This weeks blog has details of our presentation of the money we raised for Ukraine plus a guide to our program looking through the summer into Autumn.

As usual my pictures of last weeks session are below, and what a session it was. Absolutely wonderful playing, absolutely wonderful tunes as well. If you missed it, (well some did) we are going to try and recreate it later in the year. The combination of Duncan Lamont Jr and Mike Innes will not be bettered for any money here in the UK, and it was at Hedsor, and hopefully that joy will be repeated.

This week we have another special occasion. We will be presenting a cheque for over £1000 to some special people who are actually involved in taking aid to Ukrainian refugees. So do come and show your support, and at the same time enjoy again the guitar of Terry Hutchins playing alongside saxophonist Mark Aston. It will be interesting to see how many, and of which of his large saxophone collection Mark brings to Hedsor Jazz this time.

With reference to the cheque donation from our fundraising evening you might like to read the article about the folks actually involved in taking the aid out to the Ukrainians. A jpeg of the article that put us on to them is reproduced below. By clicking on it you should be able to get it large enough for you to read.

 

Now below is that guide to who we have coming in the next couple of months. There are one or two very special gigs in the pipeline. Alan Barnes in August will be his first visit to Hedsor Jazz. Alan is one of Britain’s leading saxophonists, composers and record producers, so don’t book your holiday for that week. Alan Grahame has been in the British music industry for longer than some of us have been alive, and it will be a real joy to celebrate that with some of his associates in the music industry. Come and meet some of them too.

 

For all of the gigs in the list below we anticipate being able to charge you JUST £10 each for entry.

Unless a different drummer is specified, it will be “our” Martin Hart.

 

JUNE

2^nd    Terry Hutchins guitar +   Mark Aston reeds +   Ken McCarthy keyboard + Esther Ng bass

9^th     Mark Aston reeds + Lester Brown tpt + John Cooper keyboard + Peter Hughes bass

16^th    Al Nicholls reeds + Stuart Henderson tpt + Nigel Fox keyboard + Peter Hughes bass 

23^rd    Mike Wills reeds   + Sue Greenway reeds + Ken McCarthy keyboard + John Porter bass

30^th    Duncan Lamont Jr reeds  +   Mike Innes  trombone +Peter Hughes bass + Ken McCarthy keyboard + Mike Jeffries drums

JULY

7^th     Mike Wills reeds + Ollie Wilby reeds + Ken McCarthy keyboard + Peter Hughes + 

            Mike Jeffries drums

14^th   Nick Mills trombone + Jonathan Lewis reed + p,b,d to be confirmed

21^st         to be arranged

28^th    Alan Graham’s PARTY

AUGUST

4^th      Mike Wills   + Mark Aston

11^th    to be arranged

18^th    Alan Barnes   + Stuart Henderson

25^th    to be arranged

SEPTEMBER

1^st           Mike Wills + Lester Brown

Good Tuesday Dear Jazz Fans. 

I hope you are all looking forward to another Thursday Night of jazz at “The Hedsor Social Club” (as we used to chant every week!), because it really is a great place to enjoy top quality modern jazz.

Recently I have been able to compare the Hedsor Jazz Experience, with jazz experiences in other London jazz venues, and I can assure you that the music we get at Hedsor is every bit as good, with the same or better known jazz musicians and the comfort level way above that of some other London jazz venues. AND, please note, the liquid refreshment prices are definitely cheaper at Hedsor Jazz!!

So who have we got coming this week (May 26th) to Hedsor? We have a wonderful combination of Duncan Lamont Jr on reeds with Mike Innes on trombone. Plus Ken McCarthy will be on keyboard, Martin Hart on drums, and as always a surprise bass player. All of our guest bass players are good, but some are SUPRISINGLY good!

Now I have been nagging on for years about the need for more people in the audience, and I must underline this. It has sometimes become an embarrassment when so few turn out to listen to such great jazz musicians. Please consider if you really do want to watch the latest soap opera or comedy show on TV because it means you can stay in your slippers, or for you to go past your front door to support something you know you really do enjoy with shoes on!! If it would make you feel more able to come out and support live jazz, please bring your slippers with you! To help in that decision we have some future jazz gigs for Hedsor Jazz.

On June 2^nd we will be presenting our cheque for Ukraine to some special guests. We raised over £1000 on our night of Jazz for Ukraine and we are going to donate this to some local people who are actually themselves delivering aid to the refugees of the Ukrainian conflict to Poland. To accompany this event we will have Al Nicholls on tenor sax who will be joined by Terry Hutchins on guitar, plus our usual rhythm section led by Martin Hart.

June 9^th has Lester Brown (tpt) back with Mark Aston on reeds (I missed their last appearance, by being in Wexham Park A&E!).

June 16^th we have a powerhouse presentation (no nothing to do with Microsoft!). Stuart Henderson will be alongside Al Nicholls. If you do manage to come out and bring your slippers make sure you have your socks on. 

Further ahead we have in A.S. on July 28^th that long awaited celebration of Alan Grahams life in music. Lots of guests, party food and a whole variety of musicians will join Alan. Something not to be missed and still yours for only £10 a head.

p.s  A.S. = After Swanage!! The Swanage Jazz Festival is returning on the weekend of 8^th  to 10^th July. This is obviously going to be in SWANAGE!

In August there will again be some party food on August 18^th when we welcome Alan Barnes to Hedsor for the first time. He will be accompanied by Stuart Henderson.

October 20^th, no food but that great combination of Nigel Price and Vasilis Xenopoulos.

Below, pictures from last weeks Hedsor Jazz with Lester Brown and Frank Walden

Below that some pictures from “another place”, in Isleworth, West London. I went and saw that great pianist John Horler

Good evening bloggers,

I’m sorry but there wont be a full blown blog this week. Last Thursday I was dragged back into Wexham Parks A&E  with a referral letter from my GP. After something like 12 hours I was diagnosed at 1am on Friday with something called Epiploic Appendagitis, which is pretty uncommon and certainly not jazz!! It is kind of like Appendicitis but doesn’t need an operation to cure it.

I am now halfway through “the cure” and hope to be back to enjoy this coming Thursdays Jazz at Hedsor. However at the moment I am staying very close to my antibiotics!

Just a reminder then that this week, Thursday May 19^th, we have

 Lester Brown Trumpet, Frank Waldon Reeds, Ken McCarthy Keyboard, Martin Hart drums and a bass player as yet unknown to me.

The mammoth stay in A&E resulted in excellent care, I eventually had a CT scan and at 1am I was seen by 2 consultants. After intravenous antibiotics for an hour or so I was finally allowed to go home at 2.15am Friday! I had been due to have a week away, but was only let home on the basis that I could get back to the hospital if need arose within 45 minutes

Just don’t ask me to say what I had wrong with me. I have seen the pictures but I still can’t pronounce it. 

 

First things first for this blog edition.

Our night of jazz to raise money for the people of Ukraine was a great success both as a jazz music event, and as a fundraiser. We had the best audience numbers for years, and we will be able to donate £1000 to help the Ukrainians.

Our advertised cast of musicians was augmented on the night by our dear friend Alan Grahame on vibes, and for part of the second set by Andy Crowdy borrowing Peter Hughes bass.

It was also a joy to have back with us on keyboard Nigel Fox. With Martin Hart on drums, the front line of Stuart Henderson, Frank Walden and Vasilis Xenopoulos gave a demonstration of jazz improvisation that on occasion brought cheers from the audience of approx. 60. 

Some of that audience were totally new to us, please come again!

Some of the audience were old friends returning for the first time in quite a while. Please come again!

If you look back on last weeks blog you will see that we have some wonderful jazz coming every week. Please, don’t stay away!

Some of my photos from the evening are below, but the best overall picture is from Geoff Swaffield’s mobile phone!

 

Again well done for all who helped on last weeks fundraising night. Thank you to everyone who helped in any way. The room looked fabulous, and the music was wonderful too. Everyone’s generosity for the cause of Ukraine was obvious. Thank you.

Coming to Hedsor THIS WEEK (Thursday 12^th May) we have the combination of trumpeter Lester Brown and saxophonist Mark Aston, again with Nigel Fox on keyboard. Martin Hart will be on drums and as usual, the bass player will be a surprise!

Changing geographical areas completely I get circulated with a lot of jazz gig information, and one out of area venue that I have been tempted to travel to this year has been The Milford Arms in Isleworth. When I saw the following line-up was going to play in a pub back room last night I thought I must give it a go. This is a line-up of festival proportions, and 5 Hedsor folk were tempted by my mention of it:-

Stan Sulzmann, tenor, Mark Nightingale, trombone, Ross Stanley, piano, Dave Green, bass, Trevor Tomkins, drums.

With traffic delays and dodgy satnav we arrived 10 minutes late, but it just so happened that the band were also late starting for a couple of reasons.

Dave Green went initially to the wrong pub!! And Mark Nightingale was still on his return journey from Oslo! However one by one all did gather and together played wonderful music.

A couple of my phone pics are below.

It all brought back to my mind the thought that to be a jazz fan today is a bit like being a Catholic in the times of Tudor religious persecution. (no I’m not that old but I have read history books and I have seen a priest hole!).

Us acolytes were few in number and we gathered in a small pub room!! But the great of the British jazz world came and played for us. I’m certain that if we were going to listen to a well known string quartet, we would have been there in our hundreds, and “there” would have been on London’s South Bank! Do go and check on Google the great jazz background of all the guys in last night’s band. Keep an eye on what goes on at Isleworth’s “The Milford Arms”. It is usually on a Monday night, so plenty of time to recover in time for Thursdays at Hedsor!

How is it and why is it that these great jazz musicians gain such little respect from the public at large?

Some of the answer is down to you if you know who they are and stay at home!

Hedsor does jazz every week. I nag you about it!

Reading has jazz going on around it every week too in a variety of places.

Karen Sharp will be at Woodley on May 28^th and The Remix Orchestra will be at Marlow Jazz on May 17^th.

And you still want to watch the TV?

So, one  bank holiday weekend down and we are back to another Tuesday.

This week do I need to remind you what Hedsor Jazz is doing on Thursday? I hope not, because Thursday May 5^th is our special fund raising night of jazz to raise money for the desperate situation of the people of Ukraine.

 

 

Tell your friends, bring your friends. Every pound generated by this coming Thursdays night of jazz will go to the Disaster Emergency Committee for that purpose.

What a night we have in prospect. In addition to the very special musicians advertised on the poster we have heard from that veteran Vibs player Alan Grahame that he wants to come and be part of it too.

So, “You and the Night and The Music” will make history!

This will be the first Hedsor Jazz event for May 2022. We have now been back running live jazz every night bar one since covid locked us down. We reopened in May 2021 and apart from a longer than anticipated Christmas break we have been running every Thursday since. We plan to carry on and below is our future guest list.

MAY

12^th     Lester Brown Trumpet, Mike Aston Reeds, Nigel Fox Keyboard

19^th     Lester Brown Trumpet, Frank Waldon Reeds, Ken McCarthy Keyboard

26^th   Duncan Lamont Jr Reeds, Mike Innis Trombone, Ken McCarthy Keyboard

JUNE

2^nd                    To Be Confirmed, This is the Jubilee Weekend

9^th      Lester Brown Trumpet, Mark Aston Reeds, Ken McCarthy Keyboard

16^th      Al Nicholls Reeds, Stuart Henderson Trumpet, Ken McCarthy Keyboard

All our guests are backed by a trio led by drummer Martin Hart

  Advanced Notice

 August 18^th Alan Barnes reeds, Stuart Henderson trumpet

 December 15^th  Hedsor Jazz’s Christmas Party

Below are my pictures from last weeks session where we welcomed back a guitarist not seen at Hedsor since before covid struck, Terry Hutchins. Alongside him was a young saxophonist Mike Wilkins. It was a splendid session. Mike blew himself into the gig and by the second set was giving us some very big toned big phrased jazz. Terry was his usual accomplished self. He is an underrated player, which may be why the audience wasn’t as big as it should have been. I can assure those who missed it that we will be asking him back very soon.

 

One of the advantages of having lived into my 80’s is that I have had the privilege of hearing many great jazz musicians. Someone whom I have enjoyed many times over the years sadly left us last month.

Saxophonist John Barnes was a stalwart of the British Jazz scene, starting with Manchester’s Zenith 6 and going on to be a major part of both The Alex Welsh Band and The Humphrey Lyttleton Band. In both those bands he played alongside trombonist Roy Williams. And, yes, he did play with The Clive Burton Quintet for a couple of Sunday gigs in Fifield.

I saw him many times both at The Swanage and Brecon Jazz festivals and many other places in between. Who could forget The Alex Welsh Bands regular appearances at Maidenheads “The Bell” pub, opposite the Railway Station. “Our” Mike Wills was inspired to play reed instruments by him when Mike lived in London, John being a near neighbour at the time.

One comment he made has always stayed in memory. At one of the Swanage Jazz Festival gigs he didn’t have with him any “personal products” (CD’s) to flog, but he did step up to the microphone to advertise some “previously used” saxophone reeds in a variety of flavours, including beer and crisps!

However, for a really good write-up about John, do read that other saxophone playing Barnes. Alan Barnes, no relation, has written a wonderful and personal obituary https://deathobits.com/2022/04/20/john-barnes-death-saxophonist-john-barnes-has-passed-away-at-age-89/

Finally another jazz orientated chance to give money for Ukraine. Christ Church Marlow is running a fundraising event next Sunday afternoon, do check it out:-