At Hedsor Jazz this week, for one week only, we are BACK TO NORMAL!!

We welcome back our recently irregular regular reed section, Mr Mike Wills!! He may still be trailing cloud of Australia behind him, but I doubt if he will be playing a didgeridoo!!

 Mike Wills, with John Coverdale, who was with us last week!

Sadly I have another commitment this Thursday, so I wont be part of the welcoming party, but do go along and for the immensely small sum of £6 you can welcome him back.

He will be with us the week after for our Christmas party on December 17^th, but we will have additional guests, including one of the UK’s most talented singers, Sarah Moule. With her, and another first time visitor to Hedsor, will be trumpet professor Steve Waterman.

Steve Waterman

An earlier start time of 8pm, and a slightly higher entry fee of £10 will give us the means of enjoying all the music and a half time buffet!

CD

It is a well known fact that I like lady singers, and last evening I sat down to watch a DVD, part of an album release, by a young singer that I hadn’t heard of. I should have done, as about 8 years ago she was voted as a BBC Rising Star.

Polly Gibbons is now in her 30’s, and the album I have watched (but not yet listened to) is called “The Many Faces of Love”. The DVD bit was recorded in Beverly Hills, California, although she is a native of Suffolk UK and the daughter of a pig farmer! She also has 6 sisters and a brother!

The DVD on the album was a live show, presenting some of the material from the CD (on Resonance Records RCD 1022), plus other music from her repertoire. With her on a couple of tunes is guest pianist Roger Kellaway, as well as the quartet on the album CD.

She is very good!! She has a big voice, and knows exactly how to sing a song and how to interact with her fellow musicians. On the basis of my watch of the DVD part of the album I can only heartily recommend it to all those of you who like lady jazz singers of a robust nature. There is plenty of evidence for her on YouTube, so do at least go and check her out. With some good fortune (which we all need from time to time) we should hear more from her in the future. I didn’t expect to enjoy the DVD, thinking it would be too glitzy, but she has certainly made an impact on me!!

So, until our Hedsor Christmas party, where we will also have a guest barmaid, I will say farewell!!

This week at Hedsor Jazz we are delighted to be able to welcome back guitarist John Coverdale as our guest.

I am still vividly remembering his appearance with The Clive Burton Quintet at St Piran's on September 26th. He appeared as a guest, and played amazingly. He held centre stage for about 1/2 hour and sadly I didn't get to record it! It will be a delight to welcome him back, so do come and enjoy a very talented musician.

Dont forget to get your ticket for our Christmas doo, £10 including light buffet, either from Dee on a Thursday (only 2 before the event! Scary eh, Christmas is very coming!) or from Cookham's Stationery Depot in the Parade.

CD 

I am in the process of listening to a new CD by Colin Town's Mask Orchestra. It is a 2 CD release, and I havent yet heard it all, but what I have heard so far is magical. 

It's a cross between an orchestra suite and a set of jazz pieces for a large band. All the tunes are originals, and all are inspired by works of stage drama. The quality of the players in the orchestra is terrific, and include Henry Lowther, Peter King, Simon Allen, Alan Skidmore and of course Colin Towns himself at the keyboard. All the music has been composed by Colin Towns, the CD notes and production are first class, and as I have said at the top, I think it's magical. It isn't Bop, it isn't 50's Modern jazz, but it IS very good!!
It's on Provocateur Records PVC1044

This week at Hedsor Jazz

We are pleased to welcome back one of Britain’s best tenor saxophonists, Simon Spillett.

Simon and his Quartet at St Piran's

Simon is an award winning musician, and a great friend to Hedsor Jazz (as we are to him!!). It will be great to hear him paired again with our own Clive Burton on trombone.

Do join us in this celebration of post war modern jazz, and YOU can then say you have gone for a burton!! Music starts at 8.30pm if you have paid your £6 to get in.

We are only 3 weeks away now from our Christmas Party on December 17^th. Tickets are now available at £10 each, and as is now usual, this price will include a light buffet supper. We start at 8pm on such occasions, just to give you more time to eat!!

Our guests this year will include two superb musicians who have never been to Hedsor Jazz before. Singer Sarah Moule and trumpeter Steve Waterman. Our regular bass player has been urging me to get Sarah along to Hedsor now for some months. She sings regularly with big band “The Sound of 17” for which Ken Rankine plays bass, (and has done so for many peoples lifetimes)! Sarah has a number of CD’s to her name, and also a number of YouTube appearances, try https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99qFjZQg42Y for starters.

For those elite who got to The St Piran’s Jazz Day you will not need to be told of Steve Waterman’s ability, as he was with us that day. For those who weren’t there (shame on you) don’t miss him again when he is playing so near to us and for so little an entrance fee. He is more than just good, he is the professor of jazz trumpet at Trinity Collage of Music!!

Until Thursday, drive (and walk) safely, after Thursday…….just carry on doing the same!

Geoff C

Another week, another chance to listen to Jazz at The Hedsor Social Club.

Despite the gloom and sadness caused by recent atrocious events, one bright spot every week is our gathering together at Hedsor, and listening to The Clive Burton Quintet and talking with each other about almost every topic under the sun!!

This is another week where our regular reed section goes walkabout, and in his place we have someone who has only been to Hedsor I think once before! He hasn’t been mentioned in my blog before either, so I guess I was painting railings when he was at Hedsor. Martin Nicholas I’m sure will be an asset to our evening, and I am looking forward to hearing him. I am told he likes playing the clarinet as well as a saxophone, which will be nice to hear.

Last week “I trailed my coat” about the guests for our Christmas Party on December 17^th.  Neither of our two guests has appeared before at Hedsor, and I am very excited to confirm that Singer Sarah Moule and trumpet star Steve Waterman have both agreed to be with us at our party.

I have a number of Sarah’s CD’s but have never heard her “live”. She is a tremendously talented singer. On her 2014 CD (cover below)  she sings the words of the late great Fran Landsman, and on this cd (“Songs from the Floating World”, Red Ram Records RAM002) she is accompanied by her husband pianist Simon Wallace. Also with her on various tracks of this release is among others another of my favourites, Nigel Price!

Our other guest you would have seen at the day of jazz at St. Piran’s School in September. Steve Waterman was alongside singer Gill Cook on that occasion and I thought it would be a treat to get him to Hedsor Jazz. Especially as he may well play alongside Sarah. He should fit in with our regular Quintet very well. Steve is professor of Jazz Trumpet at Trinity College of Music in London and visiting Jazz Trumpet specialist at The Royal Northern College Of Music and The Welsh College Of Music And Drama. He is also a very nice man!!

Here is a link to his website:- http://www.swjo.co.uk/about.html

 Steve Waterman alongside Gill Cook at St Piran's

So book your ticket, there will be some for sale this Thursday at £10 each. Do encourage others to venture out and enjoy good music, buffet food and great company on December 17^th. A poster for our party is reproduced below. Do feel free to download the artwork and print and display somewhere near you.

One further advance notice. On Thursday November 26^th we have as our special guest saxophonist Simon Spillett, so do come, and if you can, bring another along as well!!

In THAT way, we will keep live jazz alive at The Hedsor Social Club!!

HEDSOR JAZZ TODAY

I my be wrong, (but I think your wonderful), but I also think that today's version of The Clive Burton Quintet will be back to normal!! An original, guest free night! Well, that may be so, but you never know. The fact that we are a regular weekly jazz club does sometimes encourage some well know jazz figures to come and sit in, so there is always a level of expectation.

We are working hard to get some special guests to our Christmas party on December 17th. We are aiming for 2 who have never played at Hedsor before!! Watch this space. But keep your eyes on the road and your nose to the grindstone. You could possibly also get your backs to the wall, but I'm no athlete!!

Sorry for the brief blog, but it has been an amazingly busy week, and I'm just off out AGAIN!! Yesterday I was with the Great and the Good at St Clement Danes School Remembrance Day Service in Hertfordshire.

Don't forget we can only keep Hedsor Jazz alive every week by having an audience. Now THAT is up to you!!

TTFN

Geoff

After last weeks Halloween inspired evening, this week we have Guy Fawkes!! 

However, this week at Hedsor we do return to something like normality!!

We welcome back after a 3 week break (must be long railings!), our regular reed section, Mike Wills. Not that it will necessarily be the “regular” Clive Burton Quintet. Regular bass player Ken Rankine is accompanying singer Sarah Moule in London this week, so in his place (from last week in the audience) we have Steve Riddle.

Mentioning last week, it was good to see drummer Malcolm Potter again after about 8 years, back at Hedsor as a short notice dep for Martin.

Thinking again about last week I must say that I thought Tracey Mendham played the best I have ever heard her. Her tone was amazingly big, and due to Clive’s arrival being delayed, Tracey started off the evening without him, or the PA, and her self assurance and slightly different choice of tune was a real bonus. Her singing towards the end of the second set was also a revelation, and deserved the applause she got from the audience. Well-done Tracey. She mentioned to me afterwards that she has had a number of appearances recently with The Humphrey Lyttelton Band.

CD’s Listened to This past week.

I have been impressed by two this week, both on the Linn label. Now Linn are a renowned manufacturer of quality turntables, and all of their CD releases are of the finest recorded quality, and that is true of the two I have heard this week. I would point out that I do listen on reasonable quality equipment (Roksan Kandy KA-1 Amp, Marantz Signature Cd player with Cambridge Audio interconnects and Rega Jura speakers), and these two recordings sounded wonderful.

The first is by a gentleman singer that I haven’t listened to before, Joe Stilgoe. He accompanies himself on the piano, but has added a number of great British jazz musicians in this album mostly of his own songs called “New Songs for Old Souls”. It ranges from small group to Big Band, and although I am not generally a fan of male singers, I think this one makes for a refreshing 48 minutes. His style is reminiscent of Frank Sinatra in 1940’s,50’s mode, but almost all the tunes and lyrics are by Joe himself.  Well worth listening to, and reading some of the thought provoking lyrics reproduced in the booklet too. Linn AKD 484 if you want to refresh YOUR Hi Fidelity listening.

Also on the Linn label is a new release by David Newton, a great Scottish born pianist and one of the best in Britain. Here in trio form with Matt Skelton on drums and Tom Farmer on bass they play a selection of tunes made famous on the silver screen. It isn’t often you get to hear these tunes other than in their original settings, and the re-workings of “Chariots of Fire” and “Wouldn’t it Be Loverly” are worth the purchase on their own. But there IS much more to this trio CD than just those two tunes. The album is entitled “Big Screen Take One” and the CD number is Linn AKD 504. It will sound terrific on your Hi Fi too.

HOWEVER, the BEST Fi to listen to is LIVE MUSIC. Become and Audience, then the music will be able to continue!!

THIS WEEK we have as our guest  at Hedsor Jazz TRACEY MENDHAM

Two Photos of Tracey from a previous appearance at Hedsor

Below is a repeat of this week nagging email!

A quick round robin today just to remind you that we are celebrating Hedsor Halloween tomorrow night with the booting sound of Tracey Mendham and her array of saxophones!!

My mother always used to say the third one is never like the rest, and Tracey is the third saxophonist guest in the last  three weeks, so expect something special. 

If you want to get into the spirit of the Halloween occasion, try printing a mask. 

Follow the link below and lets "enghoul" ourselves tomorrow!!

https://neon.epson-europe.com/PDF/ScarySkeletonMaskPDF

TTFN

Geoff C

Who owns a Zafira and takes broadband etc from TalkTalk. Now should I start buying lottery tickets?

Ken McCarthy has just reminded me that if you are not already booked to go and see Lenore Raphael at Christ Church Marlow on Saturday this weekend (as I am), there is another super gig at Ickenham Village Hall, see below:-

Toots Music Management presents …..

Live Jazz @ Ickenham Village Hall

Saturday 24 Oct 2015, doors open 19.30

33 Swakeleys Rd, Ickenham, UB10 8DG 

 Nick Mills’ Blue Note Project

Featuring - Dave O Higgins, ten sax; Steve Fishwick,tpt;  Pete Billington,pno;  Mick Hutton, bass & Matt Skelton, drums.

A celebration of Blue Note legends such as Horace Silver, Freddie Hubbard, Art Blakey, Joe Henderson, Wayne Shorter and more. Regulars at Jazz Clubs throughout the UK and most recently headliners at the 2015 Ealing Jazz Festival, Nick Mills’ Blue Note Project authentically recreate the Blue Note sound with arrangements and classic compositions from artists of a golden era of music making. A formidable force not to be missed.               

Tickets, £12 – available from Pro Music International, Swakeleys Rd, UB10 8DF, on the door on the night or at

www.tootsmusicmanagement.co.uk/news-events

Licensed bar serving excellently priced beers, wines & soft drinks         

It has been nearly 4 weeks now since our day of jazz at St Piran’s School. A good day, but with a “but” and an “if only”! I must admit that I haven’t had a lot of time to catch up on jazz much since. I have done little listening to my collection of recordings at home, or gone further than Hedsor for my “weekly” fix of the live stuff. But, my normality is beginning to settle back.

It has sadly been interrupted by the need to go to two funerals. And this weekend past it was a choice of 2 out of a possible 4 in the same time frame. However friends and family did come first, and so on Friday we travelled to Salisbury and on Monday we were much nearer home. Sad though these occasions are, there is always a silver lining. The catching up with people whom you haven’t seen for a while.

Whilst away I was able to listen to some music on headphones via Spotify that I hadn’t got in my own collection, and thus I was reminded of how much we owe to the late Humphrey Lyttelton.

Once home I dug out a little known recording made by Humph in Canada. Only released in the UK in 2015 by Delmark Records it has Humph playing with Jim Galloway on reeds, Ed Bickert guitar, Neil Swainson bass and Terry Clarke on drums. It’s on the Sackville label as SK 3033 “Humphrey Lyttelton in Canada”. It is a fine mixture of mainstream recordings, recorded in 1983 during only his second visit to Canada. Many of the tunes you would have heard on earlier released Humph recordings (Looking for Turner, Lady Jekyll and Mistress Hyde and Caribana Queen for example) and include some work by Humph on clarinet as well as trumpet. It swings along nicely, and if you have never listened to either Ed Bickert or Jim Galloway before then this one becomes a “must”.

The other album liberated for a listen I have probably mentioned before. The Howard Alden Dan Barrett Quintet “Swing Street” on Concord CCD 4349, was first released in 1988. With the two named leaders are Chuck Wilson reeds, Frank Tate bass and Jackie Williams drums. This recording reminds me very much of the wonderful days of the Brecon Jazz Festival in its heyday. Precision playing and great swinging drive. Mostly the tunes are those you will have had a chance to hear somewhere else (Flying Home, Cotton Tail) but there are also some Buck Clayton tunes you may not have heard before and others that you may well have!! It is a worthwhile album to acquire or to place on your Christmas list! Again, if you have never heard a trombone playing note for note with a fingerpicker before, then go get it now! Dan Barrett is a formidable musician.

Talking of formidable musicians, at Hedsor we have two coming for you in our next two Thursday sessions.

This week (October 22^nd), Simon Spillett, last seen by me on September 26^th (wasn’t it great to hear him playing with the Remix, bringing alive those Tubby Hayes arrangements) will be alongside Clive Burton at Hedsor with, I strongly suspect, our regular rhythm section!!

And Next Week (October 29^th) hang on to your chairs, because Tracey Mendham is coming to (Hedsor) Town. Just in time to get you in the Halloween mood, this spot of the year has been traditionally reserved for Tracey and her great BIG tenor tone. A lovely Lady, she comes all the way from darkest Essex to entertain us, so do turn up, park your broomsticks at the door, and be hugely entertained. She herself will probably travel by car as she has a tenor and a baritone to bring, but do ensure you lock your broomstick, she has been known to fly!!

Most of our gigs at Hedsor start at 8.30pm and cost £6 to get in, and these two are no exception.

Another Week...

has gone by, how did I ever find time to go to work? 

So many things seem to have happened this week, including sadly the death of a friend, and another of a relative too. Both had lived to ripe old age, but again, one is saddened by loosing someone from ones circle of friends.

Then there was a car to get MOT'd and serviced, and finding I needed a new exhaust for that car. Getting it all sorted out and fitting all that in with a trip to the dentist, a starving blood test AND a trip to the optician's has brought us round again to THURSDAY. So here is a late blog!!Again!!

Tonight I am delighted to say that at Hedsor we have as a guest pianist Ken McCarthy. Always a delight to listen to, this week with I think the "standard" Clive Burton Quintet. However over the next few weeks this will change!!

Next week (October 15th) we have that delightful young man, and a lovely sounding saxophonist, Robert Goodhew with us. He is also, I might add, a very good photographer!! Below are two shots he took at the St Piran's jazz day.

 Mike Wills and Ken McCarthy

Alan Grahame

Robert will be in place of Mike Wills who is going abroad for about a month!!

So,in Mike's absence we have a succession of visiting saxophonists. The week after Robert on October 22nd we have Simon Spillett. It is really very good to have him back to Hedsor Jazz before he has a second stint at Ronnie Scott's (Sunday November 1st). It is a strange and wonderful thing about jazz, you can talk to the stars of our jazz world face to face, and hear them play acoustically, not over a vast PA system with a huge screen!

Our final guest this month, who has been complaining that she hasn't been to us enough this year, is Tracey Mendham! A lovely lady with a huge big tenor tone, she comes to help celebrate Halloween (well it's our nearest Thursday!) on October 29th.

I always think she looks very fetching with her pointed hat and flying stick!

So a month of delights. Tell your friends about Hedsor Jazz, we need your company, and theirs!!

CD Listened to this week

Whilst browsing a charity shop in Marlow (Upmarket charity shops there!!) I came across a Stacey Kent CD! One that I didn't already have in my collection.

"Let Yourself Go, Celebrating Fred Astaire" is a true delight. We know all the tunes, many of us have seen all the players before too. But the combination is a celebration  of all that is good about jazz. Good tunes, good singing, and excellent playing from her husband Jim Tomlinson, accompanied by Colin Oxley on guitar, David Newton on piano, Simon Thorpe on bass and Steve Brown on drums. It was recorded in 1999, is on the Candid label as CCD 79764 and is well worth seeking out. 

But you wont get it for what I was asked to pay for it, just 25 pence!!

OK, Hedsor will cost you a minimum of £6 to get in, but I bet Ken McCarthy will let you speak to him!!

The Hedsor Jazz Goes to School 

A SCHOOL REPORT

September 26th, (A Day that will live in Memory) has been and gone. And as Nigel Price said, “The Audience was small but perfectly formed!”.

Anyone, even everyone, who came, heard some wonderful jazz music with a great variety of styles, all performed to a very high standard. 

The facilities offered by St.Piran’s School were excellent. I must congratulate the school on it catering, talk about value for money! The comparison for anyone who had supported our previous day of jazz at The Crowne Plaza could not have been more marked!! If they all eat that quality of food every day, then the teaching staff and the children are very lucky indeed. 

The Tippet Hall facilities were excellent. I was impressed by the sound within the Tippet Hall. I was also impressed by the stage lighting. 

The bar, courtesy of The Crauford Arms was well stocked and the staff very helpful. Perhaps a course in speed coffee making might have been a good idea, but no one ever let it get them down.

The Headmaster , Jonathan Carroll, worked hard all day and helped to make it a very pleasant place to be for a day of jazz. I will mention one other member of St.Pirans staff by name (the name I know anyway), Matt. Those of you there on the Saturday would not have seen him, but he was a great help on Friday setting up and teaching me how to work the lights. He was also there on Saturday after you had all gone home, helping to clear up afterwards. Here I must also say a thank you to many of YOU, who also made a swift job in helping to put away the chairs.

Clive Burton. Where would be without him? He worked hard all day long, playing, announcing, moving equipment about, and providing us with his own PA for the day. He was ably assisted by Jan, who hosted the musicians in their Green Room.

Was it a success?

Musically and socially without a doubt. Financially, sadly no. In my defence I will say that we advertised as much as possible, but that four letter word “jazz” was in all the adverts, and we only had about 1/3rd of the audience numbers we really needed. 

We tried!! We had mentions on local radio (thank you Marlow FM and Michael Eagleton in particular), we had adverts in local papers, London Jazz News, Town and Around. All of the Public Schools in the area were canvassed for their support. Posters were in place in Maidenhead, Cookham, High Wycombe and Marlow and many other places, libraries, Supermarkets, even Maidenhead Town Hall! But the support wasn’t forthcoming. 

Thank you to all who did turn out. You turned down the attractions of a sunny day and the rugby (both of course being on free offer!). Sadly not everyone did!

For those who did come, I know it was a great musical experience. Someone wrote afterwards that to get so many well known jazz musicians in one place on one day was a great achievement. 

But it IS to the musicians that my final remarks must be addressed. Thank you all for your great support, for continuing to play “in the sticks” for us, and for keeping Hedsor Jazz on your gig list.

It was as one person remarked, a marathon day of jazz. Well done everyone!! Thank you all for coming, whether listeners or players. 

Our next Hedsor special event will be in October when Tracey Mendham will be coming on a day very near Halloween!!

Below I have placed some of the photos that I took from my lighting operators position at the back of the hall.

Clive Burton playing one of Dawkes Plastic Trombones

John Coverdale, who sat in in the second half of the Clive Burton Set

Mike Wills with John Coverdale

Alan Grahame during the Martin Hart Tribute to Benny Goodman

The Remix Jazz Orchestra

Simon Spillett who joined the Remix Jazz orchestra to play Tubby Hayes Charts

Jill Cook, who was joined by Steve Waterman to great effect

John Critchinson, always superb

No jam at the end, but a super blues from Nigel Price's Organ Trio 

with Vasilis Xenopoulos

Hedsor Jazz only has a short time now before it goes to school!!

Our day of jazz at St Piran's School in Maidenhead is getting ever nearer. Slowly more people are becoming aware of the significance of the event. In the next two issues of The Maidenhead Advertiser we will have 1/4 page adverts for the day. Do ensure that you do not miss it. I still have a few tickets left, and there will be more available now on the door on the day.

We do still have 2 more Thursdays to go before Saturday 26th. And I do believe that this week, we have a completely current "Clive Burton Quintet" to play for us at Hedsor.

It IS a super band. Recently we have had other musicians in the audience who have come just to hear "our" band. 

One wrote recently:- 

Hi Geoff,

I enjoyed the music at Hedsor again on Thursday.  Great band ....

So don't forget, you can get 2 hours of great jazz every Thursday at Hedsor for just £6. 

CD Listened to this week

It is one that has been in my collection for some years, but due to the need to rest my eyes after a minor investigation, I pulled out a compilation disk of MP3 recordings to listen via my laptop.

"Soulmates" is the title of an album first produced in 1994 by drummer Butch Miles and guitarist Howard Alden. It is on the nagel heyer label (LC02932) and is a real cracker! It was recorded live (you know what I mean, there was an audience there!) in Hamburg. It swings, it fizzes and is an all together great jazz album. Tunes include "Lady Be Good", "Azalea", and "Tickle Toe". And the lineup? In addition to the two "Soulmates" already mentioned above there is Randy Sandke on trumpet, Harry Allen on tenor sax and Frank Tate on bass. They generate enough energy to sound very like the Count Basie band. It is still available for under £9 as it was reissued in 2002!!

However Great Jazz will always need an audience, or there wont be any!!

Hedsor and All that Jazz

or maybe this week it should be "Swing that Music", as in an effort to raise awareness of "our" school day on September 26th at St Pirans, I was invited to say a few words about it on Michael Eagleton's Sunday evening Marlow FM program of that name.

If you didnt get to hear me (and the music I played) live, you can still catch up by going to :-

www.marlowfm.co.uk/listenagain/index.php?programmeID=18&episodeID=20651

Aint science wonderful!

Marlow, but NOT FM!

As The Hedsor Jazz Day at St Pirans is very much a preoccupation of mine at the moment, you may be interested to know that I have got a piece about it on Sebastian Scotney's "London Jazz News". Have a look at :-

http://www.londonjazznews.com/2015/09/news-hedsor-jazz-goes-to-school.html

It is letting people know about "our" event that is the real key. Do let friends and family know about it. We need to sell the day hard now, with only 17 days to go we do need to sell more tickets.

Our regular Thursday evening session at Hedsor this week will have a couple of changes to the personnel. On drums we will be Mike Jeffries, and on keyboard Ken McCarthy.

Today's blog is a short one, the admin of the St Pirans day is taking up most of my spare time (what spare time?). No matter how long ago you start planning an event, it is ALWAYS the last few days that become the busiest, so this will be it for now.

TTFN

Geoff C

Allergic reactions aside, I gather Hedsor Jazz and Simon Spillett went down very well last week. I was just sorry NOT to be part of it!

This week, the regular band perform, but with bass player John Monney in place of Ken.

John was the original bass player with Keith Vitty's Century Jazz and it will be great to see him again teamed up with Clive. John has also had a struggle recently with a leg problem and hasn't been able to visit us even as a guest, so it will be especially good to see him with us at Hedsor.

Because of my chemical reactions, I slept for about 3 days, so I don't have anything really exciting to write about this week. But if you tune it to Marlow FM

around 9pm this Sunday night, September 6th, you will be able to hear ME talking about our Day of Jazz at St Piran's School. I hope to be able to play some of the recordings I have made at Hedsor of some of the people coming to play on 26th September. 

No, I wont be taking over the program, Michael Eagleton

has more knowledge of jazz and more CD than I have and certainly doesnt need any help from me. He has done a magnificent job of keeping the jazz flame alive in the local area since the very early 1970's. But I do have some private recordings of the people coming on September 26th that I think you may enjoy a sample listen to. So if you can tune in to 97.5FM if you are within rang, or listen on line via 

www.marlowfm.co.uk/programmes/swing/index.html

EMails.

Please be aware that my email address book has been hacked, so you may be "approached" by various concerns and people wishing to get you to reveal all. As you should know by now it is important to be secure online, so please ensure you have computer security on your various devices, that it is up to date, and that you occasionally scan for nasties. 

Even so things do get through. TalkTalk have had a security breach via The Carphone Warehouse. They "were subject to a sophisticated and coordinated cyberattack, along with a number of similar sites". If you haven't changed your passwords recently, than I would advise you to do so.

I will be using my Tiscali email address a lot less often in the future!!

On that "happy" note, I will say TTFN and urge you to get you tickets for the St Piran's day very soon. It is now only 3 weeks away!! 

I now need to learn how to sleep at nights!

Preoccupations!

I must apologise to the fans of HEDSOR JAZZ that due to my preoccupation with the day of jazz at St Piran's School on September 26th I have been less active on my blog front. 

Today I am blogging to tell you that on Thursday this week Hedsor jazz presents one of the best saxophonists in the country, Simon Spillett.

Simon will also be at the St Piran's day of jazz in more than one capacity. 

He will be joining The Remix Jazz Orchestra, directed by Stuart Henderson, in the performance of some of Tubby Hayes Big Band scores.If this were his only part of "Hedsor Jazz Goes to School" it would be worth the price of the ticket. Nowhere else are you going to be able to hear a live presentation of some of Tubby's big band music presented with such authority.

Later in the evening Simon will also be playing with his own quartet, John Critchinson, Alec Dankworth and Clark Tracey. You would pay more to hear THEM at Roni's than the price for our entire day!! 

This Thursday you can come and here Simon for Just £6, yes, Just £6!!

Simon has been a good friend to Hedsor Jazz, and alongside Clive and our regular rhythm section you will hear everyone in a different light, as somehow, they all bring out the best in each other. It will be another "special" Hedsor night!

So, tell your friends. Not only about this Thursday, but about Hedsor Jazz at St Pirans.

www.stpirans.co.uk

 I still have some of the especially reduced rate tickets for September 26th but come and get them from me VERY SOON!!

OK. Back to the day job, yes, computers go wrong, AND now you have Windows 10 to learn as well.

Geoff C

Holiday Times

BUT our audience at Hedsor Jazz has been a good one for the last few weeks, long may that trend continue!! We have had some excellent sessions from the various shapes of The Clive Burton Quintet, guest saxophonists and guest bass players et al.

I myself this last week have been plagued with one of those weeks where everything has gone wrong, cars, computers, radios, cables, printers, I am obviously supposed to be going to Ninerva but didn’t set out on the journey!! (Do read up the story of Jonah)!! I’m off to Ipswich this weekend, so a collective crossing of fingers is required!

Our jazz this Thursday is again with our regular guys, so there will be an assured quality about the whole thing. Do tell your friends. I know that one or two of you have done so already, and have brought them with you. Once they know of our rich jazz quality at Hedsor, they do want to come again.

It IS that rich jazz quality that I want to demonstrate in our “Hedsor Jazz goes to school” day at Maidenheads St Pirans School. All bar one of the musicians who are on the bill have played at The Hedsor Social Club on a Thursday, and when you see the cast list, you yourself will be surprised. Please do buy a ticket and come for this splendid day. I don’t really want to mortgage my house again!

Below there is a timetable of who and when, it really will cause you a problem of choice!

OK it is now half past 77!!

Well, almost a week has gone by, so I can say “how time flies”.

Last weeks celebration of survival was a very enjoyable affair. The food provided was pretty edible! (Really it was wonderful, thank you Jan and June), and the music was excellent.

Robert Goodhew, our guest saxophonist, is getting better and better. His tone is big, with time and space for the thoughtful improvisations he is producing. His version of “Tickle Toe” was inspiring, and so reminiscent of Lester Young.

The Quintet rose to the occasion too. The larger than average audience always helps, but our Hedsor Jazz, hidden in the outback of Bourne End, is something to cherish. The music is of a very high standard, and I am proud to be associated with it.

Not that it cannot improve with education!! Which is why “Hedsor Jazz is going to school”. September 26^th will place our regular guys on the same stage and on the same day as some of the best in the country. It is now only 5 weeks away, so do make sure you get your ticket by going on line to www.stpirans.co.uk or coming to see me at Hedsor on a Thursday.

This week we are back to our normal sized Clive Burton Quintet, but on bass this week we will have Steve Riddle, a great bass player and king of the motor cycle!

CD Heard This Week.

I am a fan of the Stride Piano style. It is exciting and fun. There is an American lady pianist called Judy Carmichael and I managed to purchase on of her earlier CDs this week as an American import. Entitled “Pearls”, it was recorded in 1991 and features Warren Vache on cornet, Howard Alden on guitar, and Red Callender on bass.  Jazzology JCD 204. It is light swinging and fun. I think you will be richly rewarded by the music if you can find a copy.

The title is taken from the tune by Jelly Roll Morton called “The Pearls” and I am reminded what a great tune it is. Dare I say, it could be played by a “modern” jazz group to great advantage! Because it is deemed “ragtime” modern jazz musicians often forget what good tunes there are from “back in the day”. Not all modern jazz tunes have to be composed in the 1950’s. One of the strengths of the pioneers of jazz was their ability to take hold of popular tunes of the day and translate them into jazz. So lets have a list of recently composed and popular tunes that could be used with “our” Quintet at Hedsor, and we will see what happens!!

That’s it for now folks, just tell your friends about Hedsor Jazz, and about our very special day on September 26^th.

PS Message for Clive!!

I visited Dawkes this week, who will have a stand at our St Pirans day. Jon showed me a PLASTIC trombone, light enough for a child to hold, that costs just £125!!