Celebrating the Joy of Jazz
Hurry! Tickets still available for the first gig in the programme on Thursday, April 16th
Presenting a rather unique and totally in character YouTube of “Slide by Slide”
starring at a Bedford Golf Club jazz gig.
YouTube © Peter M Butler, Jazz&Jazz
http://www.tadnewtonsjazzfriends.com
email: [email protected]
When Big Bill Bissonnette sent me a black and white photograph and asked me to paint his portrait how could I resist? Even though I prefer to have met my subjects in person and work from my own reference shots and sketches. Since first posting I have written a ditty to feature with the portrait! See below.
Plus it’s got me back to the easel and the aspect of Jazz&Jazz which I love most, my Jazz Art. So thank you for commissioning the portrait, Bill. It’s been a pleasure and I apologise for the delay due to my moving home and setting up my new Art & Media Studio (better referred to as my Den!)
So, Jazzers, with B3’s permission, here is the portrait.
And thank you Bill, for featuring the portrait on your Websites plus your accolade: “Peter Butler is a well known painter of jazzmen. He recently did an acrylic of me. I love it!” I notice Brian Carrick has also complimented my work: “It looks Bloody Good Bill, I bet the Acrylic original looks Fab.”
Just had to add this feature to the post with full approval of B3! Hope you enjoy it!
Since completing the portrait, with Bill’s permission, I have set it up, along with the poem version, for reproduction as Fine Art Giclée Prints.
Plus I’ve recently been posting on Facebook samples of my landscapes and seascapes which I also produce as Fine Art Giclée Prints. These have garnered encouraging interest. So I’m inclined to feature some of them on Jazz&Jazz as well. Who knows, if I can sell a few prints – or even originals – it may help finance the rather costly efforts of featuring and helping promote jazz.
I would welcome your views on this in Speak Your Mind below.
Fine Art Giclée Prints of this portrait and the version with the poem are now available.
Simply email: [email protected]
Jazz&Jazz Portrait of “Smiffy” by Peter M Butler
Brian Smith, aka “Smiffy”, isn’t just a very good friend but one of my jazz heroes for all he does to support jazz in Hertfordshire.
With fewer and fewer venues available for loyal fans to enjoy their jazz on a regular basis in what was once a hotbed of jazz, Smiffy launched The Peartree Monday Jazz Club in Welwyn Garden City. In September, 2014, the club moved to Lemsford Village Hall and is now The Lemsford Jazz Club. Held on Sundays once a month, Smiffy lines up a selection of brilliant bands for the Lemsford gigs to the delight of a growing number of fans.
Says Brian: “I am not so much a jazz fan as a jazz fiend and I formed the Club to bring live jazz back to fans in and around Welwyn Garden City. Each month the Club presents top bands from London, the South East and beyond. So join us at The Lemsford Jazz Club and enjoy the very best of New Orleans Jazz.”
What many of the bands don’t know is that Brian is a dab hand on washboard and it goes without saying that I took huge delight in painting his jazz portrait in action.
Fine art print of jazz painting and poem featuring jazz hero “Smiffy”
Washboard Rhythm King
All eyes on Smithy,
Fingers fleeting and nimble
With each thimble a cymbal.
Washboard Rhythm King supreme.
Brian Smith, local Jazz enthusiast and promoter, playing washboard at
The Long Arm and the Short Arm in Lemsford, Hertfordshire.
To learn more about the Lemsford Jazz Club or for a copy of the programme, you can contact “Smiffy” on 01707 880569 or email him at: [email protected]. He’ll be pleased to hear from you. Or visit the Lemsford Jazz Club on Facebook.
Peter M Butler
Editor & Proprietor Jazz&Jazz
Portrait Photo © Peter M Butler, Jazz&Jazz
Fine Art Giclée Prints of this portrait are available.
Simply email: [email protected]
to place your order and help support jazz.
The Stour Valley Stompers. Gerry introduces the band on the YouTube below.
It takes a very special landlord to keep jazz going at his pub despite severe setbacks. Earlier this year, Barry, Landlord at The Star, Old Wives Lees, suffered a severe heart attack and not only did Thursday night jazz sessions come to a screaming halt, The Star had to close its doors to all of its regulars.
But you just can’t keep a good man down. Even though he has undergone major heart surgery, Barry is back and The Star has opened its doors again. Gerry Birch tells me he is in good spirits and still playing an active part in the running of the pub, allbeit somewhat carefully.
Malcome Walton’s Blue Rhythm Kings
And Gerry Birch is back in business with his weekly Thursday Jazz Nights. Even as I’m preparing this post, The Blue Rhythm Kings are playing there tonight! I’d be there myself supporting Gerry, Barry and my numerous Star jazz friends if Old Wives Lees, close to Canterbury, Kent, weren’t quite so far away at such short notice.
But I can give them all a plug on Jazz&Jazz and announce Gerry’s Thursday Night rota of jazz bands over the coming weeks.
Tonight, as I’ve said, sadly in my absence, it’s The Blue Rhythm Kings.
Thursday, 2nd April: Gerry’s Anything Goes Band
Thursday, 9th April: Vocalion Jazz Band
Thursday, 16th April: Stour Valley Jazzband
Thursday, 23rd April: Blue Rhythm Kings
Thursday, 30th April: Southern Heat
Then on Thursdays evenings recurring.
Dennis Jenkins, Vocalion Jazz Band
I simply had to close this feature with these words from Gerry Birch following their first Thursday night resumption on 19th March: “The pub was packed with all the old faces and a few new ones and some visiting musicians. Anyone who knows Barry will know that he is a man of few words and although he always enjoys the Jazz it does not always show. I don’t say this detrimentally, it is just his nature and we all “love” him. But last night the enjoyment really showed. It was a good tonic for him and he joined with everyone else in saying what a great night it was. All I can say, on behalf of all the musicians is it’s great to be back, long may it continue.”
Jazz&Jazz YouTube: Jazz at The Star, Old Wives Lees, East Kent, with Promoter Gerry Birch and his Stour Valley Jazz Band. “At A Georgia Camp Meeting” is a ragtime number by Kerry Mills written for piano way back in 1897.
Peter M Butler
Editor & Proprietor Jazz&Jazz
Photos & YouTube © Peter M Butler, Jazz&Jazz
Featuring local musicians performing alongside the resident house band led by Saxophonist Rob Mach, each session has a relaxed and laid-back feel, encouraging people to develop their talent and have some great fun in the process!
Legendary jazz pianist, jazz entertainer and raconteur Keith Nichols is bound to get your feet tapping at The Bedford this coming Thursday!
Visit Tad Newton’s JazzFriends Online
Hotlips Jazz Band (Courtesy of KJN)
Presenting the Spring 2015 issue of The Kent Jazz News compiled and edited by jazz devotee Harry Stubberfield.
It’s packed with news about the jazz scene in Kent and beyond.
Click to view your online copy: Kent Jazz News
Bobby Wellins & Simon Spillett (Courtesy of KJN)
To receive your personal copy of Kent Jazz News in print, email Harry: [email protected]
The Witham, Barnard Castle is delighted to announce the launch of their much awaited Jazz Season on Friday 20th March
Western Swing meets Blues, Gypsy Jazz and Country
8:00pm, Friday 20 March 2015
Price: £10 | £8 concessions
Rob Heron and the Tea Pad Orchestra is one of the hardest working bands on the UK roots circuit. With thousands of touring miles under their belts, they have earned themselves a sizeable fan base in the UK, Europe and beyond. Based in Newcastle Upon Tyne, they play their own brand of Western Swing, Blues, Gypsy Jazz and Country, or “North Eastern Swing” as they’ve coined it.
Their style is more eclectic than most, influenced by early 20th century American music, with the addition of “razor-sharp” solos, great arrangements and original songs; their music harks back to a golden age whilst staying perfectly modern. The songs are penned by Rob Heron, a crazy fool for country music and a full time dandy-cowboy. His songs are full of character, satire, and good old fashion hollerin’.
The band, a hot six-piece, features Ben Fitzgerald (guitar), Tom Cronin (mandolin), Colin Nicholson (accordion), Rob Blazey (double bass) and Paul Archibald (drums).
Their debut album, ‘Money Isn’t Everything’, caused a sensation when it was released in 2012, winning a host of rave reviews – many of them 5-star. Their second album, “Talk About The Weather” (released July 7th 2014) also gathering notable radio play and reviews. It is said that the best way to experience Rob Heron and the Tea Pad Orchestra is at a live show; so head on over to the Witham to see them this Friday 20 March.
YouTube © Peter M Butler, Jazz&Jazz
See also on Jazz&Jazz: Rob Heron & The Tea Pad Orchestra
7.30pm, Wednesday 25 March 2015
Price: £8
Zoe Gilby is a distinctive and versatile vocalist and songwriter who has been making a real impression on the UK jazz scene. Based in the North East of England, Zoe has performed to international audiences; 2013 saw Zoe perform at jazz festivals in China, Finland and the Ukraine as well as continuing to tour extensively across the UK. Her regular quartet (Mark Williams, guitar; Andy Champion, double bass; and Richard Brown, drums) have been performing together since 2008. Here you’ll find an interaction that is unfailingly stimulating and sympathetic. Also included are some superb interpretations of “The Great American Songbook”
8:00pm, Saturday 18 April 2015
Price: £10 | £8 concessions
Formed in 2012 by Smoove and Turrell’s saxophonist Dave Wilde and Chris Jelly, King Bee have years of experience playing and recording in various funk, groove and jazz line-ups. Building on this experience, they have created their own style, sculpting sounds around mesmerising vibraphone, Rhodes piano and psychedelic Moog, tight bass and drum-grooves, jazz-fusion guitar and the three piece King Bee horns.
The North East’s premier Gypsy Jazz quartet
7:30pm, Wednesday 29 April 2015
Price: £10 | £8 concessions
Hot club inspired bands are far from a rarity on the UK jazz scene, but what marks Djangologie out as something special is the way they take the original spirit of the music and breathe new life into it. Noted for the way that they maintain the swinging spirit of the great Reinhardt-Grappelli ensembles but without trying to be a carbon copy, the music of Djangologie is firmly rooted in the Hot Club sound of the swing era. This can be found in the virtuosic performances of time honoured 1930’s hot club classics and a repertoire of exquisitely written gypsy jazz originals. This is inspired rather than deferential homage. All four members share a detailed understanding of the gypsy jazz tradition. With their intense brand of swing, Djangologie continue to draw, thrill and entertain ever-increasing audience numbers.
Barnard Castle – listed in The Sunday Times Best Places to Live in Britain – is one of the 50 best preserved towns in England, and the Grade II listed Witham building is an important feature of the townscape, located on the curve where Horse Market meets the Market Place. 2015 marks the culmination of over 10 years work to raise money and carry out work to restore its historic fabric and make The Witham fit-for-purpose as a fully accessible modern arts venue for the 21st century.
www.thewitham.org.uk
Barry Palser’s Hot Six Jazz Band
Web: http://www.tadnewtonsjazzfriends.com
Tel Tad Newton: 01604 858549
Photo © Peter M Butler, Jazz&Jazz
Web: http://www.tadnewtonsjazzfriends.com
Tel: 01604 858549
Photo & YouTube © Peter M Butler, Jazz&Jazz
