the room!). After all musicians enjoy playing to a crowd of people.

I did say a couple of blogs ago that we would have a very special guest for you in November, and I can now reveal that it is that very talented guitarist from Oxford, Jez Cook. He will be joining our regular guys on Thursday next, November 28^th. Those of you who heard him earlier in the year when Clive was indisposed will need no extra encouragement to come.

For those who didn’t hear him then check him out here:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1c5MeH_J5gU

and put November 28^th in your diary. This will be a pay at the door special event.

Whereas December 19^th is definitely a ticket only event.

Singing Star Tina May will be our special guest at our Christmas Concert.

http://www.tinamay.com/

She will be alongside Alan Graham and The Clive Burton Quintet. Tickets are £10 each, which includes a light buffet. You must buy your tickets in advance for this event. It is unlikely that you will get in on the door. We are limited to 85 paying members of the public.

That’s it for now folks. If I get time to listen to any recorded jazz next week I’ll let you know. Until then

TTFN

A line or two to ensure that you all know that Hedsor Jazz still exists!

Tonight, November 14th, we have our regular Clive Burton Quintet, so we are assured of some more melodic modern jazz!!

Next I just want to remind everyone that we do now have tickets on sale for our Christmas party. Our very special guest this year is one of my favourite singers, Tina May. Tickets will only be sold by either Dee or myself, and I have only printed 85 and some have already been sold from that total!

So if you want to come, buy your ticket now. They are £10 each, December 19^th 8 pm being the date and time and of course The Hedsor Social Club Big Room being the place. A light buffet will be included in that ticket price.

Tina May is being added to the list of world-class jazz musicians who have played at Hedsor Jazz.

In the next 2 weeks we hope to have another very popular musician play for us, I'll have to let you know about that one later.

Those of you who go to the Marlow Jazz Club will no doubt be aware that 2 really great gigs are coming up soon. Next Tuesday November 19^th Derek Nash and Vasilis Xenopoulos will be there, and on December 17^th Karen Sharp will be there with Art Theman. OK we have yet to have Derek Nash or Art Theman to Hedsor, but you can always sponsor a guest musician!!

That’s about it for now. Don’t forget if you don’t come out for live jazz there will come a time when it wont be there to go out to!!

Good Morning Jazz Fans

Autumn is developing and the summer sun has retreated, and it will be no good singing "Rain rain go away, come again another day"!

But there are some really nice things to look forward to. Hedsor jazz being just one. This Thursday we have our Regular Clive Burton Quintet, Mike Wills will be returning after taking extreme measures last week to hide from Tracey Mendham! It is always a surprise to hear the big sound from her tenor saxophone. Maybe her singing is more exuberant than admirable though!

Tracey's very good CD

She was another motorist caught up in the M25 last week. It took her 4 hours to get to Hedsor, and she played the entire evening on the energy of a cheese roll! Eventually sustenance was provided with one of my renowned omelettes at around midnight, whereupon she again departed to darkest Essex. Many lesser mortals would have rung in and said,"Sorry, wont be able to get there"!

Last week we would still have had a saxophonist though, because we had an unexpected guest sitting in which made the evening even more enjoyable. Alto player Len McCarthy was a very pleasant surprise, sounding a bit like Bruce Turner until you realised that he was really sounding like the guy Bruce studied under, Lee Konitz. Great fun was had by all (well maybe Clive found the evening a bit too eventful, he was heard to say, "it is only one night"!).

This week might be more predictable. Some of the tunes from the Keith Vitty days may well get played, and I will bring with me again some of he remaining copies of the Norden Farm CD, we did sell one last week. Having followed the band through more than 12 years I tend to forget that not everyone has a copy of the Norden Farm Concert already.

The famous Norden Farm Concert

One final item for this blog. I do have now tickets for the Christmas Party on December 19th. As you may recall our star guest this year is that lovely singer Tina May. Yes, she is my favourite, I have been known to extol her singing on FM Radio. The TV program "Airport" uses her "Come Fly With Me" as its signature tune! We are limiting ticket sales to just 85, and I very much want them to go to our regulars first. They are £10 each and it will be first come first served. I will only advertise this event outside of our club when I am satisfied you have got yours!

One of Tina's many CD's

Well that's it for now. Don't forget to tell people about my blog, and about Hedsor Jazz. Emails are still going astray, so word of mouth may become more reliable!

See you Thursday.

Geoff