Blog Day, and the sun is shining, but the wind is cold!

Two things to blog on about this week, and the usual reportage of last weeks Hedsor Jazz!

Coming this Thursday, April 27^th, the erudite trumpet and verse of Ian Smith coupled with the swinging saxophone of Ollie Wilby. The pairing have been a number of times before and always provide an entertaining evening of jazz, which Ian couples with an explanation of the words that many of the tunes played are associated with. We will endeavour to turn up his microphone so that those at the back can hear his prose! Backing them will be Ken McCarthy, Peter Hughes and Martin Hart

 

Did you know that this coming Sunday April 30th is UNESCO’s International Jazz Day? Well neither did I until last Sundays “Jazz Record Request”!

 

But Sunday April 30th is also a special day because Hedsor Jazz Goes to Church! Maidenhead URC have invited us to come for a Sunday Morning! So together with Gill Cook, Alam Nathoo, Ken McCarthy, Peter Hughes and Martin Hart I will be linking up the Sacred and the Secular from 10.30am in West Street, Maidenhead, SL6 1RL.

 

I am still touched by the churches diary entry for the morning,  “Something very different this week: our friend Geoff Cronin returns to lead us in a Sunday Jazz service. You’ve never seen – or heard – anything quite like it! Don’t miss it.”  Entry is free, and the event should last about 1 hour. The church’s web site can be accessed via https://www.maidenheadurc.org.uk/about

 

Last week we had another outing from “The Clive Burton Celebration Quintet”, my pictures below. It is always good to be reminded of times past, and this combination is the nearest to how Jazz at Hedsor began 22 years ago. No, not a Catch 22, but great tunes and many memories provided by Mike Wills and Lester Brown with Ken, Peter but NOT Martin. Only Mike and Martin now remain of the original Quintet but missing last week was Martin, who was replaced, as the photos will tell you, by Mike Jeffries.

 

Coming in May, a lot of great jazz, and leading the charge will be Alam Nathoo and Frank Walden, both superb saxophonists, with Ken McCarthy, Al Perrie and Martin Hart behind them on May 4^th. You don’t want to miss that either but  you actually might have a job deciding which Hedsor Jazz Thursday in May you DO want to miss!!

 

Finally just to end, the Duke Ellington tune that will start our Sunday is an invitation, “Come Sunday”.

How soon time flies when your having fun, or even a weekend off!!

Last week we managed to shift the computer stuff in my garage one stage further towards Ghana, and for a whole day I could actually see some floor, then a ring at the door, and another generous donation of PC’s for refurbishment and WORK...etc etc.

So to today, and its blog and poster day.

Yes Hedsor Jazz just needs to remind you!!!

This Thursday, April 20th, it is a return of “The Clive Burton Celebration Quintet” in the form of Mike Wills on reeds various, and Lester Brown, trumpet and flugel horn. With them will be Ken McCarthy on keyboard and Martin Hart on drums. I am also assured we will have a bass player as well!

Mike and Lester when last at Hedsor

 

Looking further ahead you will see below the artwork for the poster for May’s jazz events at Hedsor. If you cannot copy off and print, do collect one at Hedsor and put it up somewhere the public will see it. There are some really mouth watering gigs in May, take a look and take your pick.

 

Also don’t forget that we are taking Hedsor Jazz to Church on Sunday April 30^th. Maidenheads United Reformed Church to be precise. From 10.30am on that morning you will be able to see and hear  Singer Gill Cook, sax man Alam Nathoo, and Hedsor’s trio of Ken McCarthy, Peter Hughes and Martin Hart. Do come along, it is free to all.

 

For more detail of location etc See https://www.maidenheadurc.org.uk/events/worship-30-04-2023

Last weeks gig (pictures below) was pretty special. One of the loyal followers of “Jazz from Geoff”, and of “Jazz at Geoff’s” before it, said to me afterwards that he thought it was the best night he had been to at Hedsor!

Steve Waterman and Frank Walden had not met before! After a few moment of settling in, they played as though they had known each other for years. On the music stand there were no head arrangement to be read. OK, two mobile phones and a tablet were observed to be seen providing the chords (Oh blessed fake book!), but the two at the front showed no sign of the unrehearsed! Having the added benefit of Andy Crowdy on bass just lifted the evening into that indefinable “very special” category.

I had my lady chief with me, she having spent some the day with me loading her car for the onward transport of PC’s, screens and laptops for Nyaboo. She had never been to a jazz club before, and was absolutely thrilled by it.

 

The Computer School at Nyaboo

Talking with Steve and Frank afterwards they had obviously enjoyed their collaboration, and were still buzzing with it. I asked Steve where he was travelling back to that night and I was astounded to be told “Whitstable”. Now that is on the North Kent coast! According to my PC that is 2 hr 16 min (113.6 mi) via M25 and M2!

Steve said he would like to come again!

A special mention for Ken McCarthy by the way. No his head wasn't cold! At 4pm earlier that day he had had a growth removed from the top of his head. Now I know that that is painful. Well Done Ken for turning out.

My pictures are below

 

 

One final thought. I have been actively promoting live jazz for over 20 years. That makes me some 20 years older than when I started. It also means that many of the audience have aged those 20 years alongside me. If you want to see a future for live jazz, the sort of vibrant stuff you can come out to and enjoy week by week, you need to come out yourself, and encourage others to come too.

Performance can literally die!

 

Geoff

Coming this week to Hedsor Jazz, two terrific players that to my knowledge haven’t actually played together before. On Thursday 13^th April we have trumpet master Steve Waterman, and tenor ace Frank Walden all backed by Ken McCarthy on piano and I think back from his holiday, Martin Hart on drums. There will be a bass player, but in line with recent policy (!), they are the surprise on the night!

Steve Waterman

 

 

Frank Walden

Last weeks session provided an interesting and different comparison. Duncan Lamont on tenor was his usual excellent self, but he had brought with him a vibraphone player that we hadn’t seen before. We are so used to, and blest to have had play for us in the past, vibs player Alan Graham, and to hear a younger and different style of vibes player was interesting and entertaining.

Roan Kearsey-Lawson took charge of our evening and seemed to produce a wall of sound, which had less emphasis on individual notes and more on the sound of four of the instruments bars being vibrated together. He also had some interesting visual flourishes which together with his foot movement, almost dancing from one end of the vibraphone to the other, provided additional entertainment! For the last tune of the night he also took over the drum chair. A very versatile and amusing player. My photos of the evening are below.

 

He did however undermine my efforts at raising money for Cancer Research UK from second hand cd sales by selling his own cd’s at £5 for one, but £10 for four!

 

I’ll leave this weeks blog short as I am preparing to ship out to Ghana more computers for the school in Nyaboo. They are being collected on Thursday, so that will be a busy day. I may have the honour of bringing along an honorary Ghanaian lady chief with me to the jazz on Thursday, if we are all still standing after packing it all up!

The Computer School at Nyaboo, Ghana

I do believe that this is the first time this year that I have started writing the weekly blog with the sun shining!

What with that and the fact that all the clocks went forward recently it could mean that some of the Hedsor irregulars can come out again. I really do appreciate that many people as they get older find driving at night much more difficult. I really don’t think it is my imagination, but modern car headlights do seem to produce more glare than the old fashioned Lucas 7” round ones! So if you are thinking of coming out to listen to live jazz again after a winter of discontent, then Hedsor Jazz welcomes you.

And this week (April 6th) we welcome one of our regular favourite saxophonists, Duncan Lamont Jr. This time he is bringing with him a new player to Hedsor. Vibraphone player Roan Kearsey-Lawson. Do take a look at his website https://www.roankearseylawson.co.uk/, it should be a VERY interesting Thursday. 

This week Martin is on holiday (he has gone all Silly!) and the drums will be propelled by Mike Jeffries in Martin’s place. On keyboard we have our regular keyboard player, Ken McCarthy, and as usual I haven’t a clue who Martin has booked on bass! For those readers who are not as regular as I would like you to be (at Hedsor Jazz I mean of course) our practice regarding the rhythm section is to have a variety of bass players, whilst maintaining Ken and Martin as part of the staple product.

Last week was another of those jazz gatherings that produced a really special vibe. Our front line consisted of saxophonist Alam Nathoo and trumpeter Stuart Henderson. They were backed by Ken McCarthy and Mike Jeffries with Esther Ng on bass. In the second set they were joined for one number by singer Paul Cherrie.

Alam and Stuart had never even met before, let alone played together before, so initially I felt they were feeling their way, but the second set produced music worthy of the best modern jazz you can hear anywhere. I feel that Hedsor Jazz has just been in at the beginning of another great pairing. Wonderful music with “Joy Spring”, “Sidewinder”, “When Sonny Gets Blue” and “Work Song” all getting played in the second set, with individual solo work from everyone. My photos are below.

Both Alam and Stuart will be with us again in May, see list below. I will produce a poster/leaflet for May soon, but do put these dates in your diary NOW. In my view they are all UNMISABLE! 

May 4^th

Alam Nathoo and Frank Walden

May 11^th

Stuart Henderson and Johnathan Lewis

May 18^th

Nigel Price and Ollie Wilby

Singer Paul Cherrie has a new CD just out, and I will give it a write up soon, but “Up Jumped Spring” is now available, and has some Lester Brown on it for good measure! See www.cherry-ripe.co.uk for more information.

 

One final plug.

Many years ago we took Hedsor Jazz to School, and ran an all day jazz festival in St Pirans School.

This year, after our donation of funds for Ukraine made via The Maidenhead United Reformed Church, we are taking Hedsor Jazz to Church!! Yes, on Sunday April 30^th I will be introducing Gill Cook, Alam Nathoo, Ken McCarthy, Peter Hughes and Martin Hart to the joint congregations of Maidenhead and Marlow’s United Reformed Churches for a 10.30am service. All are welcome, and I must say I am amused by their diary entry for the morning – 

Jazz Service

• Sunday, 30 April 2023
• 10:30  11:30

“Something very different this week: our friend Geoff Cronin returns to lead us in a Sunday Jazz Service. You’ve never seen- or heard-anything quite like it! Dont miss it.” 

And that is their words not mine! See for yourself https://www.maidenheadurc.org.uk/

And one last mention. One of our regular Hedsor Jazz attendees has recently been unwell, and last week was again in hospital. On all of our behalf’s can I wish Michael well. We need you back at Hedsor Jazz more that the hospital does!