WOW, what a great night of music and reunion
 
Hedsor Jazz is BACK

 

As we gathered on Thursday May 20th it was so strange and yet so normal. We hadn’t met each other for 14 months and yet it seemed like only last week. Yes, there was some slight confusion at the beginning as to where to sit. Maybe it was in a different place to the last time you were there. But we were all there, and the musicians really did sound as though they had only played there the week before. Yet for all of us, it was the first gig this year!

There was also an unexpected treat! Food had been provided for the 2 short breaks by Jan Burton and Gill Jones. Thank you both.

SO, until further notice, Jazz at Hedsor IS BACK.

It really was a thoroughly enjoyable evening and later this week the recording I made of it will be available via my DropBox link, but please, a few more days to complete that is still needed.

The evening had some differences, no raffle and no CD’s to buy, felt necessary to help out with the social distancing.

We were up to our maximum audience of 30 and we will need to keep to the rules regards facemasks, distancing, toilets and hand cleanliness which are becoming basic common sense. 

From Hedsor Jazz’s viewpoint we will need advance notice of your intention of coming to any of our future gigs until at the very earliest June 21^st when we anticipate a new statement from the government about indoor music events. 

You must be assured via Tracy tracy.georgiades@gmail.com  that there will be space for you. 

Our next gig on 27^th May is already fully booked. 

DO book now for June 3rd

Please look at our forthcoming gigs listed below and book ahead via Tracy. You must also provide contact details for track and trace. A phone number and/or email address would be great. The email address would also give us a chance of letting you know by email what is happening in the future.

Next week we are also back to asking for money at the door. £10 per person is our entry fee, which we will keep under review.

We will also be back to our normal start time of 8.30pm.

So below some photos of the evening from myself and from Geoff Swaffield (our very sound guy, he does the lights as well), then our next few gigs.

Photos from our first night back

 

Future Gigs please book for these via Tracy. Max attendance is limited to just 30 people, first come first served

27th May      Stuart Henderson trumpet + Duncan Lamont jr saxophone + Ken McCarthy keyboard+ Terry Davis bass + Martin Hart drums, leader and announcer.

3rd June      Lester Brown trumpet + Mark Aston saxophone+ Esther  Ng bass+ Martin Hart drums

10^th June      Alan Graham vibraphone  + Mike Wills reeds (? hopefully) + bass to be arranged + Martin Hart drums

17^th June      Ian Smith trumpet + Ollie Wilby saxophone + Ken McCarthy keyboard  + bass to be arranged + Martin Hart drums

One final thought for now.

I am very aware that we have to have pre knowledge of your intention to attend, and your contact details. I am reading a book at the moment called “The Store” by James Patterson, and although it all seems very slightly far fetched, maybe not so far. We have already been ordering items online for home delivery, we know how certain web sites prompt you to buy from the knowledge they have already of what you have looked at in the past on the web search engine of your choice. You now have to have passwords and triple confirmation of identity for every web site you visit or software you use. Yesterday I tried to download the drivers for a friend’s printer that I was trying to mend. I couldn’t do that without being asked for my post code! They only wanted to help! Did we really transition through 1984?

So I do apologise for our needs to ask for your contact details. Just as soon as the government restrictions introduced as part of the covid legislation are lifted, I assure you that you will be able to come to Hedsor Jazz without us knowing who you are , or who you are with (well only so that we can be friends!).

Do have a read of

 

Social Distancing

One observant reader has noticed my error over social distancing. My example of 1 meter or 6 feet was wrong. 1 meter is approx. 3 feet, half of Kelvin's height!

However it has made me investigate what is really expected for our social distancing rules at Hedsor Club.

Herein lies the rub!

Below are 3 different organisations guidelines on what social distancing now means.   

Social distancing between groups is encouraged

That was from the BBC

 

Separate parties should keep their Social Distance.

·         One way systems and control in toilets should remain in place.

·         This is 2 meters or 1 meter separation with mitigating measures such as sitting side by side or back to back

   This was from Advice for licensed premises

 try to stay at least 2 metres (3 steps) away from people you're not meeting with – you can choose to have close contact with friends and family. 

      That from the NHS

What I said to my error corrector was that I would advise an average of my error!

A brief “to the point” blog this week. 

After 14 months we are going to listen together again to 

Live Jazz at Hedsor Club!

Something to really celebrate.

 

But this week, ONLY if you have already received an invitation. We do have our maximum of 30 people. No invitation, NO ENTRY

The evening starts at 8pm. You will be sitting spaced along the lines of what are now well established rules. Look for a table with this sign

  

If you are in a bubble already, 2 people can sit in one place. If you are in a 2 household bubble you can sit together as long as there are no more than 6 people in your two bubbles.

You will be able to sit at your table without your mask on, but anywhere else in Hedsor Club please wear a mask.

You can order drinks from the bar, but don’t wait for them, they will be delivered to your table. 

The one meter rule applies, in old money that is 6 feet. If in doubt think how big Kelvin is, yes that far apart please!

I didn’t make up the rules, or the language (no, I’m “not forever blowing bubbles”), but following the safety rules means we can hear again Lester Brown on trumpet, Kelvin Christian on reeds, Ken McCarthy on keyboard, Peter Hughes on bass and Martin Hart on drums. So the pain is really worth the gain!

This week you have been  invited, but if you want to donate a contribution to defray our costs please talk to John Dutton or Tracy.

The following week May 27^th we will be asking for money at the door for an 8.30 start.

If you would like to come you must reserve a place with Tracy, either this Thursday, or by email to tracy.georgiades@gmail.com . You probably wont want to miss this, as we will have Stuart Henderson on trumpet, Duncan Lamont jnr on reeds, Ken McCarthy on keyboard, Martin Hart on drums and Terry Davis on bass.

Every week we will be limited to a maximum of 30 people, and we will have to follow all the covid rules until at the very earliest June 21^st, a government decision Monday! After that date I hope we can get back to the old normal.

As you read last week, Nigel Fox is staying in Suffolk for a while. I thought you might like to see what his new normal looks like!

Dare I say "Stay Safe"!!

In my blog of April 18^th  I wrote this:-

As you will have read, we are planning to have a trial or pilot run in the hall of Hedsor Club using the indoor guidelines that apply, on Thursday May 20^th. I can now confirm that this will take place.

This pilot evening will be limited to 30 people who will have with them an invitation ticket. If you have already said you would like to come you will receive this invitation in the post with a covering letter from Jazz Angels treasurer John Dutton. If you would like to be considered for this (or future covid restricted Hedsor Jazz gigs) and haven’t already done so, (or even if you have, as a double check for us!!) please send your contact details to Tracy at tracy.georgiades@gmail.com. IF you come on May 20^th and don’t have that initial invitation you may be turned away.

This return evening will start at 8pm in order to give everyone time to get used to the revised arrangements and also, perhaps more importantly,  to give time for you to chat to other jazz people (from 2 meters apart of course) for the first time in many months.

Please note the full Hedsor Club indoor rules will be sent out later, but one thing I will clarify is that face masks must be worn within Hedsor Clubs premises EXCEPT AT YOUR TABLE. You can order at the bar with you mask on, but your drink will be delivered to your table. You will not be allowed to congregate at the bar! Preferred payment to the club is by card or electronic transfer.

This all still applies, but as the day draws closer I thought I should remind you. The invitation ticket doesn’t hold the start time as it hadn’t been decided at the time they were printed BUT YOUR INVITATION LETTER DOES STATE AN 8pm START! Please also bring your invitation ticket with you.

A couple of other points about an indoor gathering at Hedsor Club. On entering the club you must have your facemask on, and you must also use the alcohol dispenser for cleansing your hands on entering. The rule of six will apply. Six people from 2 families can share a table, and “Bubbles” can also share a table. Other than that social distancing rules must apply. In addition at Hedsor Club the outer toilet doors will be open, and social distancing must be practiced within these facilities as well as in the rest of the club. Once at your table, you can remove your mask. Away form your table you must replace it.

The club buildings will be providing positive ventilation. Doors and windows may be open so you might like to consider if you will need a coat or similar as the evening wears on. May evenings could be chilly!

Now that the rules of the game are out of the way I want to share with you an email I had from Nigel Fox.

Nigel at Hedsor in 2016

Dear Hedsorians!

Ingrid and I will be spending more time in Suffolk this Summer and so I will be unavailable for Hedsor for a while and will be away from this Thursday.  Ken McCarthy has agreed to take over on piano which makes sense as he’s within walking distance (he’s a very keen walker!) I notice I’m listed for June 17th but hopefully Ken can do that one as well?

I hope all goes well for the “trial” run on May 20th.

Best wishes and keep safe.

Nigel

A Typical Saxmundham Street

Nigel has done sterling work for us over many years at Hedsor Jazz and I do hope this is only a temporary stay in Suffolk. I can understand that after the kind of year we have all had that a stay in Ingrid’s cottage in Saxmundham should be taken full advantage of and I wish both Ingrid and Nigel a happy stay in East Anglia. As Nigel rightly says we do have an excellent local dep in the form of Ken McCarthy, so although we will all miss Nigel, its not all bad for those left behind!

Ken McCarthy with Mike Wills
taken at the ST Pirans jazz event in 2015
courtesy of Robert Goodhew

One final point about our event timing. AFTER our first night our start time will revert to 8.30pm. The rules inside the club will stay the same until further notice.

The latest  list of proposed gigs can be found in my blog for May 5^th.

SO, not long to wait now! May 20^th, one small step for jazz!

Its blog time again, with little new to report, but we are edging closer to Hedsor Jazz’s “trial” run on May 20^th. Hopefully you now have your invitation to this. We were over subscribed, so if you weren’t fortunate enough (or quick enough) to get a place this time, remember that the following week, May 27^th, we will be launching a return event. As this is still under the covid rule of 30 at an indoor event, please ensure you have your name down with Tracy ( tracy.georgiades@gmail.com ) for each week you want to come. After May 20^th we will be charging at the door, but there will be a limit on audience numbers, and those who don’t pre book MAY be turned away.

For those with an invitation to May 20^th do remember that we will be starting on that night at 8pm. After that we will be reverting to our previous normal time of 8.30pm. That is the time the music starts of course, the bar will be open earlier, and the earlier time on the 20^th will be allowing time for unforeseen snags and for greeting each other (at a distance) after 14 months!

Martin Hart has been busy, and below is a pretty interesting gig list.

20^th May      Lester Brown + Kelvin Christian + Ken McCarthy + Peter Hughes + Martin Hart

27^th May      Stuart Henderson + Duncan Lamont jr + Ken McCarthy + Terry Davis + Martin Hart

  3^rd June      Lester Brown + Mark Aston + Esther  Ng + Martin Hart

10^th June      Alan Graham  + Mike Wills(? hopefully) + Martin Hart

17^th June      Ian Smith + Ollie Wilby + Nigel Fox +  Martin Hart

Hopefully by June 24^th there will be less need for social distancing, and we can get back to how things were.

Can I thank everyone for your continuing support of Hedsor Jazz.  It has become a bit like an extended family, and we do want to get back to regular, unhindered, jazz sessions. More than ever, we need to encourage others to join our jazz sessions. This will ensure continuance, additional star guests, and a bigger presence on the jazz club scene.

More Jazz Past

I pulled out a CD the other evening, thinking that it was fairly new to me. I have always loved the duets that Alan Barnes plays with Dave Newton. They studied together at The Leeds Music  Collage in 1977, and have had a particular affinity shown in their music. Both musicians have an identifiable voice, but when just the two of them play together their is an understanding of each other that is almost twin like.

 

So I pulled out “Inside Out”, enjoying that cohesion. Chick Corea’s “Windows”, Strayhorn’s “Lotus Blossom” ,Bill Evans “Very Early” all smoothed out my day. Then I caught site of the date it was recorded, and I could not believe that this “new” addition to my collection was gathered in 2011!

On the same evening I was leafing through the booklet that came with the Billy Holiday limited edition of the complete commodore and Decca masters.

 

This is really a box set disguised as a book, with 3 cd’s of some of the greatest and most poignant songs ever sung between 1939 and 1950. With the convenience of smart phones to hand, I idly decided to see if you could still purchase this.

You can, BUT Amazon want £370 for it. I was GOBSMACKED!

 

This weeks blog can be viewed as both positive and negative.

Positive, we now have our 30 “volunteers” for our first post lockdown Hedsor Jazz concert on May 20^th.

Your invitations are in the post and each invitation is accompanied by a summary of the covid rules that will apply on that day inside Hedsor Club.

The negative is if you don’t get an invitation in the post, you were unlucky this time. No invitation, no entry!

However, more good news, there will be another gig a week later on May 27^th.

I am delighted to be able to say that on May 27^th we will have Stuart Henderson and Duncan Lamont jnr coming.

If you would like to come to that you must let Tracy (tracy.georgiades@gmail.com) know before coming.  In order to prevent disappointment at the door we are asking you all to pre book each week via Tracy. There will be a limit of 30 people allowed in to any of our gigs until, at the earliest, mid June.

Now all of the above is of course subject to government decision. On May 17^th there is a government review of the lockdown rules and the relaxation route out of lockdown and if the government retracts its unlock plan, we wont be having any gigs at all!

However we have looked ahead with a positive plan!

If all goes well, and all the boxes get ticked, then we can look forward to:-

20^th  May   Lester Brown trumpet+ Kelvin Christiane reeds + Peter Hughes bass + Ken McCarthy keyboard + Martin Hart drums

27^th  May   Stuart Henderson trumpet + Duncan Lamont Jnr reeds+ Terry Davis bass + Martin Hart drums

 3^rd  June   Lester ++++++  

10^th  June   Alan Graham vibs  +++++++++++

17^th  June   Lester+++++++++

One last thought.

Last week I blogged about the pianist Tony Lee tracks that were available on a Google Drive link. Can I say that having listened again this week I strongly recommend you download the files and store them for future listening or even for future generations of jazz fans to listen to. 32 sessions are represented in that link. 3.2GB of mp3 jazz recorded at live gigs between 1970 and 1987. The individual sessions and tracks are well documented within the software, are all reasonably well recorded and have some of the late 20^thcenturies British jazz greats performing before an audience. Dick Morrisey, Terry Smith, Danny Moss, Ronnie Ross, Alan Ganley, Bill Le Sage, Jo Temperly, playing at venues like The Pizza on the Park, The Bulls Head at Barnes, The Burford Bridge Hotel and others. All recorded with Tony Lee at the piano

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B_4h4o5gAuTOTEdVdzJXSmI2M1E

Don’t forget you can get free flow test corona virus test kits from your local pharmacy.

We will meet again soon. Keep well.

After over a year with no jazz at Hedsor, or very many other places come to that, there is little to report back on.

I’m sure by now you have found your own routes to jazz past, YouTube being one great way, perhaps less good since they have upped the advertising breaks on my links.

However there are others still to investigate.

The BBC doesn’t produce a lot of jazz on TV, but by Radio (steam or otherwise!) they do have a lot going on. I have investigated this these past months via their Sound app. Do look at https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/category/music-jazzandblues-jazz?sort=popular

I have enjoyed the jazz programs from Northern Island https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05mpjy4, and some of the previously broadcast Jamie Cullum programs from Radio 2. 

One of the great advantages of these Sounds repeats is that, via your iPhone or tablet, you can turn them on and off and listen when it suits you.

One of the drawbacks if you are used to listening to Radio via a Hi Fi system is that via a tablet or phone the default method is either very tinny using the in built speakers or less tinny via headphones, neither of which are a really comfortable substitute for sitting in front of your Hi Fi in your favourite chair. However, if you haven’t invested in a streaming radio system for your amp and speakers, you can, for around £20 add in a Bluetooth connector.

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bluetooth-Adapter-Streaming-Wireless-Speakers/dp/B016NUTG5K/ref=asc_df_B016NUTG5K/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=394366101554&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=16433790698445488158&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1006906&hvtargid=pla-523770557921&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=87233666332&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=394366101554&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=16433790698445488158&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1006906&hvtargid=pla-523770557921

Yes, a long link, but just follow the picture clues!

If you connect the adaptor to a line in input on your amplifier and a power source, you can connect your phone or tablet via a Bluetooth wireless link to your Hi Fi. The above adaptor comes with all the necessary instructions on how to do this.

Another music link I have only just recently discovered comes courtesy of Tony Lee and Google. 

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B_4h4o5gAuTOTEdVdzJXSmI2M1E

Here you can discover some jazz past from the likes of Lennie Best, Dick Morrisey and Terry Smith to mention just 3. There are hours of music for you to get your ears round recorded way back in the 1970’s. They are live gig recordings, many from The Bull's Head at Barnes. Download the tracks via Google or store in your personal Google Drive cloud. I would recommend downloading and playing back the files from your phone, tablet or laptop as running everything in real time could lead to musical hiccups!

Here is one last idea from me today via an email and another link to live jazz that is coming to you tomorrow and it comes from Vasilis

 

 

Dear Friends, Thanks so much for joining us last month for the music of Harold Arlen! Next Friday April 23d at 8pm will be the final live-streaming gig of Paul Edis and myself, hoping that from May onwards we'll be able to start gigging again in public (following all the restrictions of course). For this month we have selected a series of songs that have all been influenced by the beauty of Springtime, such as Spring can really Hang You Up the Most, Spring is Here, April in Paris and a few more that we both think you'll recognise. Tickets will be available again from Paul's website at  https://www.pauledis.co.uk/store/spring-is-here-vasilis-xenopoulos-and-paul-edis-live We hope you can join us on the day! Many thanks,  Vasilis

My blog is later than usual, but this time for a very good reason.

Last Thursday evening the directors of Jazz Angels (that’s the people who CAN sign the accounts cheques!), Martin Hart, leader of the Clive Burton Celebration Quintet, and Sarah Bason, manager of the Hedsor Club, met to discuss the possibility of,  and our plans for, recommencing live jazz at Hedsor Club.

Initially the gigs will be held under the government (and the clubs) covid rules of spacing etc, and then in June, hopefully, with no abnormal restrictions at all.

As you will have read, we are planning to have a trial or pilot run in the hall of Hedsor Club using the indoor guidelines that apply, on Thursday May 20^th. I can now confirm that this will take place.

This pilot evening will be limited to 30 people who will have with them an invitation ticket. If you have already said you would like to come you will receive this invitation in the post with a covering letter from Jazz Angels treasurer John Dutton. If you would like to be considered for this (or future covid restricted Hedsor Jazz gigs) and haven’t already done so, (or even if you have, as a double check for us!!) please send your contact details to Tracy at tracy.georgiades@gmail.com. IF you come on May 20^th and don’t have that initial invitation you may be turned away.

This return evening will start at 8pm in order to give everyone time to get used to the revised arrangements and also, perhaps more importantly,  to give time for you to chat to other jazz people (from 2 meters apart of course) for the first time in many months.

Please note the full Hedsor Club indoor rules will be sent out later, but one thing I will clarify is that face masks must be worn within Hedsor Clubs premises EXCEPT AT YOUR TABLE. You can order at the bar with you mask on, but your drink will be delivered to your table. You will not be allowed to congregate at the bar! Preferred payment to the club is by card or electronic transfer.

Following on from May 20^th, if all goes reasonably smoothly, we anticipate recommencing regular jazz gigs at Hedsor Club from May 27^th. This will be at the old start time of 8.30pm. To avoid handling too many coins, and to help in running costs, our admittance fee will be going up to £10 per person. Dont forget, until covid restriction are lifted we will need you to pre book your place. 30 people will be the maximum audience number allowed.

Whilst making your life more expensive I would remind Hedsor Jazz attendees who are also members of Hedsor Club that club fees for 2021 are now due!

Please bear with us, Hedsor Jazz, as we try getting live jazz back in front of a live audience. There is bound to be the odd glitch, so please be patient, the gain will be worth the pain. We are looking to advertise more, and to have more of your favourite musicians coming to play for us. We also plan to have new faces coming to play at Hedsor Jazz. On May 20^th the usual reed section (Mike Wills) won’t be able to be with us, but we do anticipate having Lester Brown, Martin Hart, Ken McCarthy and Peter Hughes with us, plus as our guest, reed player Kelvin Christiane

Another Bank Holiday over, Easter is behind us. I do hope you enjoyed your opportunities of meeting family and friends in the fresh air of your garden (or other, legal, outdoor space). I hadn’t seen my daughter or her family for 8 months, and we enjoyed al fresco dinning on Good Friday. It was so really good, especially as it was not as cold as forecast. SO, a blog now, even later than has become my usual, but at least I have some canned jazz to talk about.

I have been listening to some fine jazz from my earlier years.

If you followed my challenge to find some of the Jazz Today tracks now available on CD, you may have found, not just  Chris Barber, but the excellent 2 LP’s (that’s how they originally they were!) which had a wonderful selection of un-label-able jazz from Kenny Baker, Bruce Turner and other great worthies from the British musicians pool of the  1950’s

 

The LP’s were originally “Midnight at Nixa”, issued in 1956 and a year earlier “After Hours”. In my collection I have them on a CD issued on the Vocalion label CDNJT 5302, artwork above. I noticed “today”! that they were remastered by Michael J Dutton! I wonder....?

 Today I found these same tracks via my smart phone on Prime Music! How different from my days of 10 inch LP listening in a front (often very cold) room in Hammersmith. In those days we still wondered in amazement that a 10 inch LP could play for over 20 minutes. The 78’s I had been buying before could only manage 3 minutes!

Today, Bluetooth and Smart Phones have transformed the ease of listening, and of acquisition, but maybe NOT the joy of ownership!

Things had moved on (a lot!) by 1975 when the next album was recorded. And by 2004 when the CDs were released, durability and sound quality had changed yet again.

I have been playing this double album again this week for the first time in a few years, and one tends to forget what an innovative and accomplished band the Chris Barber Band were. If you search for the above album, you will see it categorised as “Dixieland”. Well, the tunes may be old (though not all) but the treatment is fresh and exciting, the improvisations are pretty good and the musicianship and arrangements superb. Who else would have a band with a banjo and an electric blues guitar, include in a concert such different era tunes as “High Society” (composed in 1901), “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy” (composed 1966), and “Take the A Train” (composed in 1941). I know it is unfashionable these days to enjoy such music, but “Hey, Hey” it has lifted my spirits this past week.

Whilst tapping your feet and crossing your fingers, keep in mind that we may be able to bring live jazz, with real musicians and maybe the occasional wrong note, to Hedsor Club on May 20^th. Keep watching this space.

NO, it isn’t an April Fool joke, it is a blog from Geoff. My timings have slipped, but with no new music at Hedsor I don’t have to tell you who is on on a Thursday.

SOON, perhaps.

We are still intending to run a limited live jazz evening at Hedsor on May 20^th. Do keep watching this space for more detail. We hope to have discussions with Hedsor Club later this month to see how they feel about our proposals, and I will let you know via the blog what the final details will be.

It is kind of sanguine to note that we did plan to have an event last October, under the then distancing rules, and that it was cancelled due to a change in the rules the day before!

We again planned to have an event in December, and we all went in to lockdown again (or even meltdown!) the day before!

We will have to stick to whatever distancing rules apply at the time, but a limit of 30 people in the audience will apply.

There is also an open air event planned, as mentioned in my blog a few weeks ago,

 “Martin Hart has phoned through to tell me that there will be another gig, in aid of local charities, at The Great Hampden Cricket Ground, Memorial Road, Great Hampden, Bucks HP16 9RF on Sunday June 13^th from about 3 pm on wards, probably finishing around 5”

Can I suggest that you let Martin know if you would like to go to that because I don’t have a direct line on the tickets. Contact Martin via martinnhart@gmail.com

I’m sure you have been checking out what jazz there is to view on YouTube. There is a lot with different styles and different performance dates from the past. It’s a shame that YouTube seem to have started taking advantage of the more captive audience to include many more adverts that then interrupt ones viewing. As they are LOUDER than the sound you are listening to, I sometimes fear for my loudspeakers!

 

One of the bands that has been doing a great job of playing New Orleans style traditional jazz for free listening on YouTube is “Tuba Skinny”. The lady cornet player is Shaye Cohn who, I for one, have greatly admired for her natural ease of leadership and improvisational skills. Did you know that she is the granddaughter of tenor saxophonist Al Cohn? True!

 

Al died in February 1988. It is encouraging to learn that a younger generation are still in the forefront of jazz today. Read more at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuba_Skinny

 

“Jazz Today” used to be a record label, which if my memory is correct, morphed into Pye Nixa. You will find that some great music came out on either version of the label in the mid 1950’s. It featured musicians such as the Chris Barber Band (“Wild Cat Blues”, a feature for Monty Sunshine, came out as a 45 on this label) and some pretty good mainstream jazz sessions as well, featuring people like Kenny Baker and Vic Ash. Again I think Nixa used the 10 inch LP medium, which for me as an apprentice, was just about affordable! Most of the released material from these 1950’s sessions is now available on CD, do amuse yourselves with a search of eBay!

With that search to occupy you for at least 1/2 hour, I will say "farewell" whilst your attention is diverted!

A little light blogging, as there are few gigs to encourage you to go to, (well none really). BUT there are some you can watch in the privacy of your home!

Watched in retrospect. Last Friday I did watch the streamed concert from Norden Farm of Tina May. 

It did sort of rub home the problem. I wasn’t actually there! The sound quality and the visuals put out by Norden Farm were excellent. The lack of any audience reaction (applause!) was initially shocking. The fact that the gig ran without a break was a surprise (especially for my bladder!) but it was a full gig, 1 ½ hours of very good music. Tina was joined by Robin Aspland on piano, Andy Cleyndert on bass and Winston Clifford on drums.

After my mention last week of Stuart Henderson and the number of his clips on YouTube, in looking for more this week I came across a super demo of a new trumpet by him, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMRQlhkYA5E Look further for Stuart on YouTube and under videos you will see more clips.

 

As I haven’t found much of interest to go on about this week, I thought I would give you something to listen to from a Cancer Fundraiser that we held at Hedsor on May 18^th 2017

 

Disk 1

1. There is No Greater Love
2. Alone Together
3. It Could Happen To You
4. Favela
5. Move

Dropbox link https://www.dropbox.com/sh/nkbd592l1lw5344/AADTk7ByZRnXjdTC-VarSutta?dl=0

 

Disk 2

1. Speak Low
2. I let a Song...
3. Hearts
4. Old Folks
5. Ornithology
6. I’m Glad There is You
7. On a Clear day
8. Bluesology

Dropbox link https://www.dropbox.com/sh/t3eb5uwewjdx9j5/AADR-jpRornDU066HDYqBtJua?dl=0

 

Cast is Clive Burton trombone, Nigel Fox keys, John Monney bass and Martin Hart drums. Guests are Nigel Price on guitar and Vasilis Xenopoulos on reeds.

 

Yes, we used to run splendid music. The sad thing is I think we all took it for granted. BUT watch out for the possible return of some form of live music to Hedsor on May 20^th. His is subject to confirmation, so do keep an eye on the blog.

 

Thats it for now,

 

Geoff

Jazz from Geoff

No, you haven’t overslept (not that I can tell from here), it is still Tuesday, but it is a blog from Geoff.” Will wonders never cease” my old mum used to say!

I have a number of items for you to catch up on.

First.

Don’t forget to book your place in the stream for Tina May at Norden Farm. It IS this coming Friday, you can read more via https://bit.ly/321TinaMay and it will cost you £15 to watch from the comfort of your home. Yes, Tina in your front room, aren’t we lucky?

 Tina May, with Duncan Lamont at Hedsor. Some of the songs Tina will sing on Friday are by Duncan

Second.

Martin Hart has phoned through to tell me that there will be another gig, in aid of local charities, at The Great Hampden Cricket Ground, Memorial Road, Great Hampden, Bucks HP16 9RF on Sunday June 13^th from about 3 pm on wards, probably finishing around 5. You may remember if you were there last August that it did get a bit chilly going on 'till 6pm, so it looks like the organisers have brought it forward an hour. It is open air, the band has a tent, but that’s it. AS I recall, Rebellion beer was available, but no food. I anticipate that the band will be as last year, a variation on The Clive Burton Celebration Quintet, so it should be a great gig. The sound quality from the PA was excellent and the setting last year was lovely up there in the Chilterns. You will need to bring your own seating and weather protection as well as food! When I know the detail of ticket purchase I will let you know.

Last August's Cricket Club Gig

Third.

In finishing off my evenings Telly last night I came across 3 excellent YouTube clips, which, put together, will give the better part of ½ hour of Stuart Henderson and “Tolly”. All three clips were recorded at “Jazz on the Corner”, The Royal Oak in Swindon on Tuesday 27^th Feb. 2018. You will remember how we used to so enjoy their combination when they both played for us at Hedsor Jazz.

The three links are:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2f5xBwkoqg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lA0AchJpN6Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sa9Tf-YSkOE

Stuart Henderson and "Tolly" at Hedsor

Don’t forget that if you want to be included in my regular nagging emails about jazz you must confirm your email address at octogeoff@outlook.com

If you want to be considered for an entry pass to our socially distanced covid restricted gig at Hedsor Club on May 20^th, don’t forget to email Tracy at tracy.georgiades@gmail.com

Blog day was really yesterday and today it is a bit late, BUT there are good reasons. With no bated breath I can tell you that this morning I had my second covid jab!!

And apart from that bit of news, there are one or two other chunks to pass on.

One of the reasons the blog wasn’t written yesterday was that I was working on transcribing the email addresses of people who like to be reminded (OK “nagged” then) of the issue of a blog update.

I have managed to retrieve some of the links, following on from my Russian intruders, from a paper copy of the lists I had. This archive is probably not up to date, so I have 2 requests.

1.       Would you please send to me at Octogeoff@outlook.com your current email address, and

2.       If you don’t want to be disturbed by my emails, please email me to tell me so and you will be taken         off the lists.

BUT please do not use zt36geoff@hotmail.co.uk to communicate with me.

Obviously I am taking some measures to ensure future safeguard my pc’s wellbeing and I looked at the recommendations of “Which Magazine”. Highly regarded by them is Kasperskey, and some pretty good coverage is available for free too. I tried it out on one of the computers I am readying for Ghana, and it is easy to load, and uses much better English in it's instructions than Norton 360. I then noticed that its office base is in ......................................Moscow!!

Now for other things.

If you do want to come to May 20^th Jazz at Hedsor,  our proposed limited edition, you MUST let Tracy know via an email to tracy.georgiades@gmail.com

We are planning a covid restricted jazz event at Hedsor, with distancing rules and we are limited to a max of 30 people. Entry will be controlled, and an entry voucher will be asked for before you are allowed in. This event cannot yet be written in concrete, but we have every hope that we will be able to go ahead.

An event that will definitely NOT be going ahead is The Swanage Jazz Festival 2021. A revised date was issued today informing that  the next Swanage Jazz Festival and it will be on the 8^th to 10^th July 2022.

An online jazz event will take place at Norden Farm on March 19^th. Tina May will be performing some of the songs associated with Duncan Lamont and it will be live streamed. See https://bit.ly/321TinaMay for all the information you need.

Following on from my recollections of the late Chris Barber, more is available for you to watch on YouTube, and a very good alternative to the Big Band link I put out last week is this 1994 concert on YouTube that is out in 2 parts:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RvzqagIfB8  part one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKch6Hg4yP0 part two

Slightly more conventional, (one trumpet, one trombone), but still with great blues guitar from John Slaughter.

Finally this week I thought I would add in a few photos taken by me from Swanage Jazz Festivals past.

Ah, those were the days!!

 Hi All, another week and another blog from Geoff.

 After last weeks government road map for the future, plans are afoot, and The Swanage Jazz Festival is suggesting it will run a Festival in September (either 17^th to 19^th, or 24^th to 26^th), so do keep an eye on their website (www.swanagejazzfestival.co.uk), and on your booking for digs. Holidays in the UK will be at a premium this year, so a self catering tent might be required!

Yesterday we heard the sad news that Chris Barber had died at the age of 90. Much has already been written about him, so all I am going to do is leave a link for you to follow

https://www.jazzwise.com/news/article/chris-barber-17-april-1930-2-march-2021

but  then I can tell you why, like many who have passed away in recent years, Chris Barber was important in my jazz education.

Like many people born before WW2, the radio played much swing and jazz during my early years. We did have a wind up gramophone in our air raid shelter, and apart from “Songs of the Western Front” we did have some swing type records from before the war. The Dorsey Brothers Orchestra for one. At the wars end, my interest in jazz type music widened slightly. I can remember buying new 78’s. Sid Phillips and “Clarinet Marmalade” being one and also a couple of Jo Daniels and His Hot Shot sides too. I became aware of the Ken Colyer Band in about 1953 which was really the Chris Barber Band with a different trumpet player. 

Then in 1954 The Chris Barber Band brought out a famous 10” LP with Pat Halcox in place of Ken Colyer.

By then we had the ability at my home in Hammersmith to play LP’s, but they were expensive, and for my pocket money I still bought some 78’s. I remember my first real contact with Chris Barber was in 1954 when I went in to Doug Dobells Record Shop at 77 Charing Cross Road and bought the 78 of “Chimes Blues” almost direct from Mr Barber himself, and  he signed it on the tax stamp!!

My interest was fired, and I started to play the trumpet along to their records. My interest in other jazz grew, Humph of course, with Wally Fawkes in these days, and with more LP’s and with school friends we all found  Buck Clayton, Duke Ellington and many many more. My understanding ballooned!

But it was the Chris Barber Band that I saw every Wednesday. By now I was an Apprentice at CAV Ltd in Action, and every Wednesday after work I would take the trolley bus to Southall and “The White Hart” for that was where the  Chris Barber Band had its regular sessions. Before “Rock Island Line” became a hit there was Lonnie Donegan, the banjo player, doing his thing after the interval. Skiffle had arrived!!

The Barber Band then introduced us all to all kinds of American Blues singers, some they even imported so that we could see and hear them live for ourselves. Champion Jack Dupree billed  as “Blues from the Gutter”!

“The White Hart” had its own blues singer, that young school teacher Ottile Patterson would sing the occasional Bessie Smith song, and then go back to marking homework on a table beside the bandstand. How could that slim lady become Bessie Smith, but somehow she did!

We did see Ottilie in a new light once at a Hammersmith Town Hall concert that had Chris Barbers Band together with Acker Bilks Band.

Ackers band were on first, and many of his fans danced, the girls being dressed in dresses made out of sacks! All very “alternative”.

During the Barber set Ottilie came on stage in a very long stylish black dress with a very full swirly skirt, so long in fact that it covered her shoes. As the music got going she lifted her skirt high enough for us all to see full length red leather boots. We had never seen the like before, wow!

My life continued, and my ability to attend live jazz diminished as married life and children took over. But FM radio came to my aid, and in 1968 I can remember listening to a weeknight broadcast of The Chris Barber Band playing a kind of musical fusion, with a blues guitar being added to the mix. I had heard a performance of the music from the record “Battersea Rain Dance” with the addition of guitarist John Slaughter!

All along Chris Barber had expanded musical boundaries, and towards the end he introduced us to “The Big Chris Barber Band” playing, with a 10 piece ensemble, the big band music of the 1920’s. Spot on ensemble playing, but all from memory. Terrific stuff.

 And so to memory. It is very sad to see that Chris Barber died suffering from dementia. I for one am glad that I can remember so much of my Chris Barber experience.

Finally another link, have a go at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpvsQSOPuxc&t=37s

All 1 hour of it! The BIG CB Band in 2005

More next week, do tell others of the blog.

 

Geoff C

octogeoff@outlook.com