The first blog for a whole new year .....2023!

 So I wish you all a very happy new one! Year that is.

Hedsor Jazz starts its year this Thursday, and we hope to be able to present live modern jazz every Thursday, usually from 8.30pm

JANUARY 5th

Just so as not to shock the system too much with our restart we thought something familiar would remind you what OUR quality product is all about, so January 5^th has Stuart Henderson on trumpet, Jonathan Lewis on reeds, Nigel Fox on keyboard, Peter Hughes on bass and of course MARTIN HART on drums.

Just to remind you what Stuart Henderson looks like, below you will see some photos from our Christmas party, as long ago as December 15^th 2022!

 

ROY HOLE

Roy Hole on his 90th birthday

One sad thing to report in this first blog of the year is that Roy Hole died on the 17^th of December at the age of 98.

Roy was a pillar of our jazz society, a reed player himself, he founded the BBO Big Band and ran it himself for many years before passing on the responsibility to others. He always got to their rehearsals (in recent years in The Marlow British Legion Hall). He was a frequent attendee of both Marlow Jazz Club AND Hedsor Jazz and he was also a great supporter of Maidenhead Football Club. He had managed to live independently (with just a little help from his friends) right to the end and in recent months he had even decided to get out more!

We have received the following details about his funeral from Stuart Hole:-

“Roy's funeral will take place at Slough Crematorium on Tuesday 10th January 2023 at 11:30 followed by the usual tea coffee sandwiches with a little music etc at Hedsor Club, Bourne End, SL8 5ES”.

JANUARY LISTING

Below is the artwork for our January poster. Do print off and redistribute, just to let others know about our secret Thursday jazz.

 

One or two people are beginning to discover who, what, and where we are. Alan Barnes emailed “I’d love to come back to Hedsor if there was a space”. I’m sure we will find him at least one space this year! Alan Barnes has shared his love of the artist Stanley Spencer with us too, so a few more visits can be hoped for as Cookham was the home of Stanley Spencer and holds his art gallery.

I’m also going to be asking Vasilis Xenopoulos and Nigel Price if they can find us a space in their busy schedules. Vasilis now lives in Cookham, as does Alam Nathoo who has played for us twice in 2022 and is a brilliant addition to those we have found we greatly enjoy .

SPONSORSHIP

One of the ways we can get the musicians whom we would like to see at Hedsor Jazz is to sponsor them. Now this doesn’t mean that the sponsor has to pay the entire fee for said musician, although that would be “nice”. If the sponsor would like to make up the fee normally paid for our musicians to the level of some who have every right to ask for more, then it means we can offer them a worthwhile amount for their appearance. Many do have to travel quite a distance to get to Hedsor, and some are surprised that we don’t have street lights when they get here! Alan B comes from Leighton Buzzard for instance, and Karen Sharp is in Bedfordshire. So if you would like to put in a little money for a player of your choice please speak to Martin or John Dutton. I would add that Martin would have to sanction the player as suitable for our jazz concerts.

HEDSOR CLUB MEMBERSHIP

Another way of supporting jazz at Hedsor is to actually become a member of Hedsor Club. Subs are now due for the whole of next year, so joining now will help Hedsor Club's finances, and give you a small discount at the bar. Ask Debbie at the bar for a membership application.

WOODLEY JAZZ

One lady I would like to get to Hedsor is saxophonist Jo Fooks. She used to play alongside Karen in The Humphrey Lyttelton Band and she is a very lyrical player. She can be heard in January on Saturday 21^st at The Woodley Theatre with Martin Hart and his trio. For more information on this concert see https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/woodleytheatre/jazz-concert-martin-hart-trio-with-jo-fooks-on-saxophone/2023-01-21/d-aqlnxxfabvznx .

You too may find you like the way she plays jazz. She has also recently made a  CD with another of our stalwart stars, Al Nicholls.

A CHRISTMAS CD

Sometimes the giver of gifts at Christmas does know a bit about “our” musical tastes and doesn’t just fall back on socks! So it has been for me this year and I was delighted when my daughter gave me a 6 CD set of Chris Barber called “Just Once More for All Time”. I had listened to the Chris Barber Band “live” since 1955 and this collection of previously unissued recordings is primarily of the band playing “live”, and they do capture the vibrancy produced by having a live audience to play to. I haven’t had time to listen to them all yet, but one heard so far stands out, “St Louis Blues” with both the electric guitar of John Slaughter and the blues harmonica of Ian Wheeler altering all my preconceptions of how “St Louis Blues” should be played. Professionally recorded in 1996 it is an excellent recording and brought home to me how exciting the Barber Band could be.

Don’t forget that Hedsor Jazz plays live every week, and sometimes magic happens here too!

TTFN

G