A Friday Postscript

I just want to say "Thank You" to all of you who came to, and all of you who helped put on, last nights Concert in Aid of Cancer Research UK. 

It was a splendid evening of jazz and it was very rewarding to see Hedsor's Big Room full of people enjoying the music and each others company. 

We could have had more people, there were still a few empty seats, but we did raise over £300 for CRUK in a very enjoyable and painless way. And just to reassure you we did pay all the musicians and our room hire so the £300 is all for CRUK.

I still have to pinch myself to realize that at Hedsor now we have music of such a high quality that I don't think even if we paid 3 times what we do to get in, it  could really be surpassed. In the last 2 weeks we have 2 guest musicians who have played with Frank Sinatra!

After the show I talked with a number of guests, and it was a very sad liteny to recite all the names of the people who have left due to Cancer over the last 10 years or so. So many great characters. OK £300 could always be more in the fight against this illness, but every little helps. Last night we all had fun, so thank you for supporting CRUK through the medium of Live Jazz.

Next week back to a more normal evening, with a full night of the Clive Burton Quintet.  

 Justin Swadling

The following week, May 9th, a young saxophonist, Justin Swadling, comes to augment the quintet. Come and give him a listen, after all, you didnt know Vasilis Xenopoulos until you saw him at Hedsor, and Justin has had the same tutor, Peter Cook. He also playes in Ealing's Big Band, "The Sound of 17" as does Vasilis (and our own Ken Rankine). Have a look at his web site http://www.justinswadling.com and come on out and give him a £6 try!

More blogging next week, TTFN 

Last week 

was a great week for local live jazz, unfortunately sadden by the death of a local jazz ambassador, Charles Benson.

This week we have an opportunity to enjoy some more great jazz locally with our Thursday Concert coming up, but also by coming to that concert, we can do a little to help in the battle against cancer that has seen so many of our local jazz hero’s pass on to another stage.

Hedsor Jazz on Thursday will have a Stella cast. Alan Graham on vibraphone, Stuart Henderson on trumpet, Mike Wills on reeds, Nigel Fox on keyboard, Martin Hart on drums, and this week, deputizing for our regular broken wristed bass player Ken Rankine, Brad Lang. 

With the prospect of wonderful music and a buffet provided by the ladies of our jazz community we are starting at 8pm.

In retrospect last week music was a feast of saxophones. Al Nicholls and Joe Fooks at Marlow on Tuesday evening gave us great swing and to our great surprise and delight last Thursday at Hedsor we had Duncan Lamont junior (who we had booked!), but I found on arrival that he had brought his dad!! To hear junior saying it was about time to bring dad on again was amazing. Senior had accompanied Frank Sinatra and been in a band led by Benny Goodman! He is without doubt one of British Jazz's legends. 

We really are fortunate with our friendships at Hedsor. Such wonderful music so close at hand, so easy to get to, and so inexpensive to see. Free parking as well! I really do have to pinch myself sometimes. We are in such a great position to hear such quality so easily.

Do turn out for our night on Thursday at The Hedsor Social Club. Yes, it will cost you £10 to get in, but it could cost you almost as much to hire a film to watch on your TV!! 

8pm Thursday is our start time for Great Jazz Music, Great Company, Great Buffet Food and its in support of a Great Cause, Cancer Research UK.

CD Review

Those of you who were at The Marlow Jazz club on Tuesday had a chance to buy Al Nicholls  latest CD, a release by his quartet. Many of us have heard Al and his various bands over the years, and are quite used to his jump jive style. His latest album is called “That Swing Thing” and without reservation I think it is the best album of his I have heard. Most of the tunes on it will be familiar, not just to jazz fans either, but Al and his team have thought carefully how to exploit the material and bring out aspects you may not have heard before. There are still traces of the jump jive format, but there is much more of modern 1950’s jazz phrasing in his playing, and in the arrangements. I haven’t heard any of the musicians in his trio before, maybe I should have, because they are well worth searching out. I only felt uncomfortable with a couple of tunes on the album ("Last Trains Gone" and "Too Close for Comfort" didn’t work for me) but their treatment of “God Bless The Child” was revealing and “The Man I Love” almost hypnotic. My foot was tapping and my hand did so to right through the listen! 

His web site is “under construction” at the moment, but do look out for his live gigs and buy the CD from him. You will enjoy the later listens I promise you.

OK, I try and write about the music I love, and sometimes I get stumped for words, but I was amazed at the way Jazz UK wrote up a certain release in there latest issue. I will quote it in full, only with the names deleted to protect the innocent!

“Working as an outlet for XXXXX's original music “XXXXX” features four of his closest comrades with acclaimed trumpeter Xxxxx Xxxxx on trumpet, former York University classmate Xxxx Xxxxx on clari­nets, the much talked about Xxxx Xxxxx on saxophone and electron­ics and Xxxx Xxxx  on double bass. The four-track E.P. boasts an overflow of creative juices with each musician allowed the freedom to express their personality through a selection of finely tuned angular grooves and intricate melodic writing. With a host of thoughtful collaborative improvisation each musician is akin to one another, but demonstrating both fine writing and intelligent drumming it is clear that Xxxxx's understanding of the musicians at hand is second to none. A personal highlight of the record is the heightened sense of texture used by Xxxxx that expertly utilises an unusual chord-less line up with an even rarer three instrument frontline of trumpet, clarinets and tenor saxophone.

Full of unexpected twists and turns, 'XXXXX” shares a slice of both honesty and personality in a debut E.P. that leaves the listener wanting more”

Well I haven’t heard the music itself so on that I cannot comment about that. 

On the review itself however, I just wonder if the writer has ever listened to a Trad band! Three part front line harmony perhaps!!

that's it for now folks coffee break calls!

Good Morning Jazz Fans

It is with great sadness that I have to tell you that Charles Benson, “titular head” of Cookham’s fabulous Shirtlifters died during the night of Tuesday. He will be greatly missed by many people from many different areas of local life, which included his support as a Jazz Angel for Hedsor Jazz.

He died following treatment for bowel cancer.

I will bring a card tonight for those of you who would like to sign it in support of Charles’s family. I don’t want to write more at this stage other than to say to his family we are holding you in our thoughts.

When my son died, also of cancer, a friend sent me the following poem, which I found very supportive:

Poem Read at Stuarts Funeral

You can shed tears that he is gone or you can smile because he has lived.

You can close your eyes and pray he’ll come back or you can open your eyes and see all he’s left.

Your heart can be empty because you can’t see him or you can be full of the love you shared.

You can turn your back on tomorrow and live your life yesterday, or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.

You can remember him and only that he’s gone, or you can cherish his memory and let it live on.

You can cry and close your mind, or be empty and turn you back, or you can do what he’d want.

Smile, open your eyes, love and go on.

© David Harkins 1981

As you all know Hedsor Jazz has supported Cancer Research UK since 2003, raising money every year for them by a fundraising concert. The timing of this years concert could not be more poignant. It will be on April 25^th. I know you will not need any further encouragement to support this event. See past issues of this blog for more detail.

In line with the thoughts expressed in the above poem, we are carrying on and Tonight’s special guest is saxophonist Duncan Lamont Junior, who will be supported, as usual, by the Clive Burton Quintet. 

See you at Hedsor.

Geoff C

First off today some of our forthcoming guests.

As you may remember our idea now we are in Hedsor’s Big Room, is to regularly have a guest musician perform with our (regular) Clive Burton Quintet. Since that decision was made we also have an additional need, that of replacing Clive whilst he recovers from his surgical procedure.

Then, on top of his other calamities, Ken Rankin, our (regular) bass player has managed to break his wrist, and we will obviously be having a number of guest appearances by other bass players until Ken can resume his place. Just so you can encourage friends (and yourself) to come and experience Hedsor jazz, here is a list of the named replacements/additions as I know them to day.

This Thursday April 11^th we have guitarist Jez Cook coming to partner our saxophonist Mike Wills. This is handy in as much as they can share a car journey, they both come to us from Oxford! Jez is a very experienced and sought after player, catch him via YouTube to sample his style

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1c5MeH_J5gU

Jez hasn’t been to Hedsor before, and it should be a very entertaining gig. It will only cost you £6 to get in. Music from 8.30 pm.

Thursday April 18^th we have another player coming who hasn’t been before to darkest Hedsor. This time saxophonist Duncan Lamont Jnr will be coming to keep Mike company. Duncan, son of a famous farther who HAS played for us a couple of times, is fast becoming a much sort after player, and well worth YOUR while seeking out at Hedsor!!

Thursday April 25^th should by now be in your diary, and tickets are now available either on a Thursday from Dee (on the Red Box) or from Cookham’s Stationery Depot (01628 531178). This is our fundraising night for Cancer Research UK and tickets will cost you £10. That will give you access to a light buffet at half time, time starting from 8pm. Our guest list has had to change slightly, and therefore maybe the evening will have a slightly less Benny Goodman bias than anticipated, but our guests will still entrance you. They are Alan Graham on vibraphone, and Stuart Henderson on trumpet. The regular Clive Burton Quintet will be behind them, maybe even with said Clive playing his trombone for us again that night for the first time in 6 weeks!

Further ahead, on May 9^th, a young saxophonist is coming to us from Maidenhead. Justin Swadling is a very talented young saxophonist who will be joining our restored front line. Justin has his own group called “Modus”, which is a more funk style band, but he also plays for Ealing based big band “The Sound Of Seventeen”. Ken Rankine has been recommending him to us for months, and this will be his first proper appearance at Hedsor. (He did sit in a couple of times about 1 year ago).

June 6^th may well be the anniversary of D Day, but it will also be the first appearance at Hedsor of former Humph band member saxophonist Karen Sharp. We are all looking forward to her appearance. Many of us have seen her in other places, so I’m sure you will all give her a very big Hedsor welcome.

July has me setting off for the Swanage Jazz Festival [July 12^th, 13^th, 14^th ]

(where I will see many of you too I expect), but I will be hastening back for August, because August contains a 75^th birthday, (mine) and a 54^th wedding anniversary (ours!). So we are having a Hedsor based party on August 8^th to celebrate both. 

Gil Cook  

To help me I have invited Vasilis Xenopoulos, Nigel Price, and Gill Cook to play and sing with Clive and the Quartet. I’m looking forward to seeing many friends and relatives (less as the years go by I’m afraid) from my 75 years.

After that the only thing as yet in my jazz diary for Hedsor is December 19^th, our Christmas Party, and you will have to continue to “Watch this Space” to find out more about that later.

CD’s Listened to recently

First up, I mentioned the new Simon Spillett release a couple of weeks ago, but hadn’t at that time had a chance to play it. I enjoyed very much the gig at Marlow where most of the tunes were played by them, and I can honestly say that this third album in the Simon Spillett Quartet’s history is the best one yet. It is an excellent recording, and is musically less busy than the previous two releases. I loved “Yesterday I Heard the Rain” and the bass feature “Bass House” named after a well-remembered beer! At 38 minutes long it has the sort of 3 tunes a side feel of an LP, which is fairly logical, as you can also purchase this release on a 12” vinyl LP!!

I noticed that Jazz UK magazine also gave it a good review. I was glad to see it had, as in my view that magazine is less useful than it used to be. You can pick up a free copy of Jazz UK from Hedsor on Thursday this week and read the review then!

Lastly something slightly different. Bill Allred is an American trombone player who used to be much associated with Disney World. He also played for many many years for Rosie O’Grady’s Goodtime Jazz Band, which would rather lead you to believe he only played Dixieland. However, together with his son John, also a trombone player, they are very capable to playing swinging mainstream with some degree (a great degree) of excellence. Arbours Records “Bill Allred: The New York Session” is a fine recording of very fine music. Some wonderful players support them, including soon to be seen in Marlow, guitarist Howard Alden. On this release he also plays BANJO! Many of the tunes are of a Dixieland origin, but just have a listen to Bix’s “Davenport Blues”, with Warren Vache on Cornet! Then try “Muskrat Ramble”. Very fine trombone playing indeed. ARCD 1939 is the number.

STOP THE PRESSES

Confirmed this morning, we have just recruited a substitute for our Benny Goodman Cancer Research Night in the shape of trumpeter Stuart Henderson. Not sure if that will be in place of Harry James or Ziggy Elman, but my goodness, wont that work well!

TTFN

April 4th

Our Hedsor Jazz guest this week is:

Talented guitarist John Coverdale. A welcome return of this melodic guitarist with a musical sense of humour. One of Hedsor Jazz’s regular friends who comes out to play for us with little conceit for his star quality. Take a look at his biography taken from his entry in the Jazz Services Site and you realise he is one of the very best around:-

“Started in folk clubs in the 70's. Studied at London college of music with Peter Ind & began jazz gigs in 1977. Has appeared regularly at the Ealing Jazz Festival since the early eighties. Does a lot of duo work with guitarist Max Brittain, and has recently worked with Johnny van Derrick, Matt Waites and Alan Barnes.” 

He always fits in well with our regular rhythm section, and shines as a soloist. I think everyone can remember his duet with Max Brittain in February 2011 at Zane’s fundraising concert.

Tonight you can enjoy his playing again, and all for just £6.

As many of you know our regular bass player Ken Rankine has been in the wars again. 5 months after breaking a leg, he has now been very unfortunate again in breaking his left wrist. We really do wish him a speedy recovery. He must be wondering who is putting the pins in his doll!

Tonight in his place I understand we have John Monney, who played at short notice last week in Ken’s place.

And what a session that was. Stuart Henderson and Tolly (Anatoly Vyacheslavov to give him his full name) with our rhythm section backing them played music of such quality last week that we would have had every right to have charged you double to listen to it! I actually recorded it (in mono) on my mobile phone. Having now played it back through my Hi Fi I am again amazed at the quality of the music we are privileged to have  at The Hedsor Social Club.

Max Brittain (mentioned above) has unfortunately had to pull out of our Cancer Fundraising Concert on April 25^th. We are still going ahead with our tribute to Benny Goodman, with Alan Graham on Vibes and Mike Wills as Mr Goodman and we will announce our replacement guest as soon as they are confirmed.

What I can tell you about guests before then is that next week (April 11^th) we have another guitarist, Jezz Cook, coming to play for us alongside Mike Wills, this will be Jezz’s first visit to Hedsor, and I am really looking forward to hearing him there.

The week after that (April 18^th), we have Duncan Lamont Junior on tenor sax. Another first at Hedsor.

Lots of live jazz to look forward to. Tell you friends, and do buy tickets (from Dee) for our Cancer Fundraiser on April 25^th.

Remember, to keep live jazz alive we need live audiences!

Oh, and By the Way, we have gained a mention in the local magazine “Round and About” this month!

Hedsor Jazz for THURSDAY 28th March

 

A quick note to all you jazz lovers. Tomorrow at Hedsor Jazz we have the combined talents of Stuart Henderson on Trumpet and Flugel Horn and “Tolly” his saxophonist companion. Expect excellence. 

8.30 pm start £6 entry. 

 

For those wishing to book ahead, I can tell you that on April 11th, alongside Mike Wills we will have guitarist Jez Cook. It will be his first vsit to Hedsor, do look him up on YouTube 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1c5MeH_J5gU

On April 18th we have Duncan Lamont Junior, well know saxophonist son of  D C Senior. Junior has not been to us before, but his Dad has!

Dont forget the next Big Do! On April 25th we will be squeezing you for money for Cancer Research UK. Sweetening the squeeze we will have Alan Graham on vibraphone, Max Brittain on guitar and of course our own Mike Wills on reeds. We are hoping to pay tribute to Benny Goodman that night. Tickets will be available from me on Thursday at Hedsor. £10 each, a light buffet will be provided. 8 pm start.

Another Good Week for Local Jazz

This week is a very good week for local live jazz. 

Marlow Jazz Club last night hosted Simon Spillett and his Quartet and an excellent time was had by all. They all played very well indeed, and the rapport between Clark Tracey on drums and Alec Dankworth on bass was something very special. They were almost playing as one, much to the delight of the audience, especially one young lady who showed her appreciation for everything bass with great shrieks of encouragement.

Promoter Michael Eagleton need not have worried about an audience. They were beginning to run out of chairs!

Hopefully that will also happen at Hedsor on Thursday (March 21st) because we have another of the young lions of the saxophone coming to The Hedsor Social Club. Vasilis Xenopoulos will be playing opposite our regular read man, Mike Wills. behind them will be or usual class act of piano, bass and drums. And it will still only cost you £6 to get in!! 8.30 start. There are more seats than we used to have in the bar, but if you want a good one, come early.

Recorded Jazz

CD's this week include one I have yet to listen to, but Simon played a lot of the tunes from it last night. Yes, Simon has a new CD out on a new label. Gearbox Records. And I'm pleased to see one of the hits of last night is on it, "Yesterday I Heard The Rain". OK. yesterday I felt it too, and sadly there seems little let up in our Upper Lip Winter, but the balled is one I hadn't heard before, and it is a lovely tune, which The Simon Spillett band played beautifully.

The records (yes 12"LP versions are available too) and CD's of the new album "Square One" can only be purchased at Gigs, so next time you see Simon ask for one (in exchange for a Ten Pound Note of course). I'll let you know later what I think of the transposition of the music to the album, but I am looking forward to a proper listen to it very soon.

Another CD I dragged out from the archive may surprise you. I was listening to Spotify in my workshop when out popped a tune by Ottilie Patterson. Sadly now no longer with us, Ottile was a revelation when she first appeared with the Chris Barber Band in 1955. She sounded stunning and she looked stunning too. Well, over the years the band, and her singing style, altered enough to include R&B tunes, and on Monday night prompted by the Spotify nudge I played a little known recording by the Barber band from 1964. The mix of musicians and music will surprise you. There are some great railway blues tunes,("I Have a Ticket", "Morning Train" for example)  and a tune made for a film ("Brands Hatch Beat") called "Finishing Straight". One of the personnel surprises is that on a couple of the tunes Ronnie Scott solos, and on another you will find Jimmy Deucher in place of Pat Halcox, and pianist Norrie Paramor is also on at least one. It really is great fun. It may not be around to buy in the version illustrated above, but Spotify might meet your need.

So, as they say, "That's it for now Folks" see you ALL on Thursday!

Good Morning Jazz Lovers,

 

Tonight at Hedsor we have the combined saxophone power of Peter Cook and Mike Wills, together with the rhythm section of The Clive Burton Quintet.

 

Clive himself had the operation for his hernia yesterday. I spoke with him this morning, and he is recovering painfully, but is in good spirits! I will have a card with me tonight for you all to write encouraging messages to him!

 

 

Hedsor tonight is the usual start time of 8.30 pm, with a £6 entry fee. I have attached our known gig list for the next few months, just to encourage you to tell your friends!!

Evening All

As a very old police constable used to say, until he was shot in The Blue Lamp!! 

I thought you all might like to see the progress made in making good use of Hedsor Social Club's Big Room, so above is an image of a very nice poster that I have just produced that lists all comers.

Hedsor Jazz now meets in the Big Room every week, and we are hoping to see it full. Do make a note in your diary, and even if you cannot make it every Thursday evening, you might like to make a note of the ones you don't want to miss!!

Bourne End Community Centre

I also have it on good authority that there is a jazz event at The Bourne End Community Centre this coming Tuesday March 5th. I am told that Deny IIlet on trumpet, Richard Kellaway on reeds, Mike Jeffries on drums, together with unnamed guitar and bass will be playing there. Sadly, I have another commitment that night, but if you are free, you might like to go along and support a bit of traditional jazz.

That's it for now folks.......as another media star used to say!

Geoff C

 

 

A Reminder 

 

That some excellent jazz can be had this and every Thursday at The Hedsor Social Club. 

This week we welcome back most of the Clive Burton Quintet, and this week our pianist is Ken McCarthy. We really are spoilt when we can go between Nigel Fox and Ken. £6 gets you in (but as some of you have discovered, not out! We do pass the hat round to help pay for the room rent. This is purely voluntary, and only for small change) and 8.30 pm is our start time.

Looking backwards, (not too good if your driving forwards) to last week, it was so nice to see such a great turnout for Tracey Mendham. She really was on really good form, and I managed to record some of it in reasonable quality mono sound on my mobile phone. Such are the wonders of modern technology! 

Dont forget that no matter who is playing at Hedsor, the quality is always to a very high standard. Our next "poster" guest will be Vasilis Xenopoulos on March 21st.

 

Recorded Jazz

This week, I have discovered 2 CD’s that are well worth adding to your collection.

I have been a fan of Duke Ellington, his compositions, and his orchestra for many years. I have also been a fan of Scottish saxophonist Tommy Smith and fellow his country pianist Brian Kellock. It has been a real delight therefore to listen this week to a CD entitled “In The Spirit of DUKE” performed by The Scottish National Jazz Orchestra with both the above playing in it.

Recorded live in Scotland in October 2012 it uses original Ellington arrangements, carefully reconstructed by Tommy Smith, with Brian Kellock playing the part of Duke Ellington. To hear such an accomplished bunch of musicians play such arrangements in such wonderful recorded sound just made my smile go from ear to ear. It really is a CD to go out and buy (or go to Amazon and buy!!). Mr Smith has carefully chosen music from the entire range of Ellington compositions, from early (Black and Tan Fantasy) to late (Sunset and a Mocking Bird), but has gone back to recordings made by the Ellington Orchestra in their heyday (the Black and Tan orchestration dates to 1958). The fact that these recordings were all made during a concert tour makes the whole CD even more remarkable. If you like Ellington, go and buy it!! Spartacus Records STS017

The other CD harks back to the Eddie Condon material I mentioned the other week, the MP3 files from the New York Town Hall 1944 Broadcasts now available on the web. One of the Chicago style players missing from the Eddie Condon sessions was Bud Freeman. He was missing because Condon had fallen out with him. Bud Freeman had refused to take him on tour with him in the show “Swinging the Dream” in 1939 as, in Bud’s view, Condon was always drunk, which was probably true!!

A chance to catch up with Bud Freeman’s sound comes courtesy of AVID Jazz. One of their recently released 2CD sets contains 4 albums of classic Bud Freeman. Here he is in association with many of the other greats of the period. Jack Teagarden, Bob Haggart, George Wettling, and also, (and still surprisingly good on piano), Lil Armstrong. The recordings made in the late 50’s and early 60’s are reasonable (and yes, by the time they were made, Condon had made up his differences with Bud Freeman, he’s in it as well). With 46 tracks to listen to in all, it’s a real bargain. AVID AMSC1072

 

Good Morning England

 

As one time comedien Gilly Potter used to say .

 

I just about have time this week to "remind" you all that this week at Hedsor Jazz, we have that wonderful (if slightly eccentric) lady saxophonist Tracey Mendham.

 

 

Seen Above, Tracey and the Quintet

 



She provides wonderful entertainment, has a GREAT BIG tenor sax sound, and seems to be followed round by hilarity. She will be playing alongside Clive Burton and the Quintet, who have been on the recovery course already!

 

It will be a great night, those who have seen her before will know what I'm talking about. It's amazing value for such entertainment, being only £6 to get in, and the music starts at 8.30 pm

 

Hedsor Social Club can be found at the end of the SL8 5ES postcode.

 

Must dash, have to see if my eyes still work at Mr Boots.

 

TTFN

 

Geoff C

Good Morning

What a delight  to see the snow back again, and another period of cold and ice. It gives you a great chance to catch up on some indoor listening.

However, I need you to keep on coming out, both on Thursdays, but also occasionally on Tuesdays as well.

Michael Eagleton and Marlow Jazz have an evening to look forward to tomorrow, guitarist Jim Mullen will be playing there alongside the Ken McCarthy Trio, (Ken was heard to great effect last Thursday at Hedsor). This week at Marlow his trio will include Dennis Smith on drums and a bass player, sadly unknown to me (yet!). So your travel efforts and £7 will get you some great jazz!

Also, staying with a Marlow theme, this coming Sunday evening I have been invited onto Michael’s Radio Marlow show to talk about our forthcoming gig at Hedsor featuring saxophonist Tracey Mendham (Feb 21^st).

In return Michael has asked me to help publicise 2 other events he is presenting, and I am delighted to be able to do so:-

In Christ Church, Quoiting Square on Fri 26th April pianist Lenore Raphael from New York will be playing the church's Bechstein, with Peter Ingram (USA) drums and Dave Green, bass.

He has also added to his Marlow British Legion Club gigs with another recently booked date not yet on his web-site. On Tues April 16^th he has saxophonist Jo Fooks alongside Al Nicholls (seen at Hedsor on January 24^th) The gig will also be with Ken McCarthy on keyboard.

This Thursday at Hedsor we have our regular band, The Clive Burton Quintet, back with us, so I do hope you can come out through the thick and thin (thick=snow, thin=rain!) and fill up our new Big Room venue. 8.30 pm start £6 entry. What utter value!

I also have an extra date for your diary too. On March 21^st we will be having a visit from one of our favourite saxophonists, Vasilis Xenopoulos. All I need to say is that it will only cost you £6 to get in!!

Vasilis with Clive at Hedsor on a previous occasion.

Have to go now, I will provoke further internal listening later in the week. But for now….

Follow the links below for some wonderful YouTube nostalgia!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=je24WUx7EcE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLQI9-KMoCQ

Enjoy!!

Just in Time     For another Blog!

I appear to be having difficulties in nagging the people on my nag list, so I intend to Blog more and nag less!!

Now that could be a New Year resolution, but I don’t do them! The “system” tells me my nags have been sent, but on more than one occasion I have been told people have not received any! So here is a blog more worthy of a simple nag.

This Week at Hedsor Jazz we have a selection of our usual quartet suspects!

Clive will be on Trombone, Mike Wills will be on reeds, John Monney will be on bass, Ken McCarthy will be on keyboard and Mike Jeffries will be on drums. Bit like the usual suspects but more like the usual substitutes! Do come along, the music will be excellent, the admission price is reasonable and the beer is by Rebellion! 8.30pm start time.

Recorded Jazz

Have any of you managed to get in to the Eddie Condon Archive yet. There is over 20 hours of Eddie Condon and Friends on

http://tinyurl.com/bao26ea

I have managed about 3 hours so far, and it is well worth the effort. Don’t forget that they are MP3 files and can be saved for you to listen to whilst travelling.

Having had those as my main jazz listen of the last week means I haven’t listened to too much 12 cm plastic lately, but I have sampled 2 CD’s from Calligraph Records, Humphrey Lyttleton’s label.

They were his Parlophone Collection. On 4 CD’s you have in chronological order 100 recordings he made from 1949 to 1959. In various other forms, I have them already. One of my first LP’s, purchased with my first weeks wages as an apprentice was “Delving Back With Humph”, but it is a real delight to hear the all again. You can hear how he migrated from a Revivalist Band to a more mainstream sound, but one does become aware that the seeds of the later were there all the time. From 59 onwards it became a miniature swing band. But the early material is well worth a listen. 

Wally Fawkes

Bruce Turner 

are all in strong evidence. 

I only have volumes 1 and 2, but there are 4 in the set. Try Amazon or Calligraph Records themselves. The two I have are numbered CLG CD 035 -, and 035-2 and the track listing is reproduced below.

Well, that will do for now, I feel a coffee coming on.

Missing Messages

Last week, due to a rather crowded schedule here at Cronin Towers I didn't do a blog page, but rather a quick email message to my 80 or so signed up jazzers who like to get "nags". Unfortunately  NO ONE received the message! So, I have reproduced it below!

Yes, it's out of date, but some things are worth repeating. 

Last night we were a bit thin on the ground, BUT we had an excellent evening of jazz, with a welcome return of Mike Jeffries on drums. He will be with us again this coming Thursday Feb 7th. 

My last line still applies. We need more of you more often. We do have a plan for the year, and it should provide us with quality jazz and entertainment. All for between £6 and £10, depending on the event.

Also worthy of note is the link to the Eddie Condon Shows I mentioned:- 

http://tinyurl.com/bao26ea

I have now had the chance to listen to about 5 of the shows, and musically they are great. Do listen out for Miff Mole, what a wonderful trombone player he was!

So, as you missed the nag, here is what it said:- 

Good afternoon jazz “fans”, (or as Richard Kellaway suggested at Saturdays “Ineluctable” evening “cats”)!

I thought as time was passing by I ought to issue a brief nag to annoy you enough to turn out for another jazz night at The Hedsor Social Club.
Tomorrow, Thursday 31st January (yes, January has gone!) we have an almost regular Clive Burton Quintet. The irregular but sporadic difference this week will be the drummer. In place of Martin Hart, (on his travels again) we are delighted to have back with us Mike Jeffries. After a short illness, we hope Mike Wills is in good enough health to play for us again too. “Stargazer” please!!

After the brief nag I put out last week about the Eddie Condon Archive of 1944-45 broadcasts I have investigated the 20 plus hours of music, and have realised they are saveable MP3 files, each of approx. 1/2 hour duration. They are really good (if you like that sort of jazz) and the recordings are very listenable. Not Hi Fi, but G F (Great Fun!)!

When I have a little more time, and without a Thursday looming, I will write a proper blog, and talk more about recorded music.

But, unless you keep turning out to fill Hedsor’s Big Room, recorded jazz music will all you will have to listen to!!TTFNGeoff

Finally I can now say that our line up for our Cancer Research Fundraising concert on April 25th will include Alan Graham on vibes, guitarist Max Britton, and our regular Clive Burton Quintet, with Mike Wills on clarinet. We will be performing a tribute to Benny Goodman.

So, I really do hope we will see you all soon, (and more often), at HEDSOR JAZZ!
Geoff

A Few Hedsor Dates for your Diary

Now you have that nice new diary for 2013 I’m sure you would like some events to put into it!

At Hedsor, we do have a few dates for you already!!

Probably too soon to actually put in your diary, but this week, Thursday January 24th we have that wonderful saxophonist Al Nicholls, whom we haven’t seen at Hedsor for a year or so. Leader of “Blue Harlem” a 50’s sounding “Modern” jazz band, he has also recently been leading his Swing Quartet around the country. You can catch clips of the Quartet here :-

http://www.functionjunction.co.uk/artists/4/100/157/The_Al_Nicholls_Swing_Quartet

Al Nicholls

Al was one of our guest soloist on the famous double album recorded live at Norden Farm by Clive and the Quintet in a Tribute to drummer Keith Vitty. I know that Al thought it one of the best recordings of his saxophone sound he had ever heard. Well, you can come and hear it live with the current Quintet at Hedsor THIS THURSDAY, January 24^th.

He will be an additional guest, so the sound will be suitably large to fit our Big Room. Do come along, drive away the winter cold and take in some wonderful sax sounds. £6 gets you in. 8.30pm is our start time.

One of the advantages of the Big Room is that you don’t HAVE to come early to get a seat!! So if you want a little extra time to digest that dinner, come on down any time up to 11 pm!!

Clive with Tracey Mendham

Looking only slightly further ahead we have a return visit by that bouncy saxophone lady Tracey Mendham on February 21^st. Mike Wills wont be there to support Clive, but you can come and help!! One of the advantages of our new big room experience is that the extra space will accommodate Tracey brilliantly. No, I’m not saying she herself is large, but she has got a large personality, which the big room will accommodate more comfortably than the bar!! No kidding Tracey is tremendous fun, has a great tenor sound, and will be well worth your £6 entry fee.

Looking even further ahead, definitely one to put in your diary is April 25^th. This is an evening we are setting aside to raise money for Cancer Research UK. More details to follow, but it will be a great jazz event.

Vasilis Xenopoulos

Further and Further ahead August 8^th has me celebrating my 75^th birthday AND my wife June and I will also be celebrating our 54^th wedding anniversary, so party night it will definitely be!! So far booked are Vasilis Xenopoulos and Nigel Price. And if you don’t know what there capable of, you haven’t been keeping up! I’m delighted that they will be with us that night with Clive and the Quintet and possibly one or two others.

Nigel Price

For those of you who have been lagging behind, Vasilis and Nigel are both appearing this coming Tuesday Jan 22^nd at The Marlow British Legion Hall, curtsey of Michael Eagleton.

One final date fixed for this year is the 2013 Christmas Party! It will be on December 19^th. No, we haven’t booked our guests yet!

Wow, haven’t we been busy!!

See you VERY soon.

A Few Items of Jazz Note

This Thursday at Hedsor we have The Clive Burton Quintet, now firmly ensconced in The Big Room. I am led to believe that this week it is the regular quintet, with Mike Wills safely back from his services to the community! Our usual very moderate charge for admittance (£6) will apply, 8.30pm is the start time.

Last week we were without a saxophone, but with a trumpet (and flugel horn) in the hands of Stuart Henderson. He played magnificently, as he usually does. The two brass horns combined to give beauty and harmony to our evening of jazz. It was nice to see one newcomer to our midst, who had read about us on this blog, and had travelled from Fleet in Hampshire to find us. He said he would be back!!

Next week, on Tuesday 22^nd January at the British Legion Hall in Marlow Mike Eagleton is putting on two of my favourite musicians, both of whom have played Hedsor!! Vasilis Xenopoulos on sax and Nigel Price on guitar. They will be ably assisted by the usual Marlow rhythm section, but perhaps with a different pianist, as I understand Frank Toms has had a minor stroke. Get well soon Frank.

Then on Saturday 26^th January Cookham has one of its annual Jazz highlights. An Evening of Winter Ineluctability!! This will be generated by Cookham’s fabulous Shirtlifters and you can be part of it for £12 if The Hardware Shop on the Parade, near Cookham Station has any left.

Also on Saturday 26^th January a more modern jazz form will be presented at The Woodley Theatre, with Martin Hart and his Trio backing saxophonist Sue Greenway. Do look on The Woodley Theatre website for more info.

CD’s Heard this Week

On the home front this last few days I have been sampling yet again some of the CD’s that no one appears to want and that have been rejected when offered for £1!! OK, many are not to my taste, but as I discovered last week there are some hidden Gems there, and some worthwhile challenges to what you think you might like.

The first one had me jumping for joy at its discovery. “Artistry Jazz Group” a Scandinavian band have produced a CD called “Tribute”, which pays homage to “musicians and artists who shaped new sounds and idea” as the sleeve says. 15 titles played and sung by a modern jazz 7 piece band that really swings. Led by Jan Lundgren on piano, with Jacob Fisher on guitar, Vivian Buczek on vocals and guests Peter Aspland on trumpet and Klas Lindquist on alto this beautiful recording is a delight. OK, very ordinary artwork for the CD, names you may not know, but from a country with a great jazz tradition. Someone should have got to it before I did. You may be able to find it on the Volenza label, number VMCD 103. One thing is for sure, you probably wont be able to get it from HMV anymore!

The second CD is more of an adventurous challenge. Perrine Mansuy is a French classically trained pianist who has slowly grown from a single performer to a collaborator with 3 other French artists to produce a CD titled “Vertigo Songs”. It is beautifully recorded; the piano sound is terrific, rich and ringing. “Vertigo” has it with poetry recited over the music. Almost sung, sometimes just behind the actual music, sometimes actually sung to the front of the ensemble as part of the music itself. Some parts you might want to leave alone, but some will stay in your head and your memory. It’s available on Laborie Records CD LJ16. Perrine does have a website and samples of the music can be listened to there:-

 http://www.perrinemansuy.com/index.php/discographieou

You will need to plug in a French translator to the site, but there are links to the music. Have a listen to “Ananda”, its haunting!

That’s it for now folks, see you Thursday at Hedsor, bring your friends, fill the room!!

This Weeks Special Guest

This Weeks "Special" Guest at Hedsor Jazz.

Well he is special, but almost becoming a part of the Clive Burton Quintet. He is that very accomplished trumpet and flugel horn player Stuart Henderson. Most recently with us for our Christmas Party, Stuart is back to provide "support" for Clive Burton this week at Hedsor's Big Jazz session on Thursday. Needless to say Stuart is always welcome. It was "interesting" at our Christmas do to see one or two well established jazz musicians in the audience perk their ears up when Stuart came on. Usual rules apply. £6 to get in, and to provide you with the excitement of possibly winning a raffle prize. A small change donation is also requested to get you out! This is voluntary, but goes towards the payment for the hire of the hall. All of your door money is used to pay the band,honest!

We hope to bring you news of other additions to the ensemble in the not too distant future. In 2013 we are intending to have at least 3 Gala nights at Hedsor.

CD's Listened to

This week I thought I would play some of the "previously owned" CD's that have stayed without a new owner, even when the price has been dramatically lowered (you know, those £1 ones) for some time. OK, so some of them are by names I don't know, some of those names are European. Some are quite hard to listen to, and some, no matter what you might call jazz, could hardly be called jazz!! But now and again one or two are hidden gems. 

Jan Harbeck is Danish, and I guess the 3 other musicians come from that area of Europe too. But the CD he has produced called "Copenhagen Nocturne", with himself on tenor sax, Henrik Gunde on piano, Eske Norrelykke on bass and Anders Holm on drums is a delight. The tunes are all well know, but somehow these days little played, and certainly not by a modern jazz quartet. The CD starts with "Harlem Nocturne", incorporates "Sing, Sing, Sing", and "Lazy River" and finishes with "Carioca". It is beautifully played and well recorded. Do try and track it down.It's on Stunt Records STUCD 11042 and you might be able to find it via the distributor Discovery Records (www.discovery-records.com).

The other CD I want to mention this week is a different kettle of fish altogether. It's one of AVID Jazz double albums. I have been listening to Coleman Hawkins from the AVID set "Three Classic Albums" AMSC 1025. There are some lovely Hawk moments on this release, but my favorite has been a re listen to "Bean Bags" where Coleman is accompanied by Milt Jackson. Absolutely wonderful, delicate, yet with full toned tenor. Even if you have all the albums in LP form you should do yourself a favour and buy this double CD release.

FINALLY

OK when you cant hear it for real, play the music at home, but why not stay on top of the game, and help to keep live jazz alive by coming out to a gig, especially one at Hedsor, where the parking is free and the beer is Rebellion! You could even bring a friend!! You can even request a tune!!