Another Tuesday, and another blog from Geoff

And the weather hasn’t got any cooler.  I would love to be able to say “I Think Its Going To Rain Today”, but  maybe I’ll just play the tune instead (its part of the Randy Newman Songbook, and a great tune that I first came upon on a Chris Barber LP called “Battersea Rain Dance” back around 1965).

What a terrific night we had last Thursday. An evening of celebration for Alan Grahame, which was full of joy, and for the first time in 3 years, Hedsor Jazz was full of people too. You would never credit that it was Alan’s 95^th birthday, and yes, I have ask him to place his booking for the 100 with us already.

The music was marvellous, and the people who came to play for Alan could have bankrupted us if we had had to pay them. Alan has been in the business a long time, and not only knows a lot of musicians, but has also raised a family of musicians himself!! Some of the photos are below. I just hope that we will be able to book some of the guests ourselves in the future. Our good friend Duncan Lamont Jr opened the first set and Alan’s daughter Lisa opened the second. She had taken the night off from a West End show to do so. But they were helped out by Ray Wordsworth, Art Theman, Steve Waterman, Andy Crowdy, Nigel Fox, Stuart Henderson and Denny Islet Jr sang for us as well. During “The Peanut Vendor” ALL of Alan’s family came on, as Lisa said “to hit something” with Alan's grandson Barney on drums!

 

Some of you missed it! But we have got some wonderful gigs lined up for you over the next couple of months.

August

4^th Two Saxophonists for a tenner! Mike Wills and Mark Aston

11^th Still to be finalised.                          

18^th As this evening is very near to my birthday I have invited Alan Barnes to come and play for us. He was complaining to me that he had never been invited to play at Hedsor, so now he has!  He will be alongside trumpet ace Stuart Henderson, a regular Hedsor contender. A light buffet will be available at half time.

25^th That super trombone player Nick Mills will be with us for the first of a 3 week stay and this week he will be alongside saxophonist Peter Cook. Pete is Head of Jazz at The London Collage of Music

September

1^st Nick Mills returns to play alongside “our” trumpet man Lester Brown

8^th This time another of my neighbours is coming to play, saxophonist Alam Nathoo. Alam hasn’t played at Hedsor before and he is coming to keep trombone man Nick Mills company. Check out Alam’s web page https://alamnathoo.wordpress.com/music/

I used the phrase “another of my neighbours” as Vasilis Xenopouls is now a Cookham resident and he is coming to play for us on October 20^th. Guitarist Nigel Price is also coming, and we are trying to persuade Nigel to come and reside in Cookham too!

Cant wait until October, Vasilis and Nigel are at The Marlow Jazz Club on Tuesday August 23rd

A Quick Plug for the Wooburn Festival, check out https://www.wooburn.com/jazz.html

Also do check out Pangbourne Jazz Clubs coming event, and read the writup on both Alan Grahame and “our” Ken McCarthy!  https://mailchi.mp/jazzinreading.com/pangbourne-jazz-club-april-2018-jim-6139060?e=9ec6209932

See you all at Hedsor Jazz. We always start at 8.30pm. We are always at The Hedsor Bar, Hedsor Rd, Bourne End SL8 5ES and it's only £10 to get in. 

Good Morning England,

NO not another message from a Prime Ministerial candidate, just Geoff’s Blog!

Most of us have no say in who runs our country for the next couple of year, but you do have a say in what you actually listen to and how you pass your Thursday evenings. This week I do hope you vote with your feet for Hedsor Jazz, as it is going to be rather a special evening. Hedsor Jazz is going to say “Happy Birthday” to a very special vibraphone player, who passed the 95^th year milestone in the past few days. SO on Thursday this week, July 28^th, we will have Alan Grahame, Duncan Lamont Jr. Stuart Henderson, Ken McCarthy and Martin Hart, now thankfully recovering from covid 19, all joining with some of Alan’s friends from his career in music, plus his daughter, an alto player usually seen in the Jools Holland Orchestra, all coming to play at Hedsor. There will be a buffet, so do come along. Entry will still only be £10 a head and it will be an 8.30 start as is our norm. But do come early. I think we will have enough seats for everyone, but maybe not a table space for everyone’s drinks!

 

Alan Grahame earlier this year

Last weeks concert, featuring Stuart Henderson and Mike Wilkins, was another very enjoyable evening, with some great arrangements being rapidly read. Mike Wilkins seems to be getting used to us, as he was playing better this time than when I last heard him at Hedsor. I’m sure we will see him again.

My photos of the evening are below.

 

You might like to look more closely at the last photo, provided by John Dutton. Yes, Stuart did play one solo on his flugel horn BUT with it UPSIDE DOWN!!

Last week I never did get around to writing more about my Swanage Jazz 2022 experience. However, a short (5 minute) compilation is now available on YouTube that gives you at least a flavour of what it is like, and maybe wet your appetite for next years festival. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVv6e2H3iFY

As I mentioned last week I enjoyed greatly the Nigel Price Saturday gig in the Molem Theatre. Vasilis Xenopoulos, who was part of that concert, has since told me that to make it an economical event, after a couple of hours having a late lunch drinking a cold lager and downing a sandwich, he travelled back home (to Cookham!!), via a gig in Romsey, near Southampton, that evening! 

The discussion I had with him really makes me wonder how much longer we can go on enjoying live music of any sort, but perhaps jazz in particular, with so little financial resource going into this form of art. All around us we see organisations that promote and support artistic endeavour struggling to keep going. Will it ever be that top quality jazz can only be performed by people who come from a wealthy background where they, the performer, doesn’t actually need the income from his performance? Most musicians travel many miles to play for us. We all enjoy the rich mix of talents, be they performed in a jazz festival or in a small club like Hedsor, but with fuel costs hitting all of us, even a ten mile journey will cost the musician about £10. So enjoy it all whilst you still have the opportunity. Hedsor Jazz charges £10 entry, yet most of the musicians travel more than ten miles to play for us! 

 

I am, and “it”, is back, it being this blog!

Although most of this edition will be me writing about my Swanage Jazz Festival 2022 experience I must first tell you of some necessary changes to this coming Thursday (July 21^st) Hedsor Jazz gig.

We had planned for Duncan Lamont Jr and Mike Innes to be with us this week, but “other” circumstances have prevented this. In their place we welcome back Trumpet maestro Stuart Henderson. He will be partnered by a young saxophonist we have had twice before, Mike Wilkins.

Also, on his return from his hols, drummer and band leader Martin Hart has now sadly tested positive for covid 19, so he will not be with us this week.

Even though our program this week is not as planned we hope you will support Hedsor Jazz, and don’t forget that Thursday week (July 28^th) we celebrate vibraphone and percussionist Alan Grahame’s 95 years with a gathering at Hedsor Jazz of as many of his long term colleagues we can get in! AND still it will only cost you a £10 entry. We anticipate having a light buffet that evening so do put it in your “must do” diary.

Now to my experience of Swanage 2022.

On the whole it worked well. I personally could only manage to reach 2 different venues, but over the 3 days I took in 7 concerts plus taking the walk alongside the New Orleans style street parade. I will scan in the details of those I got to see, but my general appreciation was that they were all VERY enjoyable.

Two downsides. Not having the marquees on the field facing the sea as in most of the festivals 25 plus years meant that the ability to meet socially was greatly restricted. The concert venues I visited had seats in rows. Very comfortable, but it made strolling between gigs very difficult if not impossible.

The other downside has more to do with the town’s traders than of the jazz festival. It was very difficult to find hot food after about 4 pm. Yes, plenty of fish and chips was obtainable, but I was surprised that so many cafe style eateries seemed to close at 4pm.

If like me you haven’t travelled far afield in the past 3 years, travelling this year you will find everything much more expensive than 3 years ago. As I was in Dorset I took in visits in the area to friends and relatives which meant I stayed in 3 hotels in 7 days. All charged near to or over £100 per night, breakfast was averaging £9 per go! Plus of course fuel at around £2 per litre, or in old money not, far short of £10 per gallon! I am very glad my Volvo did 63 mpg on diesel.

Will I go again? I have already booked my accommodation for Swanage Jazz 2023 starting on July 7^th!

Below the program I experienced. I will try and get you the marching band experience another time.

 

I may try to comment on the actual music I heard later in the week when the weather is cooler, but until then

 

Goodbye

 This blog update will be brief. I am setting off for Dorset, and for next weekends Swanage Jazz Festival, but will just remind you of a splendid Hedsor Jazz gig coming up this Thursday. 

Two wonderful saxophonists that I will be disappointed to miss, but there you go, I have tickets booked for Swanage!

So on Thursday you can listen to Mike Wills and Ollie Wilby on reeds, and we the safe return from Covid of Ken McCarthy on keyboard, plus the every lovely (brace yourselves) Peter Hughes on bass, and as Martin is still on HIS holidays, Mike Jeffries on drums. 

Ollie you may remember is usually at Hedsor alongside trumpet man Ian Smith, this time he will be allowed more time to shine! Usually Mr Smith is the one who does all the talking. Dont forget, some of his Radio speaking is still available on the BBC Sound app.

The pictures below, of last weeks set, which I missed in order to experience the "new" Heatherwood Hospitals day surgery unit, have been provided by Geoff Swaffield.

We have passed midsummer, and the days are getting shorter. No that doesn’t mean that each day is less than 24 hours, it just means you have longer evenings, and dusk to dawn is longer than dawn to dusk. SO more time to listen to JAZZ!

Dancing round a Swedish Maypole!

It also means that for me I can begin again the trek to Dorset. The Swanage Jazz Festival, under new management, is back on. So less blogging in the next 2 weeks.

It is amazing I know, but Hedsor Jazz continues even when I’m not there to listen to it. This Thursday, I wont be there, and neither will drummer and band leader Martin Hart, he is off to Norway. My absence is less exciting. I will be investigating the “new” Heatherwood Hospital this week, and Weymouth, Swanage and Wimbourne Minster in the following weeks!

Ken McCarthy hopes to be with you at Hedsor Jazz this week, but he is still in covid recovery mode. Behind our guests this coming Thursday you will have Mike Jeffries on drums, and Peter Hughes on bass. They will have in front of them our guests, saxophonist Mike Wilkins and guitarist Max Brittain. Max has been to us at Hedsor many times, whilst saxophonist Mike has only been once before. I’m sure that the musical conversations you will hear them produce will be worth your evening. Don’t forget, the musical conversations at Hedsor Jazz are always worth your time and money!

Do look back on last weeks blog for details of upcoming Hedsor Jazz gigs, there are some super events planned. They will all benefit from your company. Larger audiences mean better music. OK, maybe we wont ever get to that of Glastonbury size, but who knows? I’m not sure the football field at Hedsor would welcome an audience that big. It might not even accommodate large white Diana Ross style dresses either!

Last weeks Hedsor Jazz session with Sue Greenway and Mike Wills was another very special evening. All the music played had been written by saxophonists and the program was put together by Mike Wills. It was an evening that could not have been better anywhere, even if you paid a lot more money for the privilege.

Our guest bass player last week, John Porter, has been a great find. I just hope he can keep finding his way to Hedsor, as his home is, apparently, Lowestoft! It isn’t often that you get a jazz bass solo played with the bow and it is a total myth that you have to talk during bass solos!

We also had the joy of the company of Ingrid Fox who also joined the front row for one song in the second set.

Because it was so special I have taken the opportunity of putting my Tascam recording of the evening onto DropBox. If you want to have a listen go to https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/s6j62ej640wpy6lzvesiu/h?dl=0&rlkey=0s45ydp7ncb7x6pm0llljlkax

My photos are below:-

 

Whilst I am away in Dorset there will be another Mike Wills session. This time he will have Ollie Wilby on reeds next to him. Ollie has been to us a number of times before, usually alongside trumpeter Ian Smith. I just hope someone will record this one in my absence, it should be very special.

 A complete side issue, a couple of Sundays ago Ian Smith was on Radio 4’s “Something Understood”, talking with great erudition about the spirituality in jazz, with a number of recorded examples of what inspired the comments. As I write this BBC Sounds still has it up for another 12 hours for you to listen to this 28 minute program!

That’s it for now folks. Don’t forget to tell people how good Jazz at Hedsor Jazz really is.

The Fat Lady Has Yet to SING!

Having only yesterday written that covid is still amongst us and I have had an email today from Ken McCarthy to say that he has just tested positive for covid. 

Ken has booked Nigel Fox for this Thursday as his replacement. 

We wish Ken a speedy recovery just as we welcome back again Nigel.

Hedsor Jazz, The Weeks Ahead!

Below is a listing of our planned events for the coming few weeks. The past has prepared us for sudden cessations, covid is still amongst us, and who can tell what the government might decide about future social events? So, whilst it IS still legal to “party”, at the very least we plan to “JAZZ” at Hedsor.

HEDSOR JAZZ IS EVERY THURSDAY and starts at 8.30pm. Entry fee is £10. It is held at The Hedsor Bar (aka The Hedsor Social Club) Hedsor Rd, Bourne End SL8 5ES

June 23^rd 

Mike Wills and Sue Greenway on reeds, Ken McCarthy keyboard, John Porter bass and Martin Hart bandleader and drums.

June 30^th

Mike Wilkins reeds, Max Brittain guitar, Ken McCarthy keyboard, Peter Hughes bass, Mike Jeffries drums

July 7^th

Mike Wills reeds and Ollie Wilby on reeds, Ken McCarthy keyboard, Peter Hughes bass, Mike Jeffries drums

July 14^th

Nick Mills trombone, Jonathan Lewis reeds, Ken McCarthy keyboard, bass to be arranged, Martin Hart drums, back from his holidays!

July 21^st

Duncan Lamont jr reeds, Mike Innes trombone, Ken McCarthy keyboard, bass to be arranged, Martin Hart drums.

July 28^th

THE ALAN GRAHAM PARTY NIGHT. This is a “special” night celebrating one of British music legends, with a host of his friends and a myriad of musicians. He claims to now be over 95! But still plays the vibes like a 90 year old!

August 4^th

Mike Wills and Mark Aston reeds, with Ken McCarthy keyboard, bass TBA and Martin Hart Drums.

August 11^th TBA

August 18^th

ALAN BARNES reeds, Stuart Henderson trumpet, plus of course our rhythm section!

Into the future.

Coming on OCTOBER 20^th Nigel Price guitar and Vasilis Xenopoulos reeds + P.B.D. 

Try this link for a an 8 minute demo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j80CZ5iQsQw of what to expect.

December 15^th  Hedsor Jazz’s Christmas Party + ??? lots!

The musical style at Hedsor Jazz is “Modern Jazz”. Most of our musicians are well know in the music industry, some are very well known! Since restarting live jazz in May 2021 after the covid gap they have all become very well know to us at Hedsor Jazz.

Hedsor Jazz provides music of the highest quality and the punters are all friendly! We have been running live jazz at Hedsor every Thursday possible since 2002. Hedsor Bar offers some free parking, and the drinks are at club, not pub, prices. If you become a member of the Social Club itself, the drinks become even cheaper! Why not give Hedsor Jazz a try

Last week was hit by accident and ill health, but Al Nicholls on tenor played magnificently throughout the evening, initially with only Nigel Fox on keyboard and Peter Hughes bass and braces to take the strain! 

One of the accidents was my camera, so only 2 photos survive and they are below! Martin did eventually get his drums set up, and by the third tune in, was playing! BUT not photographed!

 

 

 STOP PRESS NEWS

Stuart Henderson will be unable to be with us on Thursday as his father has been suddenly taken ill and Stuart has travelled North to be by his side. Our thoughts are with Stuart and his family during this difficult time.

In his absence guitarist Max Brittain will, at short notice, be accompanying Al Nichols on Thursday. They have worked together before and I am told are looking forward to playing together for you this Thursday.

Unexpectedly I will be having some visitors today, and so I am keeping this week’s blog short.

The important news is that our program for June 30^th has been modified, see below.

The remainder of the month is as previously advertised. This weeks session will be a blinder, so do make sure you come in time for a good sound seat!

16^th    Al Nicholls reeds + Stuart Henderson tpt + Nigel Fox keyboard + Peter Hughes bass + Martin Hart drums

23^rd    Mike Wills reeds   + Sue Greenway reeds + Ken McCarthy keyboard + John Porter bass + Martin Hart drums

30^th    Max Brittain guitar + Mike Wilkins reeds +Peter Hughes bass + Ken McCarthy keyboard + Mike Jeffries drums

Mike Wilkins has been to us once before. He has played with guitarist Terry Hutchins before, and is looking forward to being teamed at Hedsor Jazz with guitarist Max Brittain.

Last weeks pictures of a very “sound” set by Lester Brown and Mark Aston are below. It was a fun evening that I know some of you missed! Pianist John Cooper was an added guest as Ken McCarthy was on holiday, and he was well appreciated by our audience.

A p.s. to this is that the nice red and gold mute Lester is using used to be blown by the blog writer himself, and was purchased in London's Charing Cross Road in about 1956!!

 

 

One piece of news this past week is that Jan Burden is currently back in hospital, but is still looking forward to being with us again very soon. She is feeling a lot better, having been “detained” after a day visit to a consultant turning in to an invitation to stay!!

 

OK, so you went looking for it yesterday, and here it comes today! 

Yes, my blog is  a day late, but some things cannot wait, and sadly the funeral of a friends wife who died at vastly too early an age, took precedence yesterday.

BUT taking precedence tomorrow, Thursday June 9^th is Lester Brown together with last weeks guest (who didn’t stay on for his birthday, which was also last week) Mark Aston. We also have a change from the norm on keyboard as Ken McCarthy is on his hols. Coming to us in his place this week will be John Cooper. On bass we have a return of the braces and Peter Hughes, and on drums, as ever, Martin Hart.

John Cooper

Those Braces- Peter Hughes

 

Last week (pictures below) with Mark on tenor sax and Terry Hutchins on guitar, we had an excellent session, only interrupted when someone presented a cheque to two people who are actively seeing that the Ukrainian refuges get some of the comfort they left behind when they fled the Russian invasion of their country. Thanks to the generosity of the musicians and of yourselves we were able to donate over £1000 to their cause, all raised from our Special Concert on May 5^th

David and Jolante are from Maidenheads United Reformed Church, and so far they have despatched 4 lorries like the one below to the Polish Ukraine border for onwards transfer to Ukraine itself. Cash enables local purchase of fresh food. Some of the items being sent from Maidenhead include dried food and pot noodles! For a soldier, all you need then is hot water. The noodle pot becomes the plate! The red brick building on the right of the lorry is Maidenhead United Reformed Church!

So, below we have some photos of the presentation and of the musicians in attendance last week.

Geoff Cronin, Rev David Downing and Jolante Pietrusinska 

 

Terry Hutchins

Mark Aston and Terry Hutchins

A final comment on last week’s music. I have listened to Mark over many years. He just keeps getting better. To think he wasted his time being paid to go to work! Now in retirement he can obviously enjoy being “just” a musician.

If you are free of commitments on Sunday this week, (sadly I am not) you can enjoy some open air jazz led by “OUR” Martin, see the link and poster art  below:

http://www.shh-shop.org/