The blog this week is slightly later than usual as I’m trying to fit everything in with domestic events! DECORATING!!
So, it will be looking back on last Thursdays evening of jazz at Hedsor, and looking forward to a few more!
Those of you who were there last week will realise that our evening with trumpeter Steve Waterman and saxophonist Kelvin Christian turned into a magical event.
Now and again with music, and particularly with jazz, an evening turns into something greater than the sum of the parts. People interact, excitement is generated and Magic happens. Last week was definitely one of those evenings.
One of those taking part as a player said at the end of the evening “That was something special wasn’t it”!
One of the audience said “That was the best jazz gig I’ve ever been to”!
It WAS a great evening!
Steve is a brilliant trumpet player; after all he is the professor of jazz trumpet at the Royal Academy of Music.
Kelvin has been to us many times before, and we have heard some special things from him in the past.
They have played together before.
BUT the integration with our rhythm section on the night last Thursday was total!
Almost from the start of the evening we all new it was going to be special, but for me two tunes stand out. Ken McCarthy’s feature “The Surry with the Fringe on Top”, which was sprung along nicely on the strings of Peter Hughes bass (but not his braces), and Kelvin’s version of Duke Ellington’s “In a Sentimental Mood”. He simply built it! Statement after Statement to a final hiss.
Sometimes we take for granted those who perform for us on a regular basis. Ken McCarthy every week, “Come Rain or Shine”, always put in a class leading performance and Kelvin, who doesn’t come quite as often, but has often come to us at very short notice and has sometimes baled us out at the last minute. Last week he showed us that he is a saxophonist with enormous talent who should be known better than he already is.
I took few snaps, but one or two are below.
Special praise must go to Peter Hughes braces, a new pair I understand!
So, lets take a deep breath and prepare ourselves for next Thursday.
December 2nd.
And it will be “The Clive Burton Celebration Quintet” which means a return visit by Lester Brown and Mike Wills. That will be an excellent start to Hedsor Jazz’s in December.
We had hoped that in December we would be able to celebrate Alan Grahams 94th year in a proper fashion, but sadly it wont be able to be done in 2021. At some time in 2022 when Alan is well enough to appreciate being appreciated by his many friends, including us at Hedsor, we will do it!
So the rest of December now looks a bit like this:-
December 9th saxophonist Al Nichols will be our featured guest alongside guitarist Max Brittain do check a 20 minute video of him https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyiHvfQK1vA performed I think in Marlow's Christ Church in 2019
December 16th Someone who hasn’t been to us before. It is another trumpet player, someone who has played on over 20 number one hit records with bands and groups you will certainly have heard of, and he is coming to Hedsor!
Who is it? Johnny Thirkell. Click or copy the link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Thirkell
He will be with saxophonist Frank Walden, someone he has played with before and who has also been to Hedsor Jazz before.
December 23rd Our Christmas Party.
Now at his time we are assuming the government and covid 19 doesn’t cancel Christmas, so we are going to squeeze another ½ hour into our party night and start the evening at 8pm.
Our guests will be singer Sarah Moule and saxophonist Duncan Lamont Jr. There may be others, but “That’s Jazz”!
News of Jan Burton
Jan was moved last night from The Royal Berks Hospital in Reading to The John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. Here she will undergo an operation to improve the blood supply to her brain in order to help prevent further strokes. She was moved at midnight, and arrived in Oxford at 2am!! The move has immediately improved her mobile phone reception! She was able to tell me this morning that she is slowly improving her leg and hand movement. When she has received the treatment in Oxford, she will be moved again to Newbury for rehabilitation. The final objective is to get her well enough for her to be able to live at home again. Well done Jan, and well done The NHS too.
That’s about it for today, see you ALL on Thursday! After the paint has dried!
No comments:
Post a Comment