Tuesday again, and signs that Autumn is approaching. We also have signs of Hedsor Jazz’s run up until Christmas, so do keep eye on this blog for news of who and when, and perhaps even IF!

Coming this Thursday, September 11^th, we have a pairing that worked very well last month, so we have invited them back. Al Nicholls will be booting up his tenor sax, and he will be swung along by “our” trumpet man, Lester Brown. Not only that (them?) but we have a return of one of our one time regulars in the shape of Nigel Fox on keyboard. Add to the fray on drums a rare visitor to Hedsor Jazz, Elliot Toms.  Come along and cheer them on.

It just shows you that when the school holidays are over, our musicians take there places at holiday resorts up and down the country!

Photos below from the last time Al and Lester were with us.

 

You will observe that last time we were “experimenting” with setting up the band at the bar end of the room. We did this for a number of weeks, but it is thought for more than one reason better to revert to having the band at the entry door end of the room. Musically the sound is better (there are 3 reflective surfaces to surround the band) and less noise interference from the bar.

 

Last week’s session with Stuart Henderson and Alam Nathoo was again a master class in jazz improvisation, both melodic and chordal. Both musicians well know (to us) technical mastery was pushed along by our guest drummer for the evening, Dennis Smith and that well worn set of braces Peter Hughes. They were of course all kept in tune by our regular pianist Ken McCarthy.

Using less elegant language, it was a bril evening!

My photos from last week:-

One musician who has entertained us at least 3 times this summer has been singer Nanci Zhang.

Sadly for us she has now returned to New Orleans but hopes to return before this year ends. She holds Hedsor Jazz in high esteem (as we do her), she called it a special place, and we hope to see her again soon before too long.

 

I have a large collection of recorded music here at Cronin Towers, and usually don’t get to play a 10^th of it in any given year, but I was nudged (I was searching for the lyrics of “I Want A Little Girl”) into digging out a CD recorded in 1971. Tune titles back in the days when the tune was written ( little own when it was performed in 1971), we less thought of as being means of leading one astray!)

 

Those of you who lived in the area around that year will perhaps remember Tuesday evenings of jazz at “The Bell” in Maidenhead. Top rate players played there, just as they do for us a Hedsor now, with The Lennie Best Quartet as the backing. One guest band came regularly, The Alex Welsh Band! All of them were stars, and this week I pulled out a 1971 recording. It is a live recording of the band in full cry performing in Dresden. They were all great musicians, and generated a great sense of fun as well. Bridging traditional jazz tunes like “Dippermouh Blues” to swing titles like “9.20 Special”. But they also included what you can only really refer to as vaudeville tunes. On this recording they can be heard performing (in the local language) “If I Had a Taking Picture of You”.

One member of that band DID perform for us at Hedsor. Trombonist Roy Williams came to us I think 3 times, before a stroke curtailed his performing career.

I will say though that playing that CD again brought back the fun and the joy of those long gone years right into my front room.

Details below:-

The first blog of September, and believe it or not the Jazz Angels are already planning our Christmas Party (December 18^th).

And yes, I will mention what is coming to Hedsor Jazz this Thursday. BUT this week’s blog is largely taken up with a look back.

First, a look back at last Thursdays Hedsor Jazz concert.

I will comment that initially the music was competing with the bar crowd next door. I really hope that the amount of noise was compensating the Hedsor Bar with a large spend AT the bar, because it was LOUD!

Our concert last week was a really fun session led by “our” trumpeter Lester Brown, with assistance at the front from reedman Martin Dunsdon. Al Pirrie, Ken McCarthy and Mike Jeffries played in support from the rear. All were joined for part of the evening by our American guest singer Nanci Zhang. She will be sadly missed when she goes back to New Orleans, but she did sing about missing it!!

Photos below.

 

Looking forward to This Coming Thursday (September 4^th) we have one of those pairings that we did have a hand in creating. Stuart Henderson on trumpet and Alam Nathoo on tenor sax have, as individual players, often inspired us and caused us to wonder at there amazing musical skill and abilities, but towards the end of last year we paired them for the first time. The result was such that we decided that we must do that much more often. This week that pairing is back and we are adding in a guest drummer. Dennis Smith has (in the nicest possibly way) played around us for years! He was associated with Marlow Jazz 30 plus years ago and has been a stalwart of the West London jazz scene for even longer. An excellent drummer with a keen sense of humour, please come and welcome him to Hedsor Jazz.

 

Our sessions at Hedsor were started by the late Clive Burton in 2002, initially in “The Garibaldi”, and then after some months we moved across the road into what was then “The Hedsor Social Club”. Sadly for all of us, Clive died in October 2017. He was a warm and friendly character, playing trombone with great dexterity. He was also a great compere, and many of his catch phrases are fondly remembered (“you can tell he’s no athlete”, as a raffle prize winner moved to collect his prize). He was also a bandleader who always encouraged young talent to perform and often invited them to do so.

My reason for writing about him today is that I was recently given about 3 years worth of old Jazz Journals going from 2016 to 2018 and in looking through them I found a tribute to Clive written by Saxophonist Simon Spillett, one of those young people Clive encouraged.

On further reading, in a Jazz Journal published a month later I came across a letter that I had written in response to Simons tribute, (something I had completely forgotten writing), together with another letter from someone who used to come to Clive’s gigs before they moved to Somerset, (and he still reads this blog, hello Alan Bond). I thought I would risk prosecution in actually reprinting as a jpeg both letters (from the same JJ page!).

 

The photo in my letter came from the party at Hedsor we put on to celebrate Alan Grahams Life in Jazz. AND the photo with Clive blowing a pink trombone that was in the Simon Spillett letter came from a jazz festival we put on at St Pirans School in Maidenhead when Clive was asked to play a plastic trombone being promoted by Dawkes for young people to play. Clive did so, for a complete tune!

Today (well probably Thursday) we will be starting the creation of some new memories, things to talk about and write about in years yet to come. How fortunate these days that we do have both photographs and recordings of gigs we have been to in our past for us to dig out and relive both the successful and also less successful, “days of wine and roses”!

 

See you at The Hedsor Bar for another memorable jazz Thursday, don’t be late we start at 8!! 

             Better late than never

But better never late!!

 

As my mum would say. And to ensure she wasnt, she always had the clock set 10 minutes fast!!

But this blog issue is kind of in between, as for the past week I have been suffering the kind of stomach upset that is often the but (oh dear) of jokes. Unfortunately it’s the sort of stomach upset that also means you have to stay close to, well, home!

Coming to Hedsor Jazz THIS WEEK two musicians who have become regular attendees for us. Long term associate, on trumpet, Lester Brown, and relatively new, but becoming a firm favourite with our Hedsor fans, saxophonist Martin Dunston. As our poster says, accompanied by the Hedsor Jazz Trio.

 

It is also whispered that a return guest singer may well make an appearance. New Orleans based Nancie Zhang may well enter the building.

 

Last week we had the presence of a mighty singer, Jenny Howe. Accompanied by Duncan Lamont Jr, and by trumpeter Simon Gardner, Jenny sang her way through a large chunk of The Great American Songbook. However, Duncan did manage to ensure that Jenny didn’t get it all her own way. He sang too! A feature as well entitled “I Like to Recognise tHe Tune”!

Not only that but we had, for just one tune, a sit in drummer in the shape (? word choice?) of John Sergent. So all in all a typical value for money Hedsor Jazz session.

My photos of the session (well one or two) are below.

 

Due to my little local difficulty I may have to miss this Thursdays session, but please, if you can, do support our live jazz offering at The Hedsor Bar. Nancie, who hails from and sings in New Orleans says of Hedsor Jazz “what a special place”.

Please help ensure it can continue to be so by supporting us.

September poster below.

 It’s that Nagging Blog again!

But why? I hear you cry.

Well the primary intention of my almost weekly blog is to encourage you and to nag you, into listening to JAZZ.

AND especially to get you to listen to LIVE JAZZ played by real people, who eat and drink, and very often can converse with you. AND who play musical instruments in a group in a publicly accessible place!!

BUT Best of all I would be ever so pleased if you came and listened to all of that at The Hedsor Bar on a Thursday!

If you felt like coming out to Hedsor THIS Thursday you would find a couple (well, five really) who will entertain and amuse you with the same quality of performance as if you went to London’s West End and paid out a lot of money. Who are they? Well first of all there is singer and actress called 

Jenny Howe http://www.jennyhowe.com/ Go one, risk a click and find out more about her. She has been to Hedsor Jazz before and we are delighted to invite her back.

She will be accompanied out front by a wonderful saxophonist called

Duncan Lamont Jr  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqC_XifpJGE  click and see and hear more about Duncan. BUT he has been a great supporter and friend of Hedsor Jazz.

Jenny and Duncan at Hedsor in 2024

They are all kept propelled buy our rhythm section which includes Ken McCarthy on keyboard, Peter Hughes on bass and Mike Jeffries on drums. I can assure you that if you search out those names for yourselves on your favourite search engine you will find that they are all a prodigious talent.

At Hedsor Jazz this week you can hear all five of them for just £10. And you can park your car for free! Try that in London. Oh by the way we don’t have a congestion charge or Pollution tax to bother you either. If public transport is your thing Bourne End Railway Station is a short walk way. Route Planner tells me it is 5223 feet!! Alam Nathoo does sometimes come to play The Hedsor Bar on foot!

Last week we had just 2 players for your £10! But it was still incredible value for money because those 2 happened to be Alan Barnes and Dave Newton.

My photos below cannot give any clue as to the sheer musical experience we had (you missed it??). These two world class musicians have duetted together for over 45 years, so they are in practice! Alan is also an experienced musical host, who told us stories about the music, about themselves, and some even about US!! Dave appeared to play with his entire body (as a member of the audience said) and certainly we all wondered how he got all of those notes out of his keyboard. It was a great night, supported by a great audience.

We at Hedsor Jazz will try and bring music like that to you every week, just as we have been doing since 2002. But to continue to do so we need YOU as an audience.

Like many regular public events our audience has shrunk since covid. People have got used to simply not going out. Tinned TV, tinned music and tinned beer (!?) all delivered to your residence has meant that our jazz audience has shrunk, and we really are in danger of not being able to continue. So please do try and support live jazz. Especially Live Hedsor Jazz.

The bill of fare for the next 4 weeks is shown in the poster below. Please display to the public!

As someone who has a huge collection of tinned music at home, I do sometimes get to play some of it!

One CD recently pulled from the shelves has an unlikely title. “Piano in the Background” is a Duke Ellington Orchestra CD from the later end of his career, recorded in 1960 (he died in 1975). The Duke was never self effacing, but this album was released just before a trio album called “Piano in the Foreground”! 

The first track is a slightly shortened version of one he originally recorder in 1946 called “Happy Go Lucky Local”. This tune was later identically copied by another musician and released, as his work, as “Night Train”!

The album does go on to include some other well know Ellington works (“Rockin’ in Rhythm”, and “Take the A Train” for example), but they are all performed with such vitality that it reminds me of how great a debt we own to Duke Ellington and His Orchestra in showing us what big band jazz can be like and how exciting it can be. It is an excellent, well recorded release. My CD copy is on Columbia Legacy 512919 2 but I know that it was re released in 2018 on vinyl.

 

 

That’s it for now folks, See you ALL on Thursday!

Hi, time for a little light blogging.

Life has been a bit hectic of late, and apart from trying hard not to miss a Hedsor Jazz Thursday, I haven’t had time for a lot of listening. I do have a lot of recorded music at home here in Cronin Towers and of late I have kind of ignored it. Later in this edition I will write up about part of my collection.

First though I must highlight this coming Thursdays Hedsor Jazz on August 14th. It will be a truly special evening as we have one of Britain’s busiest and very affable jazz saxophonists Alan Barnes coming to Hedsor to play duets with his Leeds collage room mate pianist Dave Newton. 

Yes Hedsor will have just 2 musicians playing on Thursday. But what musicians!

In order to help me celebrate two of life’s milestones, 87 years of life and 66 years of marriage, I have invited Alan and Dave to come and play duets for me, and any of you who would like to come along.

Alan has been to Hedsor a number of times before, but it will be the first time Dave has come to us. The evening will be intimate, enthralling and a truly wonderful experience. Two musicians who are at the top of their game and who have known each other for over 40 years.

On Thursday August 14^th we have the Alan Barnes & Dave Newton Duo

​Alan Barnes and David Newton have been playing duets together for over 40 years. These multi award-winners cover a vast repertoire from Louis Armstrong to Chick Corea and play with an empathy that can only come with long experience. The emphasis, as always, is on swinging, accessibility and interplay. Expect a hugely entertaining programme of straight ahead jazz flawlessly played and interspersed with lots of anecdotes. And that is from their web entry!!

The last time I heard them together was at The Swanage Jazz festival in 2024. They filled the marquee and held everyone’s attention. To have them in the Hedsor Bar will give everyone a chance to hear the music in proximity. Don’t miss out.

 

Last week we had an excellent evening of music presented by Al Nicholls and Lester Brown. A different style from the week before with Bruce Adams and Duncan Lamont Jr. It’s not often we start off an evening with “The Sheik of Araby”, include Basie’s “9.20 Special”, and conclude with Ellingtons “Cottontail” BUT we did last week. And you missed it?

My photos are below.

 

 

Now what was the CD that caught my attention last week.

In the Cd’s for sale box was a quartet album on the Concord label by The Frank Capp Trio with saxophonist Ricky Woodard and it reminded me of a CD it took me a long time to find in the late 1990’s.

Drummer Frank Capp led a big band called “Juggernaut” in 1977. I did eventually find a copy of the CD I wanted which was called “In a Hefty Bag”. This was quickly followed by another CD even more simply called “Juggernaut” where Frank was joint leader with pianist Nat Pierce in 1994.

Playing the quartet album featuring saxophonist Ricky Woodard for the first time so inspired me that I dug out both big band CD’s and played them again after a number of years of them staying in the rack. They are great examples of West Coast big band music.

Both are truly excellent, and playing them led me to pull out another that had laid idle for some years, the Thad Jones, Mel Lewis orchestras CD called “Central Park North” this time recorded in New York in 1969

Details and cover art are below

The Frank Capp Trio with Ricky Woodard   Concord CCD 4469

The Frank Capp Juggernaut “In a Hefti Bag”  Concord CCD 1655

Capp/Pierce “Juggernaut”  Concord CCD 4040

Thad Jones. Mel Lewis “Central Park North”  Blue Note 7243 5 76853 2 0

 

Finally just a little advance notice about two gigs already booked for September 2025

Sept 4^th   Alam Nathoo tenor sax with Stuart Henderson trumpet

Sept 11^th Al Nicholls tenor sax with Lester Brown trumpet and Nigel Fox keyboard

 

  

 Even the most carefully crafted plans of mice and men do sometimes have to be changed. 

And so it is with Hedsor Jazz's plans for August 7th.

Very sadly neither saxophonist Alam Nathoo NOR trumpeter Stuart Henderson can make that day. BUT we have been able to book two other favourite players in their place. They play a style different to that of Alam and Stuart, but saxophonist Al Nicholls is a wonderful player and a long associate of us at Hedsor. And he will be joined by "our" Lester Brown on trumpet.

So it will still be three trumpeters in a row. 

So to clarify August below is a revised poster for you to print off and publish.

 Many thanks.