Jazz from Geoff this week reviews last week at Hedsor Jazz and looks forward to next week! Just like I usually do!

Last weeks session, very much organised at the last minute due to Alan Grahame being still in a recovery state from The Winter Ailment, had Robert Goodhew playing alongside Terry Hutchins on guitar. It was a tremendous session, with Robert in great form. I know I have written about him before, and I still wonder why he isn’t now famous. He is such an accomplished young player. His feature in the second set, “Spring is Here”, was beautiful, and brought out the very best in all of the “boys in the band”. Over the years, since Vasilis introduced him to us at Hedsor, Robert has gained in musical maturity. It would be wonderful to see him gain as much appreciation as Vasilis himself now does.

This week we have two musicians coming who really don’t need much plugging from me. We have Lester Brown on trumpet and Kelvin Christiane on reads, both well respected by our Hedsor Jazz Audience. And there may be more, like 2 reeds in one mouth! It has happened at Hedsor Jazz before! There might even be someone to sing, but, it is jazz and therefore all improvised (but behind a framework of organisation!).

Our bass player last week was Steve Riddle. Two weeks ago he was so well dressed when he arrived I thought he might have mistaken the venue. Last week, as you might be able to see from the photos below, he was dressed in his motorcycle leathers! No, we aren’t the Ace Café and the story is that his car refused to start. He managed to organise a friend to bring an amplifier for his electric bass stick, and came on his motorbike with the stick bass strapped to his back! He had recovered enough by the second set to actually play his wonderful bass solos! Back in the 50’s I used to travel to gigs with a drummer! Easy enough with a trumpet, BUT we went by Underground!!

Don’t forget that Thursday Week we have a very special night with Sue Greenway and Mike Wills playing the music of Zoot Sims and Al Cohn. One or two of you have now notice the deliberate mistake in the poster for this event. When asked “one m or two” I managed to make it two! I’m sure the music on the night (not “of the night”) will be worthy of at least two m’s so do come yourselves and bring a friend, that would be MMMarvelous!

Thinking of gigs and travel arrangements in the 1950’s, I watched again last night a BBC 4 program called “Smokey Dives..jazz faces and places”. All wonderful nostalga, and you definitely would not get away with it now! I don’t know if it is still, or ever has been, on YouTube. It was a film made in 2001 and I had it recorded from a 2010 broadcast. If anyone wants to borrow a DVD of it let me know, it’s an hour long program but it does show what the jazz world was like in my earlier days.

One final mention. I purchased a cd this week, one that has been around for some time with different artwork, but all of a famous (but until last week not owned by me) recording from 1957. “Stan Getz and JJ Johnson at The Opera House” is a recording of two live concerts from promoter Norman Granz days. It is great jazz, live performance by musicians who had played with everyone and pretty well knew everything. On these two occasions they were invited to sit down and play together, and just like at Hedsor, there was very little pre arrangement. But they all got it right. It is wonderful mainstream fed bop!!

My copy is on Verve 831 272-2

Hedsor Jazz

This week our guest list is subject to change again from our advertised program I’m afraid.

Alan Grahame who has recently been unwell still hasn't recovered sufficiently for him to be with us. We really do want him to get well soon, and we will get him back to Hedsor just as soon as we can.

In his place I am pleased to announce that saxophonist Robert Goodhew is coming to join us. He will be alongside guitarist Terry Hutchins. We have had that combination before I think, so it will be an evening of interest and melody. Usual 8.30pm start and for the usual bargain entry price of just £7

Next week we have a return of “our” trumpeter Lester Brown, and he will have with him a saxophonist who is becoming a regular supporter of Hedsor Jazz, Kelvin Christiane.

Last time when Kelvin came as a replacement (at very short notice) for Alan Grahame he brought his wife Leslie with him and she sang for us. You never know, she may come with him again!

In two weeks time on March 7^th we have a very special evening celebrating the music of Al Cohn and Zoot Simms, two American saxophonist who had a very special rapport and produced some wonderful tunes and some wonderful jazz.

Sadly we cannot have them with us on the 7^th March, (some of us might be scared of ghosts!), but we will have two well loved saxophonists to present the tunes and arrangements of Al And Zoot for us, Sue Greenway and Mike Wills. 

They will of course be backed by our regular rhythm section. I have prepared some poster, and I will include the artwork for them below. Please try and let as many jazz loving friends as you can know about this special evening and if you can us a poster I will bring some with me on Thursday.

Some of you will by now have realised that we haven’t run our regular raffle for a few weeks. I am pleased to say that on March 7^th we will have it back!

What we plan to do is to build up a stock of prizes that you, the generous public, donate.

We will do this over the next 2 Thursdays and Polly will be collecting and endeavouring to maintain a stock of donated gifts for our raffle.

As you know, the raffle isn't charged for and is just a bit of fun, but a number of you have been very sad not to have had it as part of your evening out. So we hope to keep it going at no cost to you, OR to Hedsor Jazz!! So books, dvd’s, cd,s, biscuits and similar objects will be gratefully received and redistributed as the raffle draw dictates. I am hoping that we can persuade a well know drawer of raffles to come and do it all again.

Below are some of my photos of last week’s session

Hedsor, and all that JAZZ

This coming Thursday (February 14^th) is, according to the weather people, going to be the warmest day of the year so far. And I think you will find that a great (Hot?) session awaits you at Hedsor Jazz.

Those taking part this week don’t really need an introduction. Anyone who has been following Hedsor Jazz for over the past 8 years or so will know them, and appreciate them all!

Tenor Saxophonist Simon Spillett

Trumpet and Flugel Horn Stuart Henderson

Keyboard Ken McCarthy

Bass Peter Hughes

Drums Martin Hart

The only other vital information that you need to know is the entry fee is only £7, and the starting time is 8.30pm.

Oh, yes, it is at The Hedsor Social Club, not Ronnie Scott’s!

Last week we almost had no one we expected!! Our pre booked guests were both unavailable, and our pianist needed a night off!

So, in a last minute reorganisation we had a very willing and able Kelvin Christiane on reeds, who replaced a poorly Alan Grahame. Guitarist John Coverdale who replaced a clarinet player who just had to go on a cruse (Martin Nickless), together with Steve Riddle on bass, Ken McCarthy on keyboard and of course we had Martin Hart on drums. 

We also had an unexpected but very welcome addition. Lesley Christaine came and sang 4 tunes for us. 

So last Thursday can only be described as not only very pleasantly unexpected, but eclectic as well!! (The dictionary definition says This describes a combination of many different individual elements of styles, themes, mediums or inspirations pooled from many sources. It can refer to musical tastes, dress sense, interior design...many things). 

In other words it was a great session!! and I can only thank all the musicians who came and made it such a splendid evening. 

My photos, and some Geoff Swaffields, are below

Next week (Feb 21st) we anticipate having Alan Grahame with us, we do hope he can make it, and with him will be guitarist Terry Hutchins.

Kelvin will be back with us on February 28th

Further Jazz News

I have received the following press release about the Swanage Jazz Festival :-

MEDIA RELEASE

Date: 30 January 2019

For Immediate Publication

Swanage Jazz Festival to run in 2019

Swanage Jazz Festival is back on track and will run again in July 2019.  Following doubts about its future, a new nine-strong group of Swanage residents has stepped in to form a new organising committee, following an initiative led by Swanage Town Council.

Much loved by musicians and audiences, Swanage Jazz Festival was run by a local organising committee for 28 years before they decided to close the Festival in 2017 owing to advancing age and ill health.  The esteemed jazz guitarist Nigel Price stepped in to stage a highly praised Festival in 2018 but he decided that owing to professional commitments he could not continue to run the event in 2019 and beyond.

An initiative led by the Mayor of Swanage, Councillor Mike Bonfield has resulted in a group of local residents stepping forward to pick up the reins.  They are working closely with Nigel Price to effect a smooth handover.

The 2019 Festival will take place on the weekend of 13/14 July. It is likely to be a rather smaller event than in previous years, but it is hoped that the Festival will return to full strength in 2020 and beyond.  The new Festival management group is being advised and supported by Paul Kelly who has been involved in jazz promotion since the mid-1970s.

Councillor Mike Bonfield said, “We stage over 60 events each summer in our picturesque town and the much-loved Swanage Jazz Festival plays an important role in maintaining the vibrancy and tourism offer we have.  We are grateful to Nigel Price for the work he did and wish him our warmest thanks.  We would have been very sorry to have seen the Festival close.  I am delighted that the Council has managed to find and encourage a new group of residents to maintain this long-standing event that has proved so popular in the past. We look forward to seeing Swanage Jazz Festival grow back to a major event in the national jazz calendar over the years ahead.”

Paul Kelly, Chair, Swanage Jazz Festival 

Swanagejazzfest@gmail.com   

Note to Editors:

1.                  The Festival Marquees on Sandpit Field, Swanage which have been a hallmark of the Festival in past years will not be running in 2019. But it is possible the marquees will return in future years.

2.                  Until the new Festival Committee have secured venues for the 2019 Festival, the nature of the 2019 programme cannot be established and thus no artist bookings can be made.  The Festival Committee are addressing this as matter of priority. 

At least it is good to know that the town’s own people have realised the cost of NOT running a Jazz Festival. When it was assessed last year the town looked to loose £400,000 in lost income from the weekends jazz fans. At that time they kind of assumed that “someone else” would take on the effort (and worry!) of organising it for them. With all my heart I do hope the new local team manage to resurrect it and keep it going. The Swanage Jazz Festival had become one of the longest standing and most enjoyable festivals in the UK.

One final item of Parish News. I have had an email from our one time Brunel music student Rory.

Tones is a project showcasing the latest artistic talent at Brunel and the surrounding area of Uxbridge and West London, themed around colours. 

Please forward this on to anyone who would be interested in taking part, performing or displaying artistic work. 

Deadline for replies to the email address or 'phone on the poster is Friday 1st March, 6pm. 

Thank you for your cooperation, in advance.

Kind regards,

Rory Windass

Below is the poster art that was attached to his email.

Well, that’s enough for one day, see everybody on Thursday.

IF THERE WERE PRESSES TO STOP

We would need to stop them, for tonight we have another reorganisation!

Alan Grahame isn't able to be with us today as he isn't feeling too well. 

SO accompanying guitarist John Coverdale tonight we have saxophonist Kelvin Christiane.

I think he did get home last week, but maybe he felt he needed to play another 1/2 hour. 

Whatever, we are very grateful that he will return to Hedsor Jazz TONIGHT.

Lets start with a little look back to last week. 

Lots of disruption caused by snow AGAIN.

SO thanks go especially to the band who were all there before the audience (in every sense of the word “before”). Then thanks again to you, our intrepid audience. At least 20 of you made it, and we did have a very good sociable and musical evening. Sensibly due to the falling snow we shortened the evening by half an hour, this for the first time EVER! I do hope all of you got home safely.

Below are my photos of the evening (well of the band anyway), albeit a little on the colourful side as for some reason my camera refused to flash (too cold for a flasher?) and it managed the evening  all on “night time” settings.

Now there is a little story associated with the request that was played in the truncated second half. Our “celebration” quintet don’t often ask for, or get requests from, the audience for tunes to be played, something that we often did at Hedsor in the past. Once Upon a Time one member of the audience, who sadly is no longer with us, used to bring a list of tunes every week and hand them to Clive! However the (verbal) request made last Thursday came from me, and this is why.

My request was “I Can’t Get Started”, a popular song, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin and music by Vernon Duke written in 1936.

It became very popular around 1938 when it was played and recorded (in fact twice) by trumpet player and band leader Bunny Berigan (it had originally been sung by Bob Hope in the 1936 Zeigfeld Follies)!

Now, I usually try and listen ever Saturday to BBC Radio 3’s “Jazz Record Requests”, and the second Bunny Berigan version of the tune has become the most requested tune on that program. 

However a couple of weeks ago a request came in for a song by Nancy Wison from an album she recorded in 1961 with alto saxophonist Cannonball Adderley. The song was “Happy Talk”, which in fact didn’t have Cannonball Adderley on it anyway (it did have pianist Jo Zawinul, an Austrian pianist who later came to fame with Miles Davis and later with "Weather Report")!

So what is the link to my requested song? On the LP release of Nancy Wilson and Cannonball Adderley that “Happy Talk” tune is on, “I Can’t Get Started” is played as an instrumental on side 1! No singer, no trumpet! I just thought it would be fun just to see what “our” band of musicians made of it. Didn’t they do well!! And my thanks to Kelvin Christiane who took up the challenge made by me during the interval!

"That" LP Cover

So what of this weeks Jazz at Hedsor?

This week clarinettist Martin Nickless was supposed to be joining forces with vibraphone star Alan Grahame. Sadly for us, he has “had” to go on a cruse! In his place, with feet firmly on the ground, will be guitarist John Coverdale. On keyboard we will have Ken McCarthy, plus of course a bass player of their choice and the drummer of ours, Martin Hart!

So as the used to say in the first days of coffee bars “be there or be square”!

PS. I have NO IDEA why some of the blog text this week has been published with a white background. I didn't request that one!