Well, this is a novelty! A blog about jazz, from Geoff, and on a Tuesday!!

Last week I was away in East Anglia, visiting friends and relations, who, because of the isolation of the area from me, don’t get visited very often. Then one crams in too many people in too short a time. Hence, I didn’t get to Hedsor last week for a session which, I’m assured by those who did, was great.

The Helmet Replica at Sutton Hoo

This week on Thursday, we have our regular band back again!! The Clive Burton Quintet! Be prepared to hear some of the tunes from their book, ones we haven’t recently heard. You will recognise them, but please, don’t sing along with them!

Since getting home from last week trip I have been watching (so far only the first half) the BBC Prom on “Swing”.

What a joy to see many musicians we know. Some have played Hedsor, some we are still saving up for! One I don’t think we will ever be able to afford is Hiromi. She is an incredibly talented pianist whom I first hear about 12 years ago in Brecon. She trained alongside Vasilis Xenopoulos at The Berkley Collage of Music near Boston, Mass. and I must say I was surprised to see her being used as a replica for Mary Lou Williams. However she is an incredible musician and if you get the chance to see her, especially with her own trio, go for it.

We did see on that Prom though many others we know. I wonder if you noticed them all, and counted them off as Hedsor Players! It did seem this year as though the BBC have woken up to the fact that jazz musicians are really good musicians. And the music is worthy of being presented in its original form with some history of its story being told a well. There then IS a glimmer of hope after all.

In the ensemble were two saxophonists I have written about before, because I saw them a couple of years ago at the “late” Swanage Jazz Festival. Karen Sharp has played Hedsor a couple of times, but as yet, Robert Fowler hasn’t. They put out a CD on the 33 Records label a few years ago that is a wonderful piece of jazz to have at home. Paying and Playing tribute to Al Cohn and Zoot Simms called “Brandy and Beer” (cat number 33Jazz192) it is superbly played and recorded, and as the sleeve says ”Karen is in the left speaker and Rob in the right”!

A CD I mentioned a year or so ago was brought to mind by the BBC paying tribute to Mary Lou Williams. Yes, she is under represented under her own name in the record catalogues. However the Dutch Jazz Orchestra put out a CD in 2005 on the Challenge Records label playing music she wrote that had largely been unrecorded. It is well worth a listen. It’s titled “The Lady Who Swings the Band” and the cat number is CR73251.

Needless to say I think both the above CD’s are worth searching out.

Thinking of the BBC Proms broadcasting JAZZ, did anyone record the Mingus Prom? I missed most of it, heard some on the Radio, and would love to see as well as hear it. Bits of it are already on YouTube, but it would be nice to see all of it.

One last point today. I’m old fashioned, but I like actually owning the CD’s themselves, with their plastic boxes and their sleeve notes. I like holding the boxes as I listen, often referring to the notes even for recordings I have had for years. Sometimes it is good just to refer to the artwork that the recording has inspired.  I know that many people now would rather “stream” their music than collect it. Do bear in mind when you do this, that in buying the hard copies you do actually contribute towards the musicians who play on them, and to the companies that have actually taken the trouble to get it to you in the second place!!

AND do remember that music is still a living product. Live Jazz needs to be kept alive. It shouldn’t just be brought out as a quaint reminder of things past!