If you love real jazz, original jazz from The Crescent City, New Orleans Revivalist Jazz, then you’ll simply revel in this youtube of Brian Carrick’s Algiers Stompers, guesting Trefor Williams on bass, at the Peartree Jazz Club, Welwyn Garden City, on Monday, 18th October.

Just click on this link:

Brian Carrick’s Algiers Stompers with Trefor Williams 

Trefor Williams

It’s just one of a full repertoire of New Orleans Classics performed that evening for Peartree fans by one of the UK’s leading jazz bands and it resonates with that magical jazz club atmosphere loved by jazz fans over the years.

Plus this is a new dimension for the site – youtubes of movies discretely videoed at jazz gigs covered by Jazz&Jazz on our travels around the clubs and festivals.

Be sure to watch out for forthcoming events at The Peartree Jazz Club. Especially their Christmas Gig with Dennis Vick’s Fenny Stompers on Monday, 16th December. Be sure to arrive at 6.30 sharp for a party evening of jazz, crackers and fun.

(Photos and YouTube © Peter M Butler, Jazz&Jazz)

I’m sure Fred Burnett won’t mind me cribbing this extract from an item included in his latest JazzNorthWest News Update. It’s highly pertinent to discussions I’ve recently been involved in down south.

Courtesy of JazzNorthWest

“I’ve always advocated midweek daytime jazz as a way of hanging on to the current clientele at jazz sessions as it becomes more difficult for people to venture out at night as they get older. Although it was pointed out to me that it effectively excluded young people from attending, I have to say I haven’t noticed them falling over each other to get into the current sessions at night. One band that is discovering that a midweek lunchtime jazz session can become increasingly successful is Mike Lovell with his Six in a Bar Classic Jazz Band. The North Euston Hotel in Fleetwood has just extended their residency to June 2014. The next event is on 18th December at 12 noon.”

I would be very interested in any views which fellow Jazzers might have on this, as I’m sure Fred would too.

End of The Road

Another related  item in Fred’s News Update, which I’m sure he won’t mind me sharing, concerns the end of the road for Thursday lunchtime jazz at The 100 Club:

“Reading Just Jazz, I see that it’s the end of the line for regular traditional jazz events  at The 100 Club in Oxford Street, London. Kay & Tony Leppard have been keeping up a tradition of regular monthly jazz at the club which first started in 1949. On 12th December they have arranged for the last gig there under the guise of the End-of-the-Line Jazz Band and featuring some great names including North West’s own Ged Hone. Doors open at 11.30am and apparently the chairs at the club have been slowly dwindling and if you can’t get there early there’s a suggestion you take you own seats. Could come in useful too if you’re waiting for a bus amongst all the Christmas shoppers! There will of course be benefit nights, tributes and memorials there for years to come.”

New Beginnings

I featured this recently on Jazz&Jazz: “Jazz at The 100 Club Faces Sad Demise”  but did conclude with a few words of encouragement: “We are not at the end of the jazz age. There are new beginnings. Jazz lives on and one of my key aims as editor and moderator of Jazz&Jazz along with my Facebook Jazzers Group is to … unify jazz fans, musicians and bands of all ages.”

The Rich Bennett Band is just one of an emerging number of new bands giving hope to those new beginnings. I featured their recent red hot session at The 100 Club: “They Came, They Saw, They Conquered … All in the Nick of Time!” . Several similar bands full of zest and vibrancy of are featured on Jazz&Jazz and I intend to cover more of them as and when the opportunity arrises.

The Rich Bennett Band at The 100 Club (Photo © Peter M Butler, Jazz&Jazz)

I’ve said before and I’ll say it again: If older fans love jazz so much why miss out? Why not get along to join in with the younger fans at their venues? And in turn, why not encourage and welcome the younger bands to play at and liven up our staid old clubs?

That would be far better than sitting back and mulling over the past by simply viewing the plethora of YouTubes featuring yesterday’s greats, vital though they are to jazz, featured on various Facebook Jazz Groups including just recently my Jazzers Group. Please forgive my impertinence, but to me that’s little more than burying our heads in the sands of time rather than reaching out for the future of jazz.

“The Old Hat Band” – “Not so old hat but a talented young group – all in their twenties” Just one more of our emerging younger groups. (Photo courtesy of Laurence Cumming)

I cannot conclude this blog without again thanking Kay and Tony Leppard for presenting live jazz at The 100 Club though thick and thin for so long. Don’t forget, they are both still heavily involved in promoting jazz at The Winning Post in Twickenham – including the emerging new era of younger bands.

Peter Mark Butler
Editor and Proprietor of Jazz&Jazz 

Note: A message to the musicians and bands I’ve been discussing potentials with recently – bear with me, I’ll get back to you asap on this.

Barry Palser

If you are in the vicinity of, or even within reasonable reach of Welwyn Garden City next Monday, 2nd December, make a point of joining us at The Peartree Jazz Club. Be there by 8.30pm prompt for an evening of brilliant jazz with Barry Palser’s Savoy Jazz Band.

“Barry Palser is a fine, punchy trombonist who believes that entertainment is a critical factor in jazz and is prepared to back his belief with action.”

This is your chance to join the action. Don’t miss it!

Peartree Jazz Club

The Peartree, Hollybush Lane,
Welwyn Garden City, Herts, AL7 4JJ
Admission £8 • Members £7
Brian Smith (“Smiffy”) Jazz Promotions
Tel: 01707 880569 • Email: [email protected]
www.facebook.com/peartreejazz.club

Best Jazz in Town! Live!

Join the Club!

(Photos © Peter M Butler, Jazz&Jazz)

It’s my birthday today! Or, to be more precise, by the time you read this it will have been my birthday today. This time last year I gave my age away but this time this year that’s taboo!

One of my closest friends back in the 1950s/1960s era emigrated to Australia in 1968. Before that, along with our other chums, we spent hours together doing what teenagers did back then. Partying, pub crawling, club crawling, Young Conservatives crawling! Saturday nights started out at The Miramar Hotel in Beltinge, where Alfie challenged us to the “double or nothing” chance of free entry, and ended up either at The Marie Celeste Night Club in Herne Bay or at Sarre Court Country Club – all in East Kent.

Jazz Too!
Jazz too played large in the picture. I remember especially one late night party thrown by Bertie in his grand old Georgian Terrace house on Herne Bay sea front. Two jazz hits played over and over again that night still haunt me – Miles Davis’s “Lift To The Scaffold” and Lonnie Donegan’s “Seven Golden Daffodils”.

That too was the era of Acker’s “Stranger on the Shore” and Kenny’s “Midnight in Moscow” – bringing back, dare I say it, memories of my first “real” girlfriend. Sammy Rimington did the East Kent Jazz Circuit in those days and still does so this day, touring with his International Jazz Band’s Autumn tours. But his was and still is pure New Orleans Revivalist Jazz dating back to the era of his mentor, the legendary George Lewis.

But getting back to my “emigrated to Aussie” Chum, Roger and I stay in touch and I was delighted when he visited us for a very pleasant afternoon a couple of years ago. And again this Autumn when I got together with him during his latest visit to the UK.

Where is The BBC Today?
What’s the point of these reminiscences? Just that recently he emailed me a wonderful YouTube bringing memories of those days flooding back. So much so that I  couldn’t  resist sharing it with you all on Jazz&Jazz. And note it’s title, BBC Jazz Club, 1960. To view it, hit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKbi2OCAHvQ

So just where is the media –  BBCand ITV included –  today when it comes to jazz? I’ll get back to that very soon.

Meanwhile I couldn’t resist signing off my **birthday with this catchy, highly pertinent blues number a friend in LA just sent me: “Weary Blues”: http://youtu.be/aOWz3-QXY6M

Jessie Fuller starred on BBC Jazz Club back then!

I was delighted to receive a surprise seasonal package in the post just the other day – Clare Teal’s latest CD, “Jing, Jing-a-Ling”.

Accepted by many as the UK’s finest jazz singer and twice voted British Jazz Singer of the year, “Jing, Jing-a-Ling” is Clare’s first Christmas album and her twelfth album overall.

“It’s a twinkling Christmas offering with something for everyone. Clare and the band have excelled themselves with this sparkling mix of old chestnuts, unearthed treasures and Yuletide originals guaranteed to get you into the holiday spirit.

“Songs include the joyously catchy ‘Jing, Jing-a-ling’, the divine and long forgotten ‘December’ here given a beautiful Latin twist, ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ as you’ve never heard it before plus three brand new Teal Field originals – ‘Skating On Thin Ice’, ‘The Feeling’s Right’ and the stunning ‘A Little Whisky’ – a cosier fireside ballad you’d struggle to find.” (Manilla Public Relations)

More about Clare
• Our very own Queen of Swing celebrates the music of her heroines, the leading lights of the jazz and big band world Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, Judy Garland, Doris Day and many of their illustrious contemporaries.

• The multi award winning singer and BBC Radio 2 broadcaster demonstrates also the influence these characters have had on her own acclaimed catalogue of work.

• Known for her knowledge and love of the Great American Songbook and more recently The Great British Songbook.

“Clare Teal us the only singer around with the kind of touching, humorous tone, jaunty and effortless phraseology to get anywhere near the might that was Ella Fitgerald” – Jazzwise

“Wonderful. Worth raving about” – Sir Michael Parkinson

“Please go out and buy Clare Teal’s record!” – Michael Bublé

“The new first lady of Jazz” – Independent

 To sample tracts from “Jing, Jing-a-ling” and to order your CD visit: http://clareteal.bandcamp.com

You can find out more about Clare on her website: http://www.clareteal.co.uk

Jazz is big in Japan and at Sammy Rimington’s recent UK Tour gig in Chilham, Kent, I was delighted when he welcomed onto the stage to play alongside him, his close and longstanding Japanese friend, Yoshio Toyama and his wife Keiko. 

Bonds of Friendship! Sammy Rimington with Yoshio Toyama

Soon afterwards I contacted Yoshio and sent him the link to my Jazz&Jazz post
featuring the Chilham concert. 

 So I was even more delighted when Yoshio replied:

Dear Peter,

We are glad to being Facebook friends with you already. My wife and I are Pops and New Orleans music fans! We lived in New Orleans from 1968 until 1973 and learned jazz.

My first interest was in Louis Armstrong and His Hot 5 and 7. Later I dug Bunk Johnson  and other great New Orleans trumpeters.

Usually I play Louis All Stars type music, I like Louis’ big band style also. Click here for a YouTube of my performance of Louis Armstrong’s “Chinatown my Chinatown” with Vince Giordano and The Night Hawks at Sofia’s on Broadway. It harks back to that fantastic 1920s to 30s Big Band Sound and we were swinging hard! 

Other YouTubes that might interest Jazz&Jazz followers include performances of original Louis Armstrong chart numbers by The Yoshio Toyama Big Band and The Yoshio Toyama Plays Louis Armstrong Big Band: 

Very best wishes
Yoshio Toyama

KeikoToyama

Louisiana’s Times Picayune Newspaper ran an article entitled “Heart to Heart Through Jazz” featuring Yoshio and Keiko during their times spent in New Orleans. The article is no longer available online but Yoshio always welcomes opportunities to repay the Crescent City “who welcomed us and taught us 45 years ago”.

Yoshio also referred us to “From Tragedy to Triumph: The Musical Bridge Between New Orleans and Japan, highlighting a cultural exchange of music in the face of disaster.”  

If you love real jazz, original jazz from The Crescent City, New Orleans Revivalist Jazz, then
get on down to The Peartree Jazz Club, Welwyn Garden City, this coming
Monday, 18th November. Be on time, the show starts at 8.30pm sharp.

Come to that, if you’ve never experienced real jazz, all the more reason to come along. You’ll love it! You’ll get hooked! You might even be tempted to join The Peartree Jazz Club. We’d love that!

 We look forward to seeing you there and making you most welcome! Trust us, it’s great entertainment, a brilliant night out – and all for just £8! Or £7 if you join the club!

New Orleans Heat at The Peartree

Thermostatic control went wild at The Peartree Jazz Club on Monday, 21st October, when New Orleans Heat took Welwyn Garden City fans to new heights on the Jazz Richter Scale.

Band Leader Barry Grummett describes New Orleans Heat as “a band playing the old style New Orleans jazz, recreating the music of the crescent city, be it a stomp, blues, hymn, spiritual or pop song of the day. In the style of the late great, Bunk Johnson, George Lewis and Kid Thomas bands, our motto is “helping to keep the real jazz alive”.

As ever with this phenomenally entertaining band, Jazz&Jazz photos best tell the story of an evening Peartree Fans are not likely to forget in a hurry.

And for full impact, view “Movie Time at The Peartree  Featuring New Orleans Heat”.

Mike Taylor on Trombone, Gwyn Lewis on Flugelhorn

Malc Murphy on Drums, John Scantelbury on Clarinet

Tony Peatman on Banjo, Barry Grummett (Leader) on Keyboard    

Harry Slater on Bass

John Scantelbury on Saxophone

Photos © Peter M Butler, Jazz&Jazz

I received a telephone call last Monday, 4th November, informing me that Penn had been involved in a fatal accident. I emailed Pete Lay who confirmed the tragic news. I didn’t feel it was my place to prematurely report the news on Jazz&Jazz but now that Fred Burnett has included it on Jazz North West I want to pay my own personal tribute to Penn.

But first here is how Jazz North West reported the tragedy:

“04/11/13 – I’ve received news from several sources now that Pen Pengelly, part of “Jimbo & Penn” who managed the Stage Equipment for many New Orleans jazz weekends, was involved in a fatal accident on the 28th October.  “I understand that Jean Pengelly survived with broken ribs and is now in Taunton Hospital”, Tony Talk told me, “He featured mostly on the New Orleans Jazz weekends organised by John Long and the KC Trust at Sandbay/Hemsby – as was. Jimbo is the “Grand Marshal” for the Brolly Parades; together, they did the Stage changes & Audio etc. He was at Alvaston Hall ……but those guys tend to be invisible”!  Dennis Whitehead said, “He also played the e flat clarinet  sitting in with many bands everywhere? he was very well loved by all in the jazz world, a fierce Cornishman who did so much in the jazz scene. He would be very well known by any of your readers who go to Upton, Hemsby, Bude, or many other venues. He will be missed  as a true friend of jazz and above all a person who we are proud to say we knew”.  “I am afraid it is true – a great guy and will be sorely missed” – Pete Lay.”

My Personal Tribute to Penn
At the Hemsby Autumn Jazz Parade this year, Penn took total control of stage management, lighting and sound in the absence of Grand Marshall Jimbo who was unwell. As always, I chatted to Penn – everyone did. He was on top form and totally unflappable.

So I want to pay my own tribute to Penn by posting here the photo I took of him at the festival playing his beloved e flat clarinet with Brian Carrick’s Algiers Stompers. And I want to dedicate the photo to Jean, wishing her comfort in her recovery.

Peter Mark Butler
Jazz&Jazz