Ken McCarthy

Having only yesterday written in this blog that Ken McCarthy was looking forward to being with us at Hedsor Jazz again this week, and playing keyboard for us again next week, I have to report a setback.

Ken was readmitted yesterday to Harefield Hospital, and having spoken with Ken’s wife Maggie this morning, he is today having another operation to remove what the medics described as “debris” from his upper body area.

Maggie has asked that we offer up a prayer for Ken as he undergoes another stay in hospital.  I will say “Amen” to that. Harefield Hospital is run by the Royal Brompton Hospital group, and from personal experience of their expertise I can say he is in the right place. They kept me alive in 2002!

Geoff

JAZZ FROM GEOFF

It’s been nearly a week now, and Cookham Bridge has remained OPEN!! What a joy. 5 months of closure, and a good ½ hour diversion meant getting to anything in Buckinghamshire took just too long. Now, for me, Hedsor Jazz is just 10 minutes away! And achievable on roads nearly wide enough for 2 cars! 

I heard on the news today that a road in London (Old Oak Common Lane) was going to be shut for 4 years!! A typical 1½ hour diversion then being required! What do our elected representatives think they are doing!! I quote from the search engine:- 

Old Oak Common Lane runs between the area and East Acton, where residents go for shopping, schools and hospitals. HS2 Ltd has told residents it will have to close the road for four years for work on utility cabling and to lower the road for double-decker buses, and has submitted a planning application.

I’m sure all the planning applications will be scrutinised closely, and all will be normal, in 4 or 5 years time! 

So, what is Hedsor Jazz going to get this coming Thursday, March 28th 

Duncan Lamont Jr that superb melodic tenor sax and flute player, and such a good a friend to Hedsor Jazz, is coming and bringing with him singer Jenny Howe. Jennie hasn’t been to Hedsor Jazz before, and I’m sure she will bring some of the sunshine we need for Spring. There are so many literations you can do on song titles and the weather, so I’ll leave you to work them all out for yourself. But Spring CAN really hang you up the most! 

Duncan Lamont Jr

Jennie Howe

With them this week we will have Nigel Fox on keyboard, Al Pirrie on bass and Martin Hart on drums. 

I spoke with Ken McCarthy on the telephone over the weekend and he promises to be in our audience this week. That is great news. What is even better news is he is promising to be in the band the following week!! For that night (April 4th) he will be surrounded by Mark Aston on reeds, Lester Brown on trumpet, Al Pirrie on bass, and Martin Hart on drums. 

Last week (my photos are below) we had another newcomer to Hedsor Jazz, Trumpeter Ben Cummings (who had been once before to great acclaim) brought with him saxophonist Ollie Weston. AND they will be back, because they are and make a splendid team. It was a great evening of jazz, and a great evening for jazz tunes. I always enjoy hearing “Isfahan” from Duke Ellington's “Far East Suit” and I'm pleased that it is now getting more plays. 

For almost the whole evening we had on keyboard Martin Pickett. Sadly his clock was ½ hour slow, and he missed the first ½ of the first ½! And his absence just went to show how much a chordal instrument can be missed. The emptiness behind the notes can clearly be heard by the audience. Once established he went on to demonstrate just why we need a keyboard player in the mix! 

Stuart Barker was our bass player, and it was good to have him back with us again. He also has a wife (I have too, but his wife also sings jazz!) and Lucinda Fosker sang 2 tunes for us in the second set. Do check out her web site https://www.lucindafoskermusic.com/

I think it amazing that in the past couple of years we have had some really talented young musicians come to Hedsor Jazz who love to play jazz. I just wonder where the young audience is hiding? 

That’s it for now folks, if you already come to Hedsor Jazz and you enjoy it, tell others. In order to keep going and bringing the quality of product that we currently bring to enjoy at Hedsor Jazz, we need more of you to entertain!! “It Could Happen to YOU”. 

 Geoff C

Geoff’s Blog and Hedsor Jazz are very linked, but not joined at the hip.

Today I will write about Hedsor Jazz, and I will try and tell you what is on, but first I MUST bring you some good news.

I have spoken in the past few days on the telephone to both Ken McCarthy and Geoff Swaffield. AND they are both slowly getting better.

Ken has had some surgery, and he still has to undergo some tests and a further recovery period, but he hopes to pay a visit to Hedsor soon, just to be with us as part of the audience. He is still determined however to get back to HIS role in The Hedsor Jazz quintet just as soon as possible.

Geoff Swaffield is recovering well from a stroke, is speaking clearly and is now able to look after himself at home. When I spoke with them last week, both were hoping to go for a walk later that day! They both thank all of you Hedsor regulars who were kind enough to wish them well, registering your best wishes by signing the cards that were sent round the club in the past 2 weeks.

It was good to have such positive news last week.

As you may know, Geoff was our sound engineer, and it is possible that he may not want to come back to Hedsor to perform that roll. If anyone of our regular audience feel that they would like to take on that roll in his place do let myself, or Mike Jeffries know.

Now to who is coming to play at Hedsor Jazz this week, Thursday March 21^st?

It looks to be an exciting evening, because we have trumpeter Ben Cummings coming back for his second visit. As you may remember from his first visit, he also sings, and he was able to get our entire audience clapping as well.

He will be accompanied by a saxophone player who hasn’t been to Hedsor before, but who has played with Ben before. His name is Ollie Weston. In Ken’s place on keyboard this week, we have another of the Oxford contingent Martin Pickett. Joining him in the rhythm section will be Stuart Barker on bass and Martin Hart on drums.

Ollie Weston

 

You will get 2 hours of this star band all for just £10 per head. That’s YOUR head, not theirs! What’s not to like? That’s this Thursday, March 21^st from 8pm at “The Hedsor Social Club”, as we all used to chant!

The following week we have a return of one of our most loyal Hedsor Jazz’s supporting musicians, Duncan Lamont Jr. He is bringing with him a singer, Jenny Howe. I think this will be her first visit to Hedsor, but Duncan is used to working in the theatre world, and I’m sure if he wants to spend an evening listening to her, she is worth coming out for. With them will be Al Pirrie on bass. We have yet to book Kens replacement on Keyboard.

Duncan Lamont Jr

 

Last week Mike Wills and Sue Greenway entertained us with a whole evening of some less well worn tunes, with “You’re a Lucky Guy” by Charlie Chaplin, and Dexter Gordon’s “Hanky Panky” being just part of the evening.

We also had with us Alan Berry on keyboard, the first time in about 4 years that Alan has been with us. He is one of the keyboard legends of the area, having been part of the Lennie Best Quartet for about 10 years in the 1970’s. He is still the keyboard player for “The Sound of 17” big band, based in Ealing.

My photos of last Thursdays evening are below, and below them is the poster for April. 

Just look at all the good things coming weekly to Hedsor Jazz!

 

My blog this week, with news of Hedsor Jazz, is being written a day earlier than usual.

A life in retirement seems to have more things that need doing than one when working for a company!

First, who is on at Hedsor Jazz this week?

I am delighted to say we welcome back two friends from the Oxford jazz scene. Our one time regular reedman Mike Wills and that delightful lady saxophonist, Sue Greenway.

Sue and Mike at an earlier Hedsor Session

They will be accompanied by Hedsor Jazz’s trio of rhythm makers, including this week, Alan Berry on keyboard.

Be prepared for some activity, as the last time I saw Sue she encouraged the audience to take part in an action song!! No, not “Pick a Bale of Cotton”, but you may get the drift!

 

Alan Berry at an Ealing Jazz Festival

Alan Berry is of course in place of Ken McCarthy. Ken has recently had a spell in Hospital, is currently at home but with strict instructions not to drive and not to lift anything. We hope he will be able to be back with us soon, but we are using the time he is away to book some keyboard players who have been to Hedsor in the past, and whom you, our audience, have asked to see again. So do check this blog regularly to see who it might be.

Our start time is now 8pm so don’t be late, and our entry fee is just £10.

Alan Berry is a London based jazz legend. When I first came to live in Berkshire in the1970’s he was the regular piano player with the legendary Lennie Best Quartet. I used to see them at “The Bell” in Maidenhead in the days when you could park in the Station Car Park. Nowadays there isn’t one unless you drive a taxi, and the pub is called “O’Neill’s”, which is, I suppose, better than “The Slug and Lettuce”! Probably marginally better than calling it “The Rusty Ball” as well, but I think you get the idea! Anyone would think I thought things were better “in the old days”!

A CD was issued some years back with saxophonist  Dick Morrisey recorded at The Bell with Lennie Best and Alan Berry:-

 

Last week (pictures below) sadly had no relationship to our advertised program (!), but it was still a cracking session none the less. Stuart Henderson came and played trumpet for us before disappearing for a holiday in Australia, and he suggested that he would like to play with a saxophonist from Oxford called Mike Wilkins. Mike had played for us once or twice before, and in my view is now a really accomplished player, perhaps a bit hard toned and with some more rock phrasing, but still someone who knows how to play jazz. So a great evening was had, with Al Pirrie on bass, Nigel Fox on keyboard and Martin Hart on drums.

 

So do make sure you know how to get to The Hedsor Bar, and always do it on a Thursday. VERY SOON we can do it by crossing Cookham Bridge! Now there’s a tune worth bringing out again!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojkhhaC4rlM

 

Geoff 

So, lets start this blog by telling you who is coming to play for us at Hedsor Jazz this week, Thursday 7^th March 2024.

It will be that wonderful saxophonist Frank Walden.

Frank at Hedsor earlier this year

Frank has relatively recently moved into the same village as Martin Hart, and since he first found Hedsor Jazz he has enjoyed coming to play for us , and we have certainly enjoyed him coming. He is a very gifted young player, and if you haven’t yet caught one of his Hedsor Session, you really should take this opportunity of coming out to hear him.

He was going to be partnered by trumpet player Johnny Thirkle, but as he is on tour, we will have one of Hedsor Jazz’s long standing friends joining Frank, no less than trumpeter Stuart Henderson. They will be joined by Nigel Fox on keyboard, Al Pirrie on bass, and Martin Hart on drums.

Stuart Henderson at Hedsor in November last year

 

We are very grateful to Nigel for coming to our aid again. As many of you know our regular keyboard player Ken McCarthy is currently unwell, and we look forward to welcoming him back to Hedsor Jazz just as soon as he can make it. Ken is liable to be away for another week or so, and we are going to try and invite one or two keyboard players whom we know you have all enjoyed in the past to come and join us. So do watch this space!

Last week we enjoyed a return visit from that young trumpet player, now part of the Hedsor Jazz tradition, Lester Brown.  On this occasion he was joined at the front by a real star of the jazz firmament, saxophonist Al Nicholls. It became a classic Hedsor Jazz session, with great tunes and booting saxophone solos. We also had singer Paul Cherry  drop by for a couple of songs in the second set. Also joining us on bass for the first time was Tom Mark. He appeared to enjoy us as much as we enjoyed him and we hope to have him back. He was at one time the bass player with the Syd Lawrence orchestra!

Overall it was a great evening of jazz and dare I say “social intercourse”! Because at the interval many conversations took place, and the 30 minute break became a 40 minute break. However, we all still got our full 2 hours of jazz!

My photos from last week are below, as is our program for March.

Don’t forget that every week we will still give you 2 hours of top class modern jazz all for £10 a head. We now start at 8pm every week, and that earlier finish gives you more time to chat to the musicians at the end of the evening.

 

Do keep an eye on our weekly program. We are planning one or two evenings with a difference. Some with emphasis on different jazz styles, some perhaps with a bite to eat at half time. BUT we will have live jazz playing at The Hedsor Bar every Thursday, and it will always be coming from top players.

See you soon,

 

Geoff C