Celebrating the Joy of Jazz
Sunday Lunchtime Jazz at The Walnut Tree Jazz Club, 31st January, 2016.
Rising Star and in the limelight, pianist Rachael Johnson performs Victor Young’s “Stella by Starlight” with Bill Coleman (bass), Steve O’Gorman (sax) and Clark Tracey (drums).
Peter M Butler
Editor & Proprietor Jazz&Jazz
(Photos & YouTubes © Peter M Butler, Jazz&Jazz)
Mellow Baku and Rachael Johnson enchanted Walnut Tree Jazz Club fans with their lunchtime session in the bar during last year’s Summer Special at Blisworth, Northants.
Peter M Butler
Editor & Proprietor Jazz&Jazz
(Photos & YouTubes © Peter M Butler, Jazz&Jazz)
Featuring John “The Professor” Percival – erstwhile of Bob Kerr’s Whoopee Band – and his musical saw with Dave Rance’s Rockin’ Chair Band (“Often amusing but always entertaining”) at Lemsford Jazz Club.
Peter M Butler
Editor & Proprietor Jazz&Jazz
(Photos & YouTubes © Peter M Butler, Jazz&Jazz)
Inimitably wild!
The violin bow may be indestructible, Ben, but how about that piano? Not jazz? And at Bedford Golf Club’s Thursday Night Jazz Gig? And as for the “joking around” … !!!
Fear not, the fans went wild as well! Tad Newton took the bull by the horns with this booking and won the day – even if he didn’t tame Wild Ben!
Ben Holder (piano), Malcom Garrett (drums). Paul Jeffries (bass), Jez Cook (guitar)
Peter M Butler
Editor & Proprietor Jazz&Jazz
(Photos & YouTubes © Peter M Butler, Jazz&Jazz)
Craig Milverton (piano), John Day (Bass), Trevor Whiting (Clarinet), Nick Millard (Drums) playing during the Bateman Brothers’ gig at Olney Jazz Club in November, 2015.
Peter M Butler
Editor & Proprietor Jazz&Jazz
(Photos & YouTubes © Peter M Butler, Jazz&Jazz)
![Tad Newton's Jazzfriends starring Gary Wood [trumpet], Ronnie Fenn [drums], Tad Newton [trombone], Alan Haughton [piano], Bill Coleman [bass], Frank Griffith [sax] PLUS Special Guest Greg Abate (sax).](https://www.jazzandjazz.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Jazzfriends.jpg)
Tad Newton’s Jazzfriends starring Alan Haughton [piano], Tad Newton [trombone], Bill Coleman [bass], Gary Wood [trumpet], Greg Abate (sax), Ronnie Fenn [drums], Frank Griffith [sax].
“Lights” can be anything but …!
“Camera” depends on juggling for space with fans for available shooting angles! And “Action”? Well there are no opportunities for “Take Twos” once the band has launched into the number – even if part way through filming the camera man is all but knocked off his feet by a fidgeting fan heading for the bar!
Such was the case when I was filming at a recent gig starring Tad Newton’s Jazzfriends at The Walnut Tree Jazz Club, Blisworth, in November, 2015.
The number? Count Basie’s “Shiny Stockings” with references to “Strictly Come Dancing”.
And yet I wouldn’t swap filming live for studio set ups any day. It captures the moment, the fun, the atmosphere – the sheer joy of live jazz! PLUS it avoids all those “Take Two” dramas!
I plan to make much more of my Hi Def YouTubes as just about the best way within my capacity to help hasten the emerging jazz revival.
So be sure to make a habit of visiting my Jazz&Jazz YouTube Channel.
Meanwhile, here is “Shiny Stockings”. Enjoy!
Peter M Butler
Editor & Proprietor Jazz&Jazz
(Photos & YouTubes © Peter M Butler, Jazz&Jazz)
“As this is a jazz club we are going to start out with a very brief history of jazz going back to a very early number, “I Got Rhythm” and blend that into a 50s BeeBop number called “Anthropology”.
Ben Holder (violin, leader); Stuart Carter-Smith (guitar); Will Barnes (guitar); Paul Jefferies (bass)
Peter M Butler
Editor & Proprietor Jazz&Jazz
(Photos & YouTubes © Peter M Butler, Jazz&Jazz)
No need for a prologue to introduce Gypsy Fire at Olney Jazz Club! Stuart Carter-Smith’s introduction covers all angles: “This place is pretty sexy isn’t it! It’s like being in Vegas with all the lights!” The Jazz&Jazz YouTube reveals all.
Ben Holder (violin, leader); Stuart Carter-Smith (guitar); Will Barnes (guitar); Paul Jefferies (bass)
Happy Jazzin’ in 2016, Olney fans and thanks Alan Haughton for your wonderful Club. It might be somewhat out in the sticks of rural Buckinghamshire but it sure “bucks” the trend of jazz clubs’ declining popularity. And just up the road from Olney is another popular club, The Walnut Tree in Blisworth, Northants, where Alan frequently plays keyboard with Tad Newton’s Jazzfriends.
Peter M Butler
Editor & Proprietor Jazz&Jazz
(Photos & YouTubes © Peter M Butler, Jazz&Jazz)
Always a great Christmas Season Gig, Tad and his band excelled themselves playing “Watermelon Man” with Xmas flourishes to a packed and enthusiastic
Walnut Tree Jazz Club audience on Sunday, 20th December.
Tad on trombone, Alan Haughton (keyboard), Tomas Pedersen (bass), Ronnie Fenn (drums), Gary Wood (trumpet with that Xmas flourish), Trevor Whiting (saxophone)
Peter M Butler
Editor & Proprietor Jazz&Jazz
(Photos & YouTubes © Peter M Butler, Jazz&Jazz)
Alan Bateman asked me to feature his portrait of John Bennett on Jazz&Jazz and I am only too pleased to add it to his other portraits featured in the Jazz Art & Film Collection. Alan explains below how and why he was commissioned to paint the portrait by John’s wife, Ann.
Peter M Butler
Editor & Proprietor Jazz&Jazz
“It was a privilege to be asked to produce this painting to commemorate the much loved and respected Jazz trombonist John Bennett’s 80th birthday.
“During a recent gig at the Stables, Wavendon, John’s wife Ann passed me an old black & white photo of John in his early playing days. Artists often convert colour images to Black and White to assist in getting the correct tonal values throughout their paintings, and I have completed many portraits from good quality black & white photos, which in some cases are the only record available as a reference.
“I’m sure you will all join with me in wishing John a very happy birthday and congratulating him on a job well done during some 60 years on the road, entertaining audiences all over the world, mainly with the great Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen”.
Alan Bateman
