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Jazz Club 90

Gigs

(from March 11th. 2007)

With the Olympics obviously in mind the first set started with "China Town" (with Jon Stone's inimitable Chinese accent) and ended with "China Boy"! Robin played an excellent "Moon Glow" with the rhythm section, "Running Wild" pleased Marie and Peter Robinson's arrangement of "Night Train" kept everyone on the rails.

A pity the audience was smaller than usual for another enjoyable session from Apex, they will be back on October 5th.

A most enjoyable session included such varied numbers as "At Sundown" and "Russian Lullaby" with Derek sitting in n drums for just two numbers which just happened to be his vocal specialities, "Fall in Love Says My Heart" and "Sweet Georgia Brown". Tenor sax player Mike Yorke joined the band for four numbers which included "Lester leaps In" and "Body and Soul" with the rhythm section.

Once again excellent entertainment for a Sunday lunchtime.

With songs that included "Walking My Baby Back Home", "Am I Blue" and "Mean To Me" and instrumentals such as "Wolverine Blues" and a duet by Debbie and Roger "Just You, Just Me" there was something for everyone.

Whilst the delightful Debbie Arthurs was the star of the evening there is no doubt that excellent reed player Norman Field, with his fund of information about many of the songs, and Roger Heeley, with his superb piano playing, contributed enormously to a very entertaining evening.

All three can be heard on their version of "Lady Be Good" on YouTube.

Sadly we can't book Debbie and the boys(!) again this year but 2009 isn't very far away!

Debbie

Norma, Debbie and Roger

Debbie, again!

A programme which ranged from the band's opener, "St. Thomas", to excellent vocals from Sue which covered the whole range of "standards". These included "Summertime" (very appropriate as the sun was actually shining at the time), "Georgia on My Mind" and a Nat King Cole tribute with "The Very Thought of You" and "Stardust".

The finalé, "Straighten Up and Fly Right" brought to an end an entertaining session...my camera played up so unfortunately there are no pics this time.

With the band led by almost 19 years old Ben Holder on violin, and with the more experienced Richard Smith on lead guitar, John Smith on rhythm guitar and Steve Peters on bass, this was a session which will be remembered for a very long time indeed!  Ben was an absolute revelation, not only for his sheer brilliance but also his enthusiasm for the music he was playing, this is very well shown on the videos which are on YouTube.

From "Swing That Music" to "Indiana" and "Avalon" the music really did swing, the second set even featured Ben on the recently acquired Harp piano which showed his other remarkable talent! The solos and driving rhythms of Richard, John and Steve were quite outstanding and contributed enormously to a truly memorable evening.

Amongst other numbers were "Russian Lullaby", "It's Only a Paper Moon" and, a first time for this group of musicians, "Take the A Train", which are the videos on YT.

We have no gigs available this year but Ben Holder and Djangology will be back next year! Click photos to enlarge.

Ben with John Smith

Ben Holder

Richard Smith

Two year old grandson Adam found the excitement much too wearing and  slept through part of the first set and all the second including Ron Smith's superb drum solo during "Bei Mir Bist Du Schön, only waking up when it was time to go!

Another two hours went by very quickly but if you missed them the band will be back on September 21st.

Ron Smith's great drum solo.....

.....couldn't wake Adam!

From "The Way You Look Tonight" to "Popsickle Toes" and from "Don't Get Around Much Any More" to "Orange Coloured Sky" were just some of Carole's offerings whilst the Trio entertained us with "Take Five", "Walk in the Black Forest" and "Indian Love Call". An evening such as this had to have an encore and "Route 66" was a perfect way to end the evening.

Carole and the boys(!) will be back on October 28th......click photos to enlarge

Carole Westwood

Archie Cotterell

The vocals were shared by Dave Braidley, who also did a splendid job as MC for the band, Tony Quinn, Bob Smith and Jon Stone. We also had an excellent bowed bass solo from Bob Pearce in Hoagy's "New Orleans" and a superb baritone sax feature for Bob Smith in "East Coast Trot".

Another excellent session from the New Washboard Syncopators which was further enhanced when a group of visitors from Stafford Jazz Society kindly gave back the large bottle of whisky which they won in the raffle so that we could raffle it again to further replenish our funds....very generous indeed and very much appreciated..

New Washboard Syncopators      

Guest John Stone.

Baritone solo

Martinique Jazz Band appeared as a five piece on Tuesday with a sax/trombone front line. and provided an evening that varied from "Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives To Me" to a Dave Boxold vocal on "Mack the Knife" and a Terry Roberts version of "Harlem Nocturne" for Allan Austin...quite superb. A special feature of the session was the excellent tenor sax playing of guest Mike Yorke, first of all with the band on "Lester Leaps In" and later with the rhythm section for "The Nearness Of You", both of which brought well deserved applause from the audience and the musicians.

The Sunday session was by the Five Towns Footwarmers with John Everett on trumpet and featured the vocals of banjo/leader Keith Garner, on "My Indiana Home", and clarinet/sax player Gerry Owen on "Hindustan", as well as the audience participation during "Lily of the Valley". Bass player Terry Cooper also donned the sousaphone, having already demonstrated his piano playing prowess on the latest Harp acquisition before the session started! Mike Haslam on drums and Laurie Cooper on trombone completed the line-up for another great Sunday lunchtime at the Harp.

Numbers such as "Cee, Cee Rider", "Sweet Little Sixteen and Honky Tonk Train Blues" were played and sung as only Steve can, while guest appearances by Nanette, singing "Stormy Monday", and Brian, singing "I've Been Framed", added even more variety to the second set.

"Blueberry Hill" and "Johnny Be Good" led up to a rocking "Great Balls of Fire" to finish the evening with an inevitable encore in "I Can't Stop Loving You".

The Big Man will be back next year!

Steve "Big Man" Clayton

.....and John "Boycey" Battrum

Click to enlarge photos

Their versions of numbers such as "Pennies from Heaven" with vocal by guitarist Andy Wood, "Just a Gigolo/I Ain't Got Nobody" by JB and the front line choir boys, "Someday You'll be Sorry" by reed man Roger Manwaring and "Nuages" by Andy were just few of the excellent numbers which were brilliantly backed by Mark Howell on bass and Clive Miller on drums.

The second set included a couple of numbers with the Harp's own octogenarian tenor player Frank Pardoe, "All of Me" and Ain't Misbehaving" will be on YouTube before too long.

This superb session ended with a rousing "Jump, Jive and Wail" followed by a rather nice vocal from John, "One Night a Day", as an encore.

  This excellent band will be back on September 7th....don't miss!

"Lonesome Road " and "Shout 'Em Aunt Tilley" were followed by vocals from Gordon, "Putting All My Eggs In One Basket" and from Dave, the alto wizard from West Wales, we had a Welsh folk song..."There Will Never be Another You"!

Brian Mellor gave us an excellent "Let The Light From The Lighthouse Shine On You" and Gordon was featured in "Red Sails In The Sunset".

Howard's vocal contributions included "Nobody's Sweetheart Now" and Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone"

A really rousing "Weary Blues" brought a brilliant evening to a close.

The Club House Five will be back on November 23rd.

Starting with "C-Jam Blues" the evening programme was very varied with "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" and Nina Simone's "I Wish I Knew How It feels To Be Free" playing alongside "A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square" and "Mr. Bojangles".  Fats Waller's "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "Mean to Me", my request for Marie, were two of the numbers in the second set which ended with "Let the Good Times Roll"

Two very talented musicians, two pianos, one sax and two vocals made for a very diverse and enjoyable evening.

Click on photos to enlarge

Peter Gill

Joined at the Hip

Graeme Budd

The mix of young (Jack, James and Tom) with slightly older (Richard and Terry) musicians worked perfectly with Terry's infectious personality and obvious enjoyment of the music bringing out the best in both the audience and the band. The numbers varied from the opener "Way Back Home in Indiana" to "Ellington's "Limbo Jazz" and "Just a Closer Walk With Thee" during the first set and "Swing that Music", featuring James and an Ellington medley which had the Terry Brunt walkabout and superb accompaniment by Tom Kincaid in the second half.

We had the added bonus of a couple of numbers from "Baby Jools" Aldridge who now does his drumming with Max Collie and Jim Macintosh, it was a pleasure to see him in the Harp again.

The gig was rounded off with Marie's request for "Running Wild" and a more gentle "Just a Little While to stay Here"

With excellent solos from all the band the lunchtime session passed all too quickly and was proof, if any is needed, that jazz is still very much alive and kicking....as long as musicians like Terry and Richard are playing with the very young musicians like Jack and the more established youngsters like James and Tom then the future must be as bright as Terry's scarf!

These are now on YouTube:

Hindustan     I Get the Blues When it Rains     When You're Smiling

Jack Cotterill's Cheshire Cats will be booked in for next year and Baby Jools is in with his own band on September 30th.

Jack Cotterill

Richard Vernon

Terry Brunt and James Evans

Tom Kincaid

James Evans

"Sentimental Mood" was a rather nice feature for Terry Roberts on soprano sax and Ron on trombone.

Alan Austin, one of the founders of Jazz Club 90, was delighted to win the large bottle of whisky which was donated for us to raffle as an extra fund raiser!

Another excellent session from Martinique who will be back on July 15th.

The Quintet of John on trumpet, John Bodenham on clarinet, Ron Smith on drums, Phil Probert on banjo/guitar and Jim Woods on sousaphone proceeded to entertain us admirably with John and Ron sharing the vocals such as "Ace in the Hole" and "Just a Gigolo".

The Dragons will be back on July 27th.

The result a truly remarkable session of boogie woogie, jump jive, jazz and rock and roll with some Winifred Attwell rags thrown in....just brilliant!

With her MYJO background we knew Natasha would be good but we had never heard, or heard of, Carl and he turned in the most remarkable performance on the keyboard that we have seen and heard for a very long time.

Playing everything from "Jitterbug Boogie" and "Where Did You Stay Last Night?" to "Moon Dance" and Louis Prima's "Jump, Jive and Wail", with Winifred Attwell's "Black and White Rag" (shades of "Pot Black"!) and "Brittannia Rag" for good measure, Carl ended the evening with "Bumble Boogie" and "Great Balls of Fire". His easy going but very confident rapport with the audience was part of the success of the evening, it was as if he was one of our regular musicians instead of in for the first time, and at very short notice!

Although the audience was a little thin on the ground  to begin with the Harp was pretty well full by the start of the second set, even some dancers found a little room, and Carl and Natasha won them selves many more fans who gave them rapturous applause at the end of the gig, with demands that we book them again....sadly we are booked up for the rest of this year so roll on 2009!

This evening also marked the first anniversary of the sad passing of Terry, the former owner of the Harp who would have been delighted with tonight's entertainment, this was Terry's style of "Rock On!" music.

Our thanks to Donna, Dave and Russell for the refreshments and also for their commitment to the jazz since taking over the Harp, long may it continue.

Playing stomps, blues and spirituals in the styles of George Lewis, Kid Thomas and Bunk Johnson it is easy to see why they are one of the most sought after New Orleans bands on the club and festival circuit and what a pleasure it was to have them entertain us so brilliantly.

Led by Barry Grummett on piano the regular members of the band were Gwyn Lewis on cornet, John Scantlebury on clarinet and alto, Mike Taylor on trombone, Tony Peatman on banjo, Harry Slater on bass and guest Paul "Spud" Spelling on drums.

Kicking off with "Lead Me Saviour" and ending with "Panama" we had everything in between from Gwyn's wonderful vocals during "Willie the Weeper", "Walking with The King" and "Love Songs of the Nile", to name but a few, to a superb "Kid Thomas Boogie" from Barry, a storming "Should I Reveal" on alto from John and an excellent "Sweet Georgia Brown" from Mike, with all the band playing their part in a truly special session.

Click to see "Telephone to Glory" on YouTube.

The comments from the audience during the interval and at the end were the most complimentary we have heard for a long time, and all very well deserved.

New Orleans Heat will be back on October 14th to help us celebrate 15 years of jazz at the Harp.

John's knowledge of the composers of all the numbers was quite extraordinary, as was his vibes playing and reminiscing. The band, with Richard Werrett on guitar, Bryn Venus on piano, Jim Sutton on bass and Barry Watts on drums provided the perfect backing for Mr. Sparry.

A Latin version of 'Swonderful", an excellent "Lullaby of Birdland" and Thelonius Monk's "Blue Monk" are just a few examples of the variety of music we heard, plus a couple of vocals from one of John's followers, Angie Moore.

A very different evening and one which will be repeated on September 23rd.

As always the band lived up to their name and played a variety of numbers to suit everyone, particularly fans of Duke Ellington. From "Hindustan" to "If I Had You" and Ellington's "Jones" for the band and "Moonglow" for Robin and the rhythm section the standard was exceptional, as was "Bei Mir Bist Du Schön", the feature for Tony on drums.

Another excellent gig, spoiled only by the small audience, the thought of traffic jams caused by Cosford Air Show obviously deterred many people, if you missed them they will be back on August 12th.

"Stevedore Stomp" and "Canal Street Blues" got the evening off to a fine start before Selwyn invited young alto player Amy Roberts to join the band......as Selwyn said this one act brought the average age of the band down by several decades!

Playing with the band for the first time Amy amazed everyone with her talent and enthusiasm for the music, numbers as varied as "Ain't Misbehavin'" (with a Derek Bennett vocal), "China Boy" and "Hindustan" contrasted with the reeds and rhythm versions of "Shine" and "I'm Confessing That I Love You", with Selwyn on clarinet. Needless to say there was well deserved applause for Amy and the boys(!), either for solos or at the end of each number.

Amy also took part in the bands usual signing off number "Bourbon Street Parade" to bring a superb session to a rousing finish.

 The underlined numbers will get you to videos on YouTube.

Our thanks to Graham Smith for bringing Amy to the Harp once again.

Heart of England will be back on September 14th and Amy with her Jazztet will be back on January 25th. 2009!

With James on tenor sax and clarinet we had Tom Kincaid on piano, Martin Wheatley on banjo/guitar and, a newcomer to the Harp, Andrew Cleyndert on bass.

A rather hoarse James announced, with some difficulty, that he probably wouldn't be able to sing unless the iced Coca Cola he was drinking eased his throat a little! This didn't stop the superb playing of surely one of the finest sax and clarinet players in the country from being part of a great Sunday lunchtime session.

From the starter, "St. Thomas", to the Benny Goodman number "Airmail Special" and on to "The Otter", a guitar solo from Martin Wheatley, and then a piano feature for Tom Kincaid in his own composition "On the Upside", the talents of all the musicians were very much in evidence.  The first set ended with James defying his throat problem and doing a very realistic interpretation of Leadbelly's "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?"

The second half included "Faster Than Dark, composed by James, a slightly different version of Charlie Parker's "Scrabble From The Apple", with Martin Wheatley playing banjo(!), and "Petite Fleur" played on James' electric clarinet which would have been very high tech back in the 70s! Once again throwing caution to the winds James had to try another vocal, this time a number associated with Louis Armstrong, "Lulu's Back in Town".....Louis himself had nothing on James in the "gravel voice" department!

Videos of "Swing That Music" and "Stardust" are on YouTube.

Special mention must be made of the newcomer to the band, Andrew Cleydert on bass, who drove the rhythm along right to "Memories of You" which brought a very different but very enjoyable session to a close, hopefully to be repeated next year!

James Evans

Tom Kincaid

Incredible String Four

Martin Wheatley

Andrew Cleyndert

---

May 24th.....We are back with gig reports!

Since I lost my broadband connection we have had a very varied and most enjoyable line-up of bands......Terry Roberts with Archie Cotterell's trio, Bank Street Syncopators, John Everett's Red Dragon Jazzmen with singer Ruth Frith, the irrepressible 82 years old "Big Eric" Dodgson with the Old Comrades Jazz Band, a rare visit by Millennium Eagle Jazz Band, Martinique Jazz Band and New Washboard Syncopators.

I won't do individual reports but suffice to say that all the bands entertained us quite superbly and will all be back in the near future. The videos I took of Terry Roberts and Millennium Eagle will be on YouTube fairly soon and can be accessed via our "Videos" page.

With some of Daniel's own compositions such as "On the Outside Looking In" and "Dreamtime" (requested by the guitar man!) mixed with "Boogie Woogie on Swanee River" and an aptly named blues  "Evil Ways", and then added to Ray Charles' "Hallelujah" I Just Love Her So" and my request for "Honky Tonk Train Blues" there was plenty of variety for everyone.

Daniel's brilliance on the keyboard was matched by by the driving guitar of Jon Taylor....two musicians who each seem to be able to anticipate what the other one is about to play.

"Put on Your Red Dress" and an encore of "Shake Rattle and Roll" brought to an end a different but very enjoyable Sunday session which we hope to repeat next year.

Two of the numbers, "It Ain't Nobody's Business If I Do" and "Bright Lights, Big City" will be on YouTube soon.

Roger Ray on trombone and Derek Bennett on drums joined regulars Selwyn Newton on clarinet, Pete Ainge on trumpet, Roger Heath on bass and Dave Smith on banjo. With excellent solos and vocals, including from the "new boys", the  programme varied from "Rent Party Blues" to "Struttin' with some Barbeque" and "Doctor Jazz" with the latter causing some problems in the choreography department. Selwyn had hurt his back (we weren't told how!) and was unable to do his usual high kick during this number and it took his understudies, Pete and Dave, three attempts to get their feet off the floor at the right time!

Another cracking session, Heart of England will be back on May 27th.

Derek Bennett

Not quite ready for the kick!

Missed again!

Success!

Roger Ray

The regular line-up of Bobby Johnson on trombone, Tony Billingsley on trumpet, Terry Roberts on reeds, Dave Boxold on bass, Ken Jones on piano and Jim Harney on drums played the many different styles of music for which they are known. Numbers such as "Undecided" and "When I grow too old to dream" were every bit as enjoyable as "Canal Street Blues" and "Creole Jazz".

Vocals were by Dave Boxold and Tony Billingsley and instrumental solos were excellent from everyone in the band.

Some of the numbers played were from the new "hot off the press" CD by the band, "Eclectic" which can be obtained at their gigs or from info@martiniquejazzband.co.uk ..... "Savoy Blues" from this CD is the current background music to our home page.....well worth a listen.

Martinique will be back at the Harp on May 18th.

No photos this time but there are two videos on YouTube, one features Chris Pearce and the rhythm section of Clinton on guitar, Andy Robins on bass and Graham Smith on drums playing "Don't get around much anymore" and the band playing and singing "Dinah".

The rest of the programme included "Magnolia's Wedding Day" and a feature for Richard Leach on trombone in "Spain", after which he had a rest during "Chicago Buzz" when Chris Pearce and Chris Mercer provided the front line. Muggsy Spanier's "Eccentric" and the Armstrong Hot 5 "Keyhole Blues" were two numbers we don't hear very often and very well played they were!

Another super night but unfortunately the band's next appearance is as far away as November 25th, for Marie's birthday, and then December 23rd. for our Christmas party!

Their third visit (it is becoming an annual event) was as brilliant as the other two with well known and never heard before numbers, all played superbly by the line-up of Marcus Bridgman on cornet and vocals (and jokes!), Dr. John Davies on clarinet, soprano and alto, Simon Davey on trombone and PA system, Dewi Price on banjo, Graham New on drums and Derek Newton on bass and sousaphone.

"Waiting at the End of the Road" and "Red Hair and Freckles" were just a couple of the rarely heard numbers whilst "Snake Rag", "Angry" and "Cathedral Blues" will all be seen on YouTube fairly soon. "I Never Knew", which was sung by Peggy Lee as the theme for the film Pete Kelly's Blues, was another not so familiar number with a superb intro by Marcus. Simon was featured in "Trombone Cholley" with Marcus playing the part of Bessie Smith(!).

The band were guaranteed  another booking when they played Marie's request for "Algiers Strut" while "12th. Street Rag" and their finalé "Copenhagen" brought another superb session almost to a close......there just had to be an encore which was a rather nice ""When Shadows Fall".

Every member of the band contributed to a memorable gig but I really must say a another special thank you to Marcus who, apart from his cornet playing and singing, once again developed a fine rapport with the audience with his fund of jokes, even though I had to remind him at the end that he hadn't told any sheep jokes...... some would say that was a mistake as we then had difficulty stopping the flow of stories about dubious relationships with woolly four legged creatures!

My thanks to Dewi's wife Anne for arranging the gig, hopefully we can repeat it next year

Click photos to enlarge

Marcus Bridgman vocal

Simon Davey

Dr. John Davies

Graham Newton

Two guests in the band tonight were Barry Norman on drums and Clinton (Up the Baggies!) Sedgley on banjo and guitar who joined John on trumpet, Barry Phillips on trombone, John Bodenham on clarinet and Mark Johnson on his new slimline bass.

An entertaining evening, as always, gave us "Royal Garden Blues" as a starter  and "Running Wild" as the final offering  with vocals along the way, including "Apple Blossom Time" from Ruth , "A Sin To Tell a Lie" from John and a duet from Ruth and trombone player Barry Phillips with their inimitable version of "Old Rocking Chair".

I think everyone left a super session with a smile on their face, no one more so than Clinton who was beaming from ear to ear after his beloved West Bromwich Albion scored 3 goals in the last ten minutes to go top of the league!

The Dragons will be back on Tuesday, May 6th.

The usual mix of blues, jazz, jump jive and gentle ballads which are the hallmark of this entertaining band included "Alright, OK, You Win" then "Sentimental Blues" from Andy Wood and a tenor sax version of "Flamingo" from Roger. A Benny Goodman number, "A Smooth One", was dedicated to our own smooth one, Frank Pardoe! Another of the band's popular numbers, "Flying Home" can be seen on YouTube as can a brilliant drum solo by Jeff Hawker during "I've Found a New Baby". Standards such as "Route 66" and "Just a Gigolo/I Ain't Got Nobody" were followed by a very gentle "Come to Me" with vocal from John and tenor solo from Roger and another of John's vocals "One Night a Day"....beautiful!

Their signing off number "Jump, Jive and Wail" brought to an end another excellent Sunday lunchtime at the Harp.

JB's Jazz and Blues Band will be back on July 6th....be there!

JB's Jazz and Blues Band

John Beckingham

Roger Mannering

Andy Woods

The excellent front line of leader Robin Mason on assorted reed plumbing, Pete Brown on trumpet and Laurie Cooper on trombone was admirably backed by Jim Harney on drums, John Fellows on bass and of course Ken Jones on piano.

The very varied programme featured solos from everyone and more Ellington numbers than we get with many other bands, all very well played. In the second set we were also entertained with a couple of numbers by singer Margaret Saddington who fitted in well with the band.

Musicians who enjoy themselves plus music well played equals another happy audience!

Apex Jazz and Swing Band will be back on June 1st.

Starting with "Back Home in Indiana" and ending with "Running Wild" there was plenty in between to satisfy everyone.... vocals from Keith and Gerry, splendid solos from all in the orchestra with the sousaphone featured in "Bourbon Street Parade", plus the bonus of several, sometimes risqué, jokes from Keith, all appreciated by the audience.

One of the numbers, "Bugle Boy March" can be found on YouTube so that you can hear this excellent band for yourself.

The Footwarmers will be back on July 13th.

Heart of England had a guest trombone player in the shape of Bobby Johnson who just by chance was to be in at the next gig as the leader of Martinique. With Nick Millward on drums we had the usual entertaining style of jazz always associated with the Hearts with the bonus of Nick's vocals and brilliant drum solos. A very interested, very young  member of the audience was our lovely 2 years old grandson, Adam, who sat through the whole show with his foot tapping to the music. He even came up to me with his microphone to join in the closing remarks, much to the delight of the members of the band who appreciated our efforts to introduce them to a younger audience!

Martinique again gave us a session of varied tunes with excellent features for Terry Roberts on reeds and Ken Jones on piano but unfortunately it was too late for our new young fan to be out of bed!

Martinique will be back  on April 20th. and  Heart of England on April 22nd.

Click photos to enlarge

Adam listening

Selwyn Newton, Dave Smith,  Pete Ainge and Bobby Johnson

The new announcer!

Gwyn and John are both from South Wales so there was a certain air of euphoria on the front line following the success of the Welsh rugby team at the weekend, John was still wearing his Welsh shirt!

With their excellent new CD, "Walking with the King", hot off the press the programme inevitably included some of the hymns and spirituals which are on the recording. These included the title track, with a typical Gwyn Lewis gritty vocal, and another was "Does Jesus Care?

John Skantlebury's "Burgundy Street Blues", with the help of the rhythm section of Tony, Harry, Colin and Barry, was a classic, along with "Black Cat on the Fence" and "That's A'Plenty" whilst another Gwyn vocal was "Breeze".

Every member of the band excelled themselves and left a nice "full house" asking for more after the final rocker of the evening!

Incidentally the new CD is just brilliant and well worth buying at one of their gigs or via their website.

See videos by clicking the links.

New Orleans Heat will be back on June 8th. and on October 14th.(this one to help us celebrate 15 years of jazz at the Harp).

Barry Grummett

Gwyn and Alan

New Orleans Heat

John and Gwyn

Alan Birkinhead

Vocal by Gwyn

That was what everyone thought at the end of a superb gig by the Amy Robert's Jazztet. With Amy on alto sax were Matt Palmer on clarinet/soprano and tenor sax, Tom Kincaid on piano, Andrew Mackenzie on guitar, Jim Swinnerton on bass and Stuart Smith on drums, and a more exciting and entertaining line-up would be hard to find!

After the opener, "Lady be Good", the numbers ranged from "Over the Waves" to Georgia on My Mind" and "China Boy". After the interval we had a brilliant "Shine", a delightful slow "I'm Confessin'" and a feature for Andy on guitar when he played "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" accompanied by Tom, Jim and Stuart. One of Matt's vocals was the band version of "My Blue Heaven"

Amy and Matt both gave use excellent examples of reed instrument playing with Matt often looking on with approval as the now not quite so young Amy (well, she did have her 20th. birthday yesterday!) played her superb solos and led the band like a seasoned professional. All the band played their part with Tom's piano solos and Jim's driving bass being appreciated by the audience whilst the two musicians who we hadn't seen before at the Harp, Andy on guitar and Stuart on drums got very well deserved applause.

Six absolutely brilliant young musicians sent everyone home happy after another great Sunday lunchtime which finished off with a rousing "Running Wild".

See videos on YouTube by clicking the links above.

Unless we can arrange one of the few Tuesday gigs we have left we won't see Amy and her Jazztet until Jan 25th. 2009!!!!

Amy Roberts

Tom Kincaid

Matt and Amy

Andrew Mackenzie

Jim Swinnerton

From the opener "Christopher Columbus" to the finalé, "Stevedore Stomp", we had a very entertaining evening, including scat singing, (or had he forgotten the words?) by Barry during "Stevedore Stomp"!

One of the highlights of the evening was the announcement that trumpeter Tony Billingsley and Isabelle are to be married on October 10th.....there is no connection between that statement and the title of the next tune they played, "I've found a new baby"!!!!

Once again an excellent session from one of our local bands who will be back on Sunday, May 4th.

The only change from last year was that Hugh Crozier was on piano, with the rest of the line-up being Bill Edmonds on trumpet, John Rayne on reeds, Nick Singer on banjo, Peter Clancy on bass and sousaphone and Bob on trombone.

All the band were featured in a very varied "song list", with several songs by Bob, a superb "West End Blues" and "Cornet Chop Suey" by Bill on trumpet, vocals from Hugh Crozier on "Until the Clouds Roll By" and "Caldonia" (see this on video), both of which had several ladies in the audience going week at the knees(!)  whilst Nick on banjo had a "Hot time in the Old Town Tonight".

You will see from the photos that two members of the band chose shirts which would merge in with the photo background at the Harp!

Another great Sunday session at the Harp, we will endeavour to make it two visits by the Hot Six next year.

Click photos to enlarge

Bob Dwyer

Bill Edmonds

John Rayne and Nick Singer

Peter Clancy

Hugh Crozier

A very varied programme included vocals by all the band..."Roses of Picardy", by Gordon, "Dinah", with the doors locked to keep the audience in(!), by Richard, "Until the real thing comes along" by Howard, "Wrap your troubles in dreams" by Dave and "Glory of Love" by Brian....all superb.

Howard and Brian backed Gordon for an excellent trumpet solo version of "When day is done" and the gig finished with the "Original Dixieland One Step".

I hadn't got my camera with me so photos of this line-up must wait until the band returns on July 1st.

This meant we had the New Washboard Quintet for the first set and what a great job they did. Chris Carmel on cornet, Bob Smith on clarinet and baritone sax, Bob Pearce on bass, George Linder on banjo and Tony Quinn on percussion played the likes of "I never knew what a girl could do" and "Swing down in New Orleans", with vocal by Chris, "Meet me tonight in dreamland" sung by Tony and "Drop that Sack", one of the few tunes recorded by Lil Hardin's Hot Shots and now available on YouTube by the Quintet!

Dave Braidley's arrival via the Old Brown Jug at Newcastle under Lyme was greeted with cheers from the audience and the second set featured the full orchestra. Dave was the vocalist on "Stay out of the South" and "Running Wild", with Chris's usual comment that Dave's version was once likened to that of Marilyn Monroe!. "Rent Party Blues" was another number which is now on YouTube. Bob Smith was, as always, brilliant on reeds and the rhythm section made sure there was no flagging by the front line.

Another super session by a band who play numbers not often heard at other gigs.

They will be back on May 20th.

The difficult job of filling Clive's shoes (or should that be drum stool?) fell to his son Nick who did the job quite brilliantly....as befits a young man whose day job is playing with the Kenny Ball Band!  It was also a treat to see Kevin Grenfell and his trombone in the Harp.

With "Just a Closer Walk with Thee" played as the bands tribute to Clive the evening then consisted of the HoE varied repertoire including "Lady be Good" with Kevin doing the vocal, "Sweet Lorraine" with a vocal from Nick and great contributions from the regulars, Selwyn Newton on clarinet, Pete Ainge on trumpet, Roger Heath on bass and Dave Smith on banjo. The band's version of "One Sweet Letter from You" is on YouTube

Another regular feature of a gig with Heart of England is the appearance, after much persuasion, of our own octogenarian tenor player, Frank Pardoe. On this occasion the members of the band all donned berets to keep Frank company as they played "Some of these days" and "Shanty in Old Shanty Town".

The final number, Royal Garden Blues" featured an excellent drum solo from Nick and then moved in to "Bourbon Street Parade" to bring an end to a most entertaining evening.

Heart of England Jazz band will be back on March 23rd.

The band

Roger Heath

Nick Millward

Frank Pardoe

The Pardoe Big Band!

Another excellent Sunday session.

Martinique will be back on March 25th.

As ever we had a highly entertaining evening from the Dragon's with Ruth Frith singing her varied choice of songs from "Summertime" to "Cake Walking Babies" and a delightful slow version of "Little Lady Make Believe".

John brought back memories of John Burnett with his version of both "Stardust" and "Just a Gigolo" and "Sir" Alan joined the band for a couple of numbers, having dropped in to deliver leaflets and posters for Upton Jazz Festival.

The band played "Just a closer walk with Thee" as a tribute to drummer Clive Millward who had died a few days earlier.

Their CD title track, "Down by the Riverside" was the final number of a superb evening.

The Red Dragons will be back on April 8th.

Starting with "Rosetta", which featured the vocal talents of Derek Galloway, we went on to a vocal from Noel Nichols during "What will I tell my heart?" and a rocking version of Fats Domino's "I'm Walkin'".

The second set included "Just a closer walk with Thee" as a tribute to trumpeter John Brunious, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band's leader and the senior member of the New Orleans ensemble, who died Tuesday after an apparent heart attack in Orlando, Florida. Dave Donohoe then joined the band for "I'm in the mood for love" with vocal from Warren. We then had a trombone duet with Dave and Derek doing a rather nice version of "Swanee River" ably supported by the rhythm section. Both of these numbers are now on YouTube ,as is "Let me take you to the Mardi Gras" (just click on the titles).

Many more superb numbers took us a good thirty minutes over time, with absolutely no complaints from the audience! It did mean we couldn't ask for an encore but will have to wait for "more" until next year!

Great music, brilliantly played by six guys who enjoy what they are doing...what more could you ask for?

Dave Copperwaite

Derek Galloway

Warren Latham

Bill Evans

Noel Nichols

Tony Sharpe

Dave Donohoe and Derek Galloway

The Big Band!

The brass section.

The quartet started off the proceedings with "Somebody Stole My Gal" and Sue's lovely voice was heard in numbers ranging from "I've Got You Under My Skin" to "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "Blue Skies". A rather special offering of "My Funny Valentine" was for Marie and myself who have our 24th. wedding anniversary on Valentine's Day!

A different evening from our usual jazz but very enjoyable and Sue will be back again in August.

The delightful Sue Maclean

Cutty Sark, Richard Werritt, Rob Hodges and DaveAndrews

With such able deputies the Antique Six gave us another superb Sunday lunchtime the quality of which can be seen and heard on YouTube with "Wolverine Blues" by the band and "Waiting for the Sunrise" by Chris Pearce and the rhythm section. Chris Mercer's trumpet and voice were heard during, amongst others, "Bye, Bye Blackbird" and Richard Leach was let loose on his trombone with "On Treasure Island".

Muggsy Spanier's "Eccentric" and King Oliver's "Snake Rag" all added to the enjoyment and the session finished with the tongue twisting "Nagasaki".

Antique Six will be back on April 15th....be there!

Lead guitarist Paul seemed to have ten fingers on each hand at times and rhythm man Nick kept immaculate time and complemented Paul's virtuosity with his very solid rhythm. The biggest compliment I can give two brilliant musicians is that they kept the Harp audience quieter than almost any other band we have had in!

Numbers from "Lover Man" to Greig's "Norwegian Dance" (jazzed up a bit), Django's "Hotel Claridge" to "Girl from Ipanema" and the inevitable "Minor Swing" and "Nuages" were just a few of the numbers which enchanted the audience for two and a half hours. Quite brilliant!

We hope to have Paul and Nick back later in the year.

Paul Vernon Chester

The Duo

Nick Mellor

As always the band lived up to their name...they did exactly what it said on the tin...played jazz and swung like the clappers!  Apart from his superb cornet playing Brian also featured on vocals as did the whole front line during"Dinah"! A rousing "Stevedore Stomp" brought another fine Sunday lunchtime to an end.

Apex will be back on April 1st.

The band

Ken Jones

Vocal trio