What, we had another Bank Holiday? 

Yes, and we still have a Hedsor Jazz night to look forward to!

This week our guests are clarinet player Martin Nickless who will be kept company by guitarist Max Brittain.

Martin Nickless

Max Brittain

They will be backed by our returning drummer maestro Martin Hart, Nigel Fox on keyboard and Peter Hughes on bass. Altogether another of Hedsor Jazz’s quality products!

Last week (photos below) we had another of those sessions featuring Lester Brown on trumpet and Mark Aston on saxophones (Yes, he did bring his 1920’s baritone sax again). Lester and Mark work well together and some melodic tunes were played. If you missed them (how dare you!) or you would like to re-live the evening again I recorded the evening and it is available via my DropBox, follow

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/nb5y54dyz1p3xbp/AADxJhz4vbCtblJj4QzqGoDNa?dl=0

You will find artwork for a cd cover in the folder as well in pdf form.

Photos from Last weeks concert

Hedsor Jazz is still maintaining it’s link with Brunel University. You may remember that we had Rory last year helping us promote Hedsor Jazz through Facebook. Rory was a music student at Brunel, and this year we are getting the help for 4 weeks from 2 foreign students who are completing degree’s in Business Studies. I went to meet them at Brunel last week, and they plan to help us by using Instagram. In order for them to fully understand our needs, they plan to be with us at Hedsor this Thursday.

The kind of modern jazz played at Hedsor originated in the late 1940’s. I originated slightly before that, so it isn’t surprising that I know nothing about the more modern means of communication. At least I blog and email, but we do need more modern means of getting the secret of Hedsor Jazz out to a wider, and dare I say, younger audience.

Well, like the carton character says, “That’s it for now folks”. I still have a bank holiday to catch up on!

Correction, or addition, call it what you will (I'm sure you will call it my mistake!), but those of you with a calendar will have notice I was describing June 6th as next week.  

No, it isnt. Next week is May 30th, and our guest musicians will be Martin Nickless on clarinet and Max Brittain on guitar. They will be backed by our returning drummer, Martin Hart,with Nigel Fox on keys and Peter Hughes on bass. Martin Nickless has been to us before, and Max has been to us many times before. Both are good reasons to come out to listen to LIVE JAZZ at Hedsor Jazz.

Here they both are at Hedsor in 2017

June 6th is still just as exciting as it was earlier in the week!

You may feel that Hedsor Jazz pails into insignificance compared to our Euro Vote this Thursday.

On the other hand you may feel that some level of sanity and cross border cooperation can really be had at Hedsor Jazz. So I hope you can all vote with your feet (and £7) to come and see Lester Brown, Mark Aston, Peter Hughes, Mike Jeffries (yes, Martin IS still in Europe!), and Nigel Fox have a lively jazz debate on Thursday. I’m sure many colours will be represented, even if “All Blue”. It could be “The Lady in Red” or even “On Green Dolphin Street”. Voting isn’t compulsory in this country, but to keep live jazz alive, it kind of is!

Another compulsive must for me is to rejoice that the Swanage Jazz Festival is after all happening this year, albeit in a reduced format. Go to www.swanagejazzfestival.co.uk for a full program of who and where.

As I get older (haven’t you noticed?) I get slower, and I haven’t yet mastered the recording I made of last Thursdays Hedsor Jazz concert with Gill Cook. It was arranged at short notice as Alan Grahame has been unwell. We read it out last Thursday, but here is the text of Alan’s message to us:-

Subject The Club. Morning Geoff. Just to say I am so sorry I can't do tonight....still a bit under the weather.. but improving. And to say thank you to you and all your lovely people for the card and good wishes. I know Martin is not with you tonight but please pass on my regards to all. I will be in touch. Best wishes. Alan.

It was sad that Alan wasn’t with us last week, but Gill Cook performed splendidly. I have heard her many times, but I think last Thursday was the best I had ever heard her. Mike Jeffries, who was on drums last week, and had played for her at the St Pirans Jazz Festival a few years ago , said that she sang with so much more confidence than on that occasion. Another member of our audience said how well the combination of Ken McCarthy and John Coverdale worked, and I thought so too. You could see the big smiles on their faces. Top flight musicians using their individual talents and having fun. All in all another magical Hedsor Jazz night.

This week will be the last of the 3 week stint that Mike Jeffries has been on drums for us whilst Martin Hart has been away. Can I say a BIG THANK YOU to him. Some of the credit for the last three weeks of harmonious music goes to Mike. We will invite you back!

Do look back on past blogs. Most of our forthcoming gigs are advertised in them. Next Week (June 6^th) we have Stuart Henderson and Duncan Lamont Jr.  with us again. I will have to ask special permission if I am to come to this one, as it is my wife’s birthday! I really must get a card!

Photos from last week’s gig  (some of mine and some from Geoff Swaffield) are below.

Another week, another issue of Geoff’s blog.

This week at Hedsor Jazz we welcome singer Gill Cook alongside guitarist John Coverdale. As you may have read, Gill is a short notice replacement for Alan Grahame, who has again been taken ill with a respiratory problem. Martin is still on tour, as is “our Nigel” so our rhythm section will be Ken McCarthy on keyboard, Terry Davis on bass and Mike Jeffries on drums.

Gill Cook at an Ealing Jazz Festival

Those of us who were at Hedsor last week signed the “get well” card for Alan, so it just leaves me saying here to Alan, “Get Well Soon. I have a feeling we have you booked in for July 11^th, so no pressure then!” Joking aside Alan, all the best for a full recovery.

I would draw your attention to a very special, and somewhat unusual, gig coming to us on June 13th. The award winning guitarist Nigel Price is coming to Hedsor to play with just our rhythm section. This should be a very interesting event, and I have produced a poster for you all to put up somewhere where others will notice it.

An unusual gig? Well Nigel doesn’t do solo gigs very often, he is usually fully employed with his own organ trio, so it is a rare treat to have him come out on his own for us at Hedsor.

Last weeks session with Lester Brown and Duncan Lamont Jnr was another excellent session. They really do work well together. I think it is the first time ever at Hedsor that we have had a bass player sing, but our bass player of the week Terry Davis did, on his feature number, including individually modified lyrics!

Duncan also produced a first. He got the band to read and play (yes, they can do that!) his own composition in homage to Art Blakey of “Jazz Messengers” fame, “Art for Arts Sake”. Duncan pointed out that many famous modern jazz musicians passed through that band. What Duncan didn’t mention was that many who did picked up Art’s drug habit as well!

Pictures from last week below.

Don’t forget to let others know of the tremendous jazz that is available at Hedsor every Thursday. I was talking with bass player Nick Pugh on Saturday and he thinks Hedsor Jazz is the longest running weekly jazz club around in this part of the world. He could be right. Just spread the fame!

Breaking News

We have had to change the guest players for our May 16th evening. 

We were hoping that Alan Graham would be with us, but unfortunately he is again unwell, and wont be able to be with us. I know we all wish him a speedy recovery and look forward to when he can again be with us at Hedsor Jazz. Please make it soon Alan.

I am delighted however that at short notice singer Gill Cook will be joining with John Coverdale for that evening. Gill last sang for my birthday event last August and it will be great to have her with us again. Do look for her YouTube video's at

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg_SnXCLOaBa-VLJUJaoIxg

Dont forget that this week we have Lester Brown and Duncan Lamont jnr

Hedsor Jazz always has music to look forward to, but sometimes we hear from attendees that they have really enjoyed what they came to hear. Last week was no exception. We had a nostalgic return of “our” reed section, Mike Wills. Still not able to drive until later in the year it was very pleasing to have guitarist Jezz Cook bring him and accompany him for last Thursdays session.
 One of our regulars emailed me thus:

“…regarding last Thursday's jazz, which I enjoyed immensely. It was great to see, and hear,  Mike Wills again, who seemed to be playing out of his skin! He was absolutely fantastic. The same must be said of the interplay between Mike and Jezz Cook - truly wonderful. All the musicians put in stellar performances which contributed to an exceptional night of Jazz. Great musicianship by ALL concerned”

We don’t always get sentiment like that put into emails, but I will say that that is also my feeling about the sessions we run at Hedsor Jazz. First Class musicianship, First Class jazz. 

So a great big THANK YOU to all the musicians who come and play for our Hedsor Jazz audience. I feel it has been a privilege to have been a small part in keeping Hedsor Jazz going every week for over a decade.

Sometimes however we could do with a larger audience, so do consider our published list of forthcoming gigs, and consider coming perhaps more often than you do. Yes, I know this is read by the dedicated, but tell your friends what they are missing.

AND it costs a lot less than a ticket for a ladies cup final ticket (£15)!

AND if you have been to Ronnie Scott’s recently you know how expensive it is to sit anywhere near the band (£50) or to buy a beer (£5.50)!! 

Coming to Hedsor Jazz will give you excellent jazz, contact with the musicians, free car parking and beer at below £4 a pint. Oh yes, and all this for £7 each entry.

Next week (Thursday 9^th May) the band will be Lester Brown on trumpet, Duncan Lamont Jnr on saxophones, Ken McCarthy on keyboard, Terry Davis on bass and Mike Jeffries on drums.

Lester and Duncan at Hedsor last month

I think it will be the same rhythm section for May 16th’s gig as well, when they will be joined by Alan Graham on vibes and John Coverdale on guitar.

A few times a year we put on special evenings, sometimes with internationally known musicians coming to play for us (See June 27^th, August 1^st, December 19^th ). Many times these evening come about through an individual sponsoring the evening. If you feel you would like to be a sponsor, either for a gig already arranged or one of your choice, do discuss this with either John Dutton (Jazz Angels treasurer), Mike Jeffries or myself. We would be very happy to talk to you about it.

Photos from last weeks concert are below.

Well , as they say at the Saturday Morning Pictures, “That’s all folks”.

What, don’t they run Saturday Morning Pictures for us kids anymore? What is the world coming to!