The Covent Garden Marching Band heads the 2014 Big Parade

Just what could that be all about?

Here is a preview but best you spend a pleasant afternoon in Covent Garden, London, on Thursday, 18th June, to experience this unique occasion for yourselves. You’ll need to be there in good time for the ceremony which starts at 4.30pm.

The Occassion? Weird and Wonderful Rent Collecting!
“The annual Rent Ceremony is a weird and wonderful occasion when the Chairman and Trustees march around the Piazza, accompanied by the Town Crier and a jazz band, to pay the “peppercorn rents” of five red apples and five posies of flowers for the buildings, known as The Protected Lands, on which the Trust owns a 150-year headlease.” (Covent Garden Area Trust Website) 

This will be the 18th year The Covent Garden Jazz Marching Band has taken part in the Ceremony and it has to be witnessed to be believed! A “somewhat unique one off group”, the band, with The Covent Garden Town Cryer at its head, has more than doubled in numbers over the years.

Tim Wacher

Julian Mark Stringle

This year the band will include:

Trumpets/Cornets:
Digby Fairweather,
John Keen, Chris Hodgkins
and John Wacher.
Reeds: Julian Mark Stringle, Eric Gilchrist,
John Evans and Dave Gelly.
Trombones: Chris Gower, Phil Brown
and Tim Wacher.
Banjo: Alan Bradley.
Sousaphone: John Beecham.
Drums: Don Cook and Emile Martyn.

“A Grand Flourish”
Under Tim Wacher’s direction the marching band will set off, in true New Orleans style, at 4.30pm from 13, New Row, Covent Garden WC2 (the offices of the Covent Garden Area Trust – opposite Waterstones) and amble down King Street and around the Piazza – headed by Town Cryer Alan Myatt, and stopping for the collection of rents along the way. The parade pauses for essential refreshments outside the Punch and Judy Pub and culminates in a grand flourish with speeches in the Market’s North Hall.

“Quite a Big Sound”
They then adjourn to the South Courtyard of the Market (outside the Crusting Pipe) where, after a short interval, they play a second (stationary!) set for about an hour, finishing around 6.30pm. Last year Tim Wacher assured  me “It’s quite a big sound due to the acoustics of Covent Garden Market roof and a lot of fun” and now I can vouch for that!

Jazz&Jazz covered the march last year and featured my colleague, Laurence Cumming’s photos. Hopefully Laurence will join my wife and I this year for more photos.

For a taster, just one of my YouTubes of last year’s March:
“Hello Covent Garden, Give Me Doctor Jazz”

Also visit “A Weird and Wonderful Occasion in Covent Garden”

 Peter M Butler
Editor and Owner of Jazz&Jazz
Photos by Laurence Cumming © Jazz&Jazz
YouTube © Peter M Butler, Jazz&Jazz

The first time I met Chris Hodgkins was during the 2014 Annual Rent Ceremony in Covent Garden* when he played in The Covent Garden Jazz Marching Band. Since then we have remained in touch chiefly via Linkedin. He has just released his April Newsletter which I’m pleased to reproduce here.

Digby Fairweather and Chris Hodgkins (Photo © Peter M Butler, Jazz&Jazz)

Dear Friend

Please find the latest news on my activities to date. Parliamentary Jazz Awards, Jazz Then And Now on www.jazzlondonradio.com, launch of  the new album of “Back in Your Own Back Yard”  plus tour dates and the latest blog on http://www.complaintsinwonderland.co.uk

Parliamentary Jazz Awards 2015
Chris was recently awarded the Services to Jazz  Award at the Parliamentary Jazz Awards, House of Commons on the 10th March. The Awards are sponsored by the PPL. Thanks to Jazz London News you can read about the Awards here at the The Arts Desk

Jazz Then And Now on www.jazzlondonradio.com
In September  Jazz London Radio announced that Chris Hodgkins will be joining the station with a new weekly show called “Jazz Then and Now” on www.jazzlondonradio.com

The concept of the show is as Chris puts it “what it says on the tin”. Chris delves into the history of the music and presents what is happening on the scene today with a watchful eye on British contemporary jazz. The show runs every Monday and Wednesday at 3pm and 8pm and repeated on Thursday at 8pm. See the weekly Play Lists for the show.

Chris Hodgkins album launch and live dates in April
Trumpeter Chris Hodgkins will be performing four dates in South Wales this April, to launch his new album with pianist Dave Price entitled Back In Your Own Backyard. Album release: Monday 6th April 2015. Albums can be purchased direct from Chris at [email protected] The cost is £12 plus postage and packing. The album can be downloaded at Amazon will be out on digital services on the 5th May. Here are some links to a couple of tracks on YouTube Sweet Hearts On Parade, Angel Eyes,  Sunday.

In September last year Chris Hodgkins returned to Wales to record an album of originals, standards and one or two tunes from the archives. For the past 7 years Chris, on his visits to Wales, has worked with Dave Price on piano and Erika Lyons or Ashley John Long on bass. All three joined him on the album and the result is “Back In Your Own Back Yard”.

“Aside from two originals and the poignant Black Butterfly, the repertoire suggests a formulaic Mainstream set that one might hear at a jazz party. But that narrow assumption vanishes once the music begins, for Chris, Dave, Erika, and Ashley offer serene yet searching chamber jazz, refreshing improvisations on familiar songs. The players have created an airy, open music, full of pleasant wanderings but solidly grounded in melody and beating-heart rhythms.

One of the most moving performances here is A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square, an etude for piano and two double-basses, both celebration and elegy for wartime Britain, with death, romance, and endurance intermingled.

Together, they make Back In Your Own Backyard what jazz recordings should be, no matter what genre: warm, wide-awake, deeply personal”.
Michael Steinman, Jazz Lives

April Tour Dates

12th – Hanbury Arms **
Caerleon Uskside, Newport NP18 1AA
(Gig starts 5.30)
01633 420361

14th – The Angel *
Grosmont, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, NP7 8EP
(Gig starts 8pm)
01981 240646

15th – Queens Head *
St James Street, Monmouth, NP25 3DL
(Gig starts 8pm)
01633 440739

16^th – Café Jazz *
St. Mary’s Street, Cardiff,
(Gig starts 8pm)
www.cafejazzcardiff.com
02920 387026

* With Dave Price (piano) and Ashley John Long (bass)
** With Steve Tarner (bass)

Chris Hodgkins recently retired after 29 years as the Director of Jazz Services, the national support charity for jazz music and musicians.  During his time at the organisation, he was honoured for his Services to Jazz at the 2002 BBC Jazz Awards and in July 2013 at the British Jazz Awards. In March this year he was awarded the Services to Jazz Award at the Parliamentary Jazz Awards 2015.  Despite his successes championing British jazz he still found the time to play himself, and as a musician released several great albums with his various groups, including 2009’s Boswell’s London Journal, which was reviewed as ‘CD of the Week’ in the Evening Standard.  With his days of administration behind him, Chris now takes to the road to focus on playing the music he loves.

In September Jazz London Radio announced that Chris Hodgkins will be joining the station with a new weekly show called “Jazz Then and Now” on www.jazzlondonradio.com The show runs every Monday and Wednesday at 3pm and 8pm and repeated on Thursday at 8pm. See the weekly Play Lists for the show.

Hodgkins was raised in Cardiff.  He co-founded the Welsh Jazz Festival and was instrumental in establishing the Welsh Jazz Society.  As a professional trumpeter, Chris has toured the UK and Europe, appearing at the Sacramento Jazz Festival in the USA.  Chris has also played in the Icon Jazzmen and in the bands of Monty Sunshine, Chris Haskins and Pete Allen. The Chris Hodgkins Band made a name for itself supporting the likes of Buddy Tate, Humphrey Lyttelton, Kathy Stobart, Bud Freeman and Wild Bill Davison. He currently works with Alison Rayner, Max Brittain and Diane McLoughlin.

Dave Price lives in Wales, UK, overlooking the Golden Valley and the Black Mountains. His passionate interest in jazz has given him the opportunity to accompany numerous international jazz celebrities as diverse as Art Farmer, Nat Adderley, Kenny Wheeler,  Tubby Hayes , Ronnie Scott, Peanuts Hucko, Digby Fairweather, Bobby Wellins, Kai Winding,  and George Melly, to name a few.

Erika Lyons was selected for the BBC Masterclass series with Ray Brown. This was followed by two years living in New York where Erika studies with Buster Williams, Rufus Reid and Hal Galper. Erika had a residency at the Surf Maid in Bleeker Street and played in other New York clubs including The Blue Note and the Jazz Forum where Erika worked with top names such as Walter Bishop, Steve Grossman, Eliot Zigmund and Betty Barney. On Erika’s return to England she spent 6 years working on the London and European Jazz Scene recording, broadcasting and performing with top British and International musicians. Festival appearances have included Cascais, New York, Brecon, Cheltenham, Bracknell, Isle of Man, Birmingham, Bridgenorth and Ealing.

Ashley John Long is an award winning double bassist and composer. As a double bassist, Ashley is fast becoming recognised as one of the most unique exponents of his instrument in Europe. Since graduating from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in 2008, he has maintained a busy and varied freelance career splitting his time between Classical, Jazz and session work. He has performed with some of the world’s leading orchestras and Jazz musicians and broadcast on radio and television worldwide.

He has performed with leading Jazz musicians such as Keith Tippett, Art Themen, Bob Mintzer, Geoff Eales, Dave Jones, Tina May, Damon Brown Simon Spillett, Hans Koller, Craig Millverton and Bobby Wellins.

He has written music for a wide range of situations including for film and television and his recent works in the classical world have been highly acclaimed for their highly original and inventive writing including Flux (2006); which won him a publishing contract at the age of 19, and Hevelspending (2010) for the Lunar Saxophone Quartet, Songs of the Night (2007) for Joel Garthwaite, Frames (2008) for Dave Danford and XAS (2008) for himself and Louis-Michel Marion.

Previous albums
“Present Continuous”, “Future Continuous”and “Boswell’s London Journal” are available at emusic and Amazon
www.complaintsinwonderland.co.uk

This is Chris’s blog aimed at raising funds for Jazz Services and the National Jazz Archive. The latest post deals with Rattlemania and the push by the cultural mafia or Rafia for a new concert hall for London.

“There was more Rattlemania in the Guardian on the 4th March 2014, with coverage of Simon Rattle and the Leader column exclaiming “Simon Rattle’s return can be good for music, for London and the national status of the arts”.

Rattlemania egged on by a self-interested cultural mafia has got out of hand. The problem with the arts in the UK is there is no concrete policy for music and the other art forms ………”  Please see Rattlemania for the full post.

For further information:
Chris Hodgkins
Tel: 0208 840 4643
Mobile: 0750 764 9077

[email protected]
[email protected]
www.chrishodgkins.co.uk
www.jazzlondonradio.com

For Jazz Then and Now playlist go to:
https://chrishodgkins3.wordpress.com
www.complaintsinwonderland.co.uk
https://twitter.com/HodgkinsChris

Copyright © Chris Hodgkins All rights reserved.

* The Annual Rent Ceremony set off in Covent Garden escorted by the Town Cryer and
The Covent Garden Jazz Marching Band

Early in October I posted three features on Jazz&Jazz:

Keeping Jazz Alive:
Part 1: “Our audience is dying and there is little we can do!”
Part 2: Sammy Rimington: “In The Upper Garden”
Part 3: Outstanding London Debut For Young Catalonian Jazz Star Andrea Motis

Following that, I opened the features up to debate on Facebook. Ian Bateman commented “We seem to have two threads running”. The reason is I opened the debates on my personal Facebook Page and on my closed Facebook Jazzers Group to be sure to reach all my followers.

Incredibly, in just two weeks since launching the debate I have received over 80 responses and still counting! But I feel it’s time to share all the comments on Jazz&Jazz to see if we can reach reasonable conclusions.

But first, I want to begin with two comments which I consider give a very telling overview on which conclusions could be based.

From Ian Brameld:

“There seems to be two diverging scenes. 1) Keeping the old jazz clubs going for the declining numbers of ageing members and musicians; 2) A revival of the jazz of the early to mid 1900s played by young, trained musicians in their own style and for their contemporaries. It would be nice if they could overlap but Amy Roberts has hit the nail on the head. The old and the young don’t necessarily mix well.”

From Graham Hughes:

Hi Peter,

In reply to your article saying “jazz is dying” I’d like to mention that Jazz is definitely not dying. In London alone there are dozens of really fabulous musicians and bands that have appeared in the last few years.

The thing that is dying is the Traditional Jazz Club.

Many Traditional Jazz Clubs need to look at themselves to see why they are dying. There are a few thriving clubs:

• these tend to be monthly
• they tend to welcome a broad spectrum of people who love to be entertained
• they book bands that are really class acts
• the bands each month tend to be a little bit different to provide variety
• the venue is appropriate for a performance
• they tend to start earlier (7:30 or 8.00) and finish earlier (10.00 or 10:30)
• An audience needs to go home wanting more. They shouldn’t be tired, having heard too much music and wanting to go to bed.
• The promoter needs to be really positive, smiling and welcoming to all of their customers, and to the musicians too.

The list goes on.

Best wishes

Graham Hughes

So here are the comments in full. The fun will come in summing up your conclusions once you’ve read them all – conclusions, ways forward, solid recommendations, not just further comments! You can post these in the Speak Your Mind section at the foot of this post or on my Facebook Page or, if you are a member, my Facebook Jazzers  Group.

COMMENTS FROM MY FACEBOOK HOME PAGE:
Peter Mark Butler
(JazzandJazz)

KEEPING JAZZ LIVE AND ALIVE

The audience isn’t dying and much is being done about it! The number of youngsters enjoying jazz is growing – in their own venues with younger new age jazz bands.

COMMENTS RECEIVED BETWEEN 6TH & 13TH OCTOBER

James Evans I’m sure people used to hang out with their elders much more. I did, and do. It’s such a gift.

Doug Potter Wrong ! plenty of youngsters listening and playing around East Anglia, very good ones too ·

Peter Mark Butler Tell me about them, Doug!

Doug Potter Well Simon Hurley for an example, wonderful Jazz Guitarist, and the company he keeps.

Doug Potter And some of the gigs John Petters organizes has the kids dancing like crazy, I was at the Brubeck sons at Ronnie Scotts gig and spoke to a lot of under 25s that were knocked out by it, not all is lost mate

Doug Potter Oh and look up Digby’s comments, he is very encouraged by the current trend towards Jazz at the moment,and he should know eh ?

Clare Gray Plenty of our lot dancing last weekend to a trio called the Bevin Boys – really good band of chaps in late twenties/thirties I would guess. Floor was full! I still say jazz has a much better chance of making it through if it creates as many links as possible with the dancing and vintage vibes going on right now. Didn’t make Twinwoods this year, but you only have to go to that to see that ‘retro’ music (whatever that means!) is by no means dead! Vive le jazz!

Amy Roberts I must admit that as a “young person” I wouldn’t go to jazz clubs…. it would have to be presented in places where only young people are, eg student union bars. Otherwise it would be like having a night out with the grandparents. Start with having good, exciting young bands performing at 6th form colleges and music conservatoires and see what happens. Encouraging oldies to bring young people to normal jazz clubs is just going to kill the music even more…

Ian Brameld You are so right Amy. Nothing to add to your insightful analysis.

Ian Bateman We seem to have two threads running LOL

Jeff Lewis Absolutely Amy. We do that all the time with Speakeasy Bootleg Band with the result that we’ve got a huge young following.

Alice Sibley I truly believe Jazz will never die

Ian Brameld There seems to be two diverging scenes. 1) Keeping the old jazz clubs going for the declining numbers of ageing members, (and musicians) 2) A revival of the jazz of the early to mid 1900s played by young, trained musicians in their own style and for their contemporaries. It would be nice if they could overlap but Amy Roberts has hit the nail on the head. The old and the young don’t necessarily mix well. Where do people in their 40s and 50s go?

Andrew Bowie At the Tram Depot every Sunday 8.30 in Cambridge we have an audience from 18 to 80 most weeks, playing modern mainstream jazz from Ellington to Coltrane. There are also loads of young musicians coming up playing this stuff who are quite outstanding. Crowd goes up and down, but is always enough to make it worth it for the pub, which is an ideal venue, where you can listen directly or chat on the sidelines.

Ian Bateman We have a similar place in Swindon, Andrew. ‘Baker Street’, in Wood Street, Old Town. People of all ages. Not much trad but the one time they did, it had the biggest audience ever (guess who). It’s free admission and generally trios and quartets but sometimes they push the boat out. The punters moan if it gets too modern (it’s free!!!! ffs), but their policy of mixing it works, it’s different every week. I’ve seen some amazing groups there that I would otherwise never have seen.

Ian Brameld Looking at the images, The Tram Depot and Baker Street looks like great pub environments with space, and they haven’t filled it with pool tables and Sky Sports giant screens. Such venues, central to a town and with handy parking are a bit thin on the ground in some towns. Finding a decent venue is part of the solution.

Jeff Matthews I can’t help thinking that this conversation always splits into ‘old and young’. It’s almost as though the opinion has been the young must play and listen to jazz, and in particular, traditional jazz, in order for it to continue. We forget that nobody stays ‘young forever. The audiences we have now were youngsters once as were the musicians. They have every right to the music. Sometimes they have rediscovered it later in life. That will happen again. In the meantime the answer is: supportive venues, well presented jazz, no ageism, but plenty of considered and well laid out marketing and promotion. Lets talk about business like promotion, not the death of jazz. The music is bigger than any of us. Just my opinion.

Paul Bacon 30 year old clarinet player, piano player and singer and loves traditional jazz was told by her local jazz band that plays in pub (all over 65) “we do not allow sitters in” anyway she is going to try and start her own band. Jazz will not die away.

Jeff Matthews Hi Paul. Strangely, I was asked yesterday by a very experienced ‘older’ player if he could come to my bands gig last night and ‘sit in’. We always try and incorporate fellow musicians and singers but, as this is a paid entrance gig, I exercise tighter control on sit ins nowadays. Sometimes allowing even experienced musicians play one or two tunes can upset the bands balance and throw a ‘programme’ up in the air. Sometimes it has worked, but often it has just confused things and can make an audience unsettled. The young lady has chosen the right course. Talk to experienced people like yourself and then form her own band. You know all of this, I know. But it isn’t an age issue. When I tried to get help to play some years ago I received very little help and encouragement. So, I started my own band! I did the background research, including the history of the music and even took a trip to New Orleans. At whatever age or experience a player is at, it is always possible to find a way to play this music. Incidentally, I am still looking for help and ‘mentorship’ from more experienced players than I am. Always trying to learn more and improve.

Penny Vingoe And I want to comment as a result of Jeff Matthews remarks that starting your own band is not easy – it takes perseverance. I have been following Jeff Matthews band for five years, since its inception – he got numbers in the teens when he started, he has had to move from venue to venue, and has subsidised the band payment constantly, getting nothing for himself. It is only now that his band is the most successful in the area getting an audience of up to 60 people – quite an achievement in a part of the country that has less population than anywhere in the UK. So do start your own band and because of your love of jazz stay with it and run the band as well as play your music as a professional.

COMMENTS FROM MY JAZZERS GROUP
Peter Mark Butler

KEEPING JAZZ LIVE AND ALIVE 

The audience isn’t dying and much is being done about it! The number of youngsters enjoying jazz is growing – in their own venues with younger new age jazz bands.

COMMENTS RECEIVED BETWEEN 5TH AND 16TH OCTOBER

Jim Lodge If jazz is targeted solely at an audience that discovered earlier jazz forms in the 1950s and 60s, of course it will die – we are now pensioners, and cannot survive forever. There are plenty of newer bands who refuse to abide by “trad rules”. Many of these rules (no saxophones, compulsory banjo, and for goodness sake be serious) have little appeal to younger musicians or audiences, and if older audiences do not make allowances and embrace newer thinking there will be a schism that terminates their preferred musical museum.

Paul Marks In my experience there are dozens of teenagers and twenty somethings loving jazz and having great nights out listening to the bands I play with. The difference is that we take our jazz to their venues. It’s naive and pompous to expect such an audience to come to some manky old working mans club. It’s more a case of these types of venues dying out rather than a new generation not enjoying jazz.

Jeff Lewis Visit ANY Speakeasy Bootleg-Band gig. ……. We do our best to scare them off, but they just won’t go…………

Gary Lawrence Murphy [Canada]: when the City of Owen Sound needs a band for a special all-ages event, they don’t call the Death Metal kids, they call us. If they have an event that is just for the Baby Boomers, they will hire the Led-Zepplin style or Eagles-style rock bands for the evening show, but if they expect all ages, they call us.

And therein is a clue: we find at our shows, and whether that is in OKOM or in the trad country circles or trad folk or folk-dance events, anything that has an actual tradition and *culture* to it, there is a whole generation seemingly snipped out of the audience like they didn’t exist, roughly the ages 40-60, vastly under-represented *unless* the program is American late-sixties to early-80’s top ten pop. Something awful happened to that group that completely sours them on anything not shrinkwrapped.

Which is not to say there aren’t Middle Boomers who appreciate traditions, there are many, whole festivals are run by people my age (I’m 57) but even they recognise that we are a minority.

So this is my theory: the waning of the elder audience is the pre-Beatles kids simply fading away, and the venues being unprepared for and unconnected to the new fans currently in their 30’s and below, the young families, the young lovers just starting out, the kids with oodles of energy who don’t want a sweeping foxtrot, they want a real lindy hop, the dangerous kind that used to get signs put up prohibiting it.

James Evans Traditional jazz seems to have an incredible durability. It was always unlikely that you people would start flooding the long standing jazz clubs (perhaps ageism all around, or at lest very different ideas of a night out), but once the scene in central London died, a new unconnected one driven by 20 somethings has begun to flourish. They learn from the Internet, and quickly see that a style that has melody, rhythm and improvisation is too good to die. You can make up stuff, and create your own individual approach. Great. A living tradition, changing but timeless. Similar things are happening in many countries, and very much in New Orleans. However, perhaps fear has caused the music to become stale at times, and that has hurt the older scene, and prevented the two scenes connecting better. Narrow mindedness of an extreme kind has hit some fans and musicians. Ideas like “jazz band shouldn’t have saxophones” still abound (where to start with that one! Just about every band in the 20s and every other revivalist band in New Orleans). Lies that were propagated during to regrettable Trad vs Modern wars. Interestingly a few of the new crop suffer from this sort of joyless narrowness. Music to scream with joy too. That’s my bag.

Gary Lawrence Murphy I would only add that any ‘living’ tradition can only be alive if the new generation seeks out and learns from the old, and I’m am honoured that so many of the local players from the great dance-hall days and before in our neighbourhood have taken a shine to my boys and many of my touring professional player friends, themselves entrenched in the tradition, have taken the time to encourage them as well.

Owen Sound was at one time a great hub of jazz music in Canada, boasting the largest dance hall in the country and had seen the likes of Ellington and Armstrong pass through, often sidemen from those bands, having seen our fishing, boating and affordable lifestyle, later retired here (including a director of the Glenn Miller Orchestra, who settled near Chesley Lake and taught a generation of players).

Internet is great for access to the recordings of the great masters, and these days *every* recording seems to be online somewhere for the asking, but it is also important to connect to the players of the tradition, of your local tradition, and this is what I see here and in Toronto, the young players are more than eager to find these elders and beg them for lessons.

Paul Bacon Our audiences are growing –  always a good turn out. Bell and Bucket today standing room only unless you are an early bird!

Brian Carrick I have found that with my Algiers Stomper’s that there is no lack of interest in our  New Orleans / Louisiana music. Its so refreshing to find Audiences giving standing ovations to All The Musicians after a concert. But there again I think the secret is not just playing the old numbers time and time again. There’s nothing wrong in the old numbers but to attract younger and new audiences as well as retain the regular jazz followers variety must be the name of the game and adapt tunes to fit into New Orleans Style. Come and catch the next sessions with THE ALGIERS STOMPERS 16th October at the Swan Chaddesley Corbett and/or Doveholes Jazzclub Saturday 18th AND BRING SOMEONE YOUNGER WITH YOU.

Jill Pepper I certainly don’t profess to be any kind of expert on the subject, and I’m sure Mike Owen will correct me if I’m wrong (he usually does ) but wasn’t the early New Orleans jazz, as played in the dance halls, just the pop music of the day played in a certain style? I have yet to see a youngster – if exposed to this music – that didn’t thoroughly enjoy it! And like Brian, I can’t see why the old standards can’t be played alongside music from any other decade – just keep the style the same.

Peter Curtis If only! Our audiences are doing the same!

Jill Pepper https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhpCXXV7ggQ

L.O.V.E. Joan Chamorro quintet & Andrea Motis
JOAN CHAMORRO contrabajo ANDREA MOTIS voz y…
YOUTUBE.COM

Jill Pepper Seems alive and kicking to me!

Gary Lawrence Murphy Jill is right, in the early early days the music was a mix of new compositions (eg Mr Jelly Roll) and traditional tunes with a liberal mixing in of Sousa marches, ancient folk melodies from many ethnicities, and yet it gelled into a standard vocabulary such that, when Louis Armstrong began using what we today would call “Standards”, it was a shock, no less of a shock than it is today when The Bad Plus play Darius Milhaud or Nirvana in their own style.

It has always been important to meet the audience where *they* are, and only *then* elevate them to where they can see what you see.

Back in the 1970’s I had the great opportunity to meet and interview Oscar Peterson; I was given complimentary tickets to the show and invited my then-girlfriend who was not deeply a jazz fan, although she enjoyed Glenn Miller. During the first half of the show she was visibly bored, bored until Oscar pulled out a popular tune of the day, Billy Joel‘s “Just The Way You Are” — my companion was suddenly transfixed, and remained so for the rest of the show; backstage later at the interview, she was bubbling with great questions (on which Mr Peterson was eminently charming and informative).

What had happened was an anchoring; up until he’d played a tune she *knew*, she hadn’t a clue what was going on, it was just noise. But given something to hang on to, suddenly the genius of it was very clear. This is probably why we still play Bill Bailey 112 years later even though it is patently obvious that old Bill is very likely not coming home. We play it because *everybody* knows that tune.

The only real qualms I have over reframing modern material is my basic fear of copyright police. If the big labels would just halt the witch hunts, there is a rich treasure trove of material from the past 50 years that could really connect people together if it could be used affordably. Unfortunately even something as innocent as a single Rodgers and Hammerstein tune can render your CD project unprofitable.

Peter Mark Butler Graham Hughes has emailed me with these very vital comments:

Hi Peter,

In reply to your article saying “jazz is dying” I’d like to mention that Jazz is definitely not dying. In London alone there are dozens of really fabulous musicians and bands that have appeared in the last few years.

The thing that is dying is the Traditional Jazz Club. Many Traditional Jazz Clubs need to look at themselves to see why they are dying. There are a few thriving clubs:

– these tend to be monthly
– they tend to welcome a broad spectrum of people who love to be entertained
– they book bands that are really class acts
– the bands each month tend to be a little bit different to provide variety
– the venue is appropriate for a performance
– they tend to start earlier (7:30 or 8.00) and finish earlier (10.00 or 10:30)

An audience needs to go home wanting more. They shouldn’t be tired, having heard too much music and wanting to go to bed. The promoter needs to be really positive, smiling and welcoming to all of their customers, and to the musicians too. The list goes on.

If a club gets it right they’ll find people want to come – not just jazz fans, but anybody that wants a great night out.

Best wishes,

Graham Hughes

Peter Mark Butler Alan Haughton runs just such a club in Olney, rural Buckinghamshire. I was there last night for Ben Holder Master Fiddler Special. YouTubes on the way! www.olneyjazzclub.com

Alan Haughton Wow! Graham Hughes you are so right….my feelings exactly!

Tad Newton Could not agree more Graham. Always try to follow your points both on stage and off whilst running THREE jazz venues! Win some lose some I suppose.

Peter Mark Butler Just received an email from Norman Gibson, worth quoting here: “Just read Graham Hughes’ comments and agree with every word !! I have moved in the directions he advocates, since seeing ‘Caravan Palace’ at the Django Reinhart festival in France several years ago. The young musicians emerging are putting together bands that deserve to be seen and heard, and they are pushing themselves forward accompanied by a growing number of swing dancers. They are the ones changing the jazz scene in the UK ! Some time ago Pete Lay referred to us elderly promoters as ‘the old farts’, but old farts or not, we should use our expertise to show our audiences we can identify and present them with variants of ‘their’ jazz that they will enjoy !!”

Alan Bateman Ian Bateman told me of a group of youngsters who came into a jazz club gig he was on. They were shooed out by the regulars?

Jill Pepper Were they misbehaving?

Ian Bateman No, they looked in and sat at the back. They were skinheads I believe but they were genuinely enjoying the music and behaving.

Pete Neighbour As many of you know, I’m now based in the US although return frequently to the UK for gigs and family. Firstly, I’m not sure whether it’s a ‘comfort’ or not, but the situation is exactly the same here; and, for that matter, anywhere else I’ve been in the world. Audiences *tend* to be older for more traditional types of jazz. That said, in my experience, the problem is invariably in the promotion/billing of an event. There is no doubt about the fact that the word ‘jazz’ can mean a myriad of styles: Banjos & brass bass, Kenny G, Glenn Miller, ‘free’ jazz. Putting the word ‘traditional’ in front of the word ‘jazz’ barely helps as this tends to then conjure up the ‘banjo & brass bass’ sound – which, as we all know, *can* be the traditional sound (good or bad depending on the quality) but is not necessarily the sound of traditional jazz. Unfortunately, the word ‘mainstream’ seems to mean as many different things to as many people so that’s a non-starter! Most of my work now is doing a show as a guest entertainer on cruise ships. My act is loosely pegged around the swing era and Benny Goodman – although not exclusively. I’ve found that the best way to bill the show is to refer – repeatedly – to ‘swing’ ‘the 1930/40’s’, ‘swing era music’, ‘music from the great American Songbook’ etc etc. in short, use the word ‘jazz’ as little as possible. In my own experience, time and time again, I’ve found that young(er) people are often reluctant to come into a room/venue concert if the word ‘jazz’ is used. If, however, I can get them in the room – or promoters can – I am fairly confident I can keep them there. I think Ian Bateman may have got this sussed by using his band to do a ‘Salute’ or ‘tribute’ to Louis Armstrong. (Forgive me Ian if you shy away from either of those words – I understand completely…) but, the bottom line is, using the name Louis Armstrong will attract a bigger crowd than using the term a ‘jazz concert celebrating a great trumpeter’! So……promoters and club owners….over to you!! Sorry……this went on longer than I’d intended – no gig today obviously!

Ian Bateman Just sifting through the adverts … Graham has got it right. If you want your club to thrive, follow his advice. I would add that you should put on decent bands and make your club look like a jazz club. Go to Ronnie Scott’s and see how it’s done. You’ll never beat it but you’ll leave full of inspiration. Put jazz stuff on the walls, get some lighting sorted and tell the bar staff not to make any noise!

Jeff Lewis I’ve seen it happen Alan…….. anyone young or different frozen out…….. even worse, any young musicians patronised, demoralised and driven off to play something else. Fortunately it seems to be dying out in my neck of the woods.

Jeff Lewis Dead right Pete.

Ian Bateman You’re right PN. Our agent won’t let us put the word Jazz on our posters! I don’t mind calling it a tribute or a salute at all because that is just what it is – and properly done IMHO. We all do other gigs with other bands, so we can still stay true and stretch out.

Ian Bateman The standard of the trad bands in the boom years of the 50’s & 60’s was exceptionally high. Those bands swung like the clappers and some of those musicians are irreplaceable. When the boom ended, traditional jazz never again reached those standards. Now that Messrs Ball, Bilk and Lightfoot have left the stage, we’re left with jazz clubs and a few decent festivals. Putting trad on in a theatre is a very risky business and not many will do it now I fear. I’d like to see jazz clubs provide an experience and (at the risk of me losing work) they should sometimes book younger bands who bring new punters and actually give a s**t about the standard of their music. It is indeed a turning point in British trad jazz at the moment – very thought provoking.

Alan Bateman I remember many years ago being lambasted by a member of the audience for daring to turn up to play with a trumpet instead of a cornet. When I explained that I have never owned a cornet he said “well there’s nothing we can do about it tonight is there!” and went back to his seat. I took it on the chin and did my usual thing. Twenty years later, I still don’t own a cornet.

Louis Lince I’m 72 and probably a boring old fart. However, tonight’s gig was at a local church and the audience was from 10 years old to 80+. They all enjoyed it and the youngsters talked to us in the break and afterwards. There is light at the end of the tunnel. Tomorrow evening’s gig is a double bill of Barber shop quartets and the band. Looking forward to it.

Ian Brameld So much truth in all the comments above. I gave up the fight at the end of August.

Pete Neighbour I know many boring old farts Louis Lince…even younger than you!!

Ian Bateman I’m still considered a young fart. Still, something positive I guess!

James Evans I think ‘traditional’ is a confusing term anyway and may have caused problems. All jazz is part of a tradition. However not all jazz is a loving gift to the audience. Maybe that’s where the distinction should be made.

John Petters Let’s face it, the word ‘jazz’ is the kiss of death. The reason being that nobody agrees with what it means anymore. I always describe my events as traditional (as opposed to trad) and/or swing events. When I was primarily doing theatre shows, I used “Swinging Down Memory Lane”, “This Joint Is Jumpin;”, “‘S Wonderful”,” Hoagy – The Old Music Master”, Swing – A Centenary Tribute to Gene Krupa & Benny Goodman”. When I used “Jazz” in the title it was adequately described as in “Boogie Woogie & All That Jazz”. My current festivals carry the titles, “The Louis Armstrong Celebration Jazz Festival” and “William Shakespeare Jazz’n’Swing Festival (The Bard’s Bash). The titles, together with the programming describe what the punters are going to get. I never put on stuff that is outside the genre of Ragtime – Swing. First of all, I have little interest in later forms of jazz and secondly most punters do not go for the be-bop and beyond styles. I play few jazz clubs. As a rule, young folk will not go where old folk go. My festivals tend to attract an over 60s age group. No problem with that. as long as they are happy to come, I’ll play for them. Age and illness is affecting the audience and putting young musicians on the bill does not bring in a younger audience. When I play specifically dance gigs, either with the Gatsby band or my Swing band, the punters are there to dance and not to listen. These gigs require plenty of energy and a driving rhythm – which all the old style American bands had but so few British bands had or have today. Many rhythm sections are tired and turgid. Many mainstreamers became too polite, rhythmically. The original audience is dying as Mart Rodger said – but I’m not prepared to hang up my sticks yet.

Paul Bacon Jazz might be kiss of death for some, may be many tributes takes them away from The Real Thing >JAZZ with life and freedom rather than repetetive……… call it what you like, name dropping stuff that yes is very clever and popular but misses the point of jazz as it should/can be which we find very popular Try a tribute to Kid Shots or just try to pick up the freedom he demonstrated.

Jim Lodge “Tributes”? Sorry, they are anathema to me. “Tribute bands” are killing live popular music. Such concepts can never compete with the original – at best they can only come second, and often end up with something that tends to sterility. For me Jazz depends on musicians projecting themselves, and trying to discover ther own musical personality through constant striving in performance. Of course we cannot all be great originals, but those who produce a personal take on our music are those who best succeed at projecting the spirit of Jazz.

Pete Neighbour I know I’ll make myself unpopular with some….but the ‘tribute’ angle is hardly new. In my own Duke recorded Basie’s material & Basie Ellington’s. Buddy de F did wonderful Benny/Artie albums in the 1950’s & Eddie Daniels did likewise in the 1990’s. It’s HOW you approach it. Not the principle of doing it. It’s also important for many professional musicians – who have no other source of income – to constantly have to think of ways to be commercially successful without sacrificing their artistic integrity. Often, a ‘tribute’ type show works very well.

Ian Bateman It certainly does Pete.

Alan Bateman The New York Philharmonic is a tribute band?

Ian Bateman Let’s face it, most of the jazz public (the older side of the divide) want replication. I often think wouldn’t it be a great idea to write 20 new original songs and play them with my band Louis style. I wouldn’t make any money from it.

Jim Lodge I don’t regard playing material associated with other bands or musicians as “tribute”. The term “tribute” is to do with style in my book, and refers to the musical replication of a musician or band’s persona.

Kay Leppard I am ‘the older side of the divide’ and I hate tribute bands. I much prefer to hear numbers, old or new, played by musicians, old or young, in their own style. I’m dreading the day Chris Barber and Acker Bilk die for that reason alone.

Ian Bateman It’s started already Kay.

DELVING FURTHER!

If you have the stomach for delving further into the issues of “Keeping Jazz Alive”, back in March, 2013, I ran a series of debates on Jazz&Jazz entitled: “Jazz is Dead! Long Live Jazz! The Jazzers’ Debates … From the Mouths of Jazzers!” 

I would like to share these again now, especially as back then my Facebook Jazzers Group had not long been launched and had fewer than 250 members. It is a closed group and can only be joined by recommendation of other members or by invite from myself. Currently it is fast approaching 500 members. I will be sharing this feature with the group as I especially want to open it up to the genuine jazz community.

Introduction: Jazz is Dead! Long Live Jazz! The Jazzers’ Debates … From the Mouths of Jazzers!

Jazzers’ Debate No 1: Younger Jazz Bands and Musicians

JAZZERS’ Debate No 2: Younger Jazz Bands and Musicians

Jazzers’ Debate No 3: Mentoring and Jazz Clubs

Jazzers’ Debate No 4: Swing Dance & LindyHop

Jazzers’ Debate No 5: Signs of a Jazz Revival in Europe! Why Not in The UK?

AVOIDING PAST PITFALLS:
Jazzers’ Debate No 6 Jazz Clubs & Ageing Fans

Jazzers’ Debate No 7: Ageing Fans and Cherry Pickers

Jazzers’ Debate No 8: New Orleans & UK Traditional Jazz

Jazzers’ Debate No 9: Clarinet versus Saxophone

Jazzers’ Debate No 10: Musicians’ Pay

Jazzers’ Debate No 11: BBC “Jazz is Dead”

Thank you for giving up so much of your time to contribute to these discussions. My hope is that they will help stimulate minds to find the best way forward.

Peter M Butler
Editor & Proprietor, Jazz&Jazz

Washboard trio: Smiffy guesting centre stage with Barry Palser’s Savoy Jazzmen.

Jeff Matthews, leader of the Chicago Swing Katz recently wrote to me “Something occurs to me about jazz club devotees these days. Sadly, most are 70 plus and some considerably older. This is mirrored around the clubs wherever you go. In the next five years a vast swathe of that loyal audience will disappear. Actually a more serious situation than the problem of ageing musicians. This has to be addressed.”

Having recently posted the item “Jazz Clubs & Ageing Fans”,  this is currently very much on my mind. So Jeff’s comments stirred me into an interview with Brian Smith which I had intended to complete some time ago. Known as “Smiffy” to his friends, and for me an unsung Jazz Hero, Brian founded and manages The Peartree Jazz Club in Welwyn Garden City.

Peter Butler: Smiffy, tell us a little about your background and what got you into jazz.

Smiffy: I was born in The Long Arm and Short Arm pub in Lemsford Village just outside Welwyn Garden City, long enough ago to have followed some of the great jazz bands on the 1950s and 60s. Those were the days when Hatfield, Potters Bar, Enfield and Welwyn Garden City were hot beds of jazz. Terry Lightfoot and Acker Bilk used to live in Potters Bar. Bernie Tyrrell led the Salisbury Stompers in Barnet (the pub is now a Sainsbury’s).

PB: So you first got into jazz back then?

Smiffy: Yes. At two venues in particular, The Red Lion in Hatfield and The Cherry Tree Club in Welwyn Garden City. Sadly the Cherry Tree was demolished some years ago to give way to what is now a Waitrose Supermarket and The Red Lion no longer does jazz.

PB: I understand you “dabbled” in promotion back then.

Smiffy: Yes, at The Cherry Tree. But not so much jazz promotion as popular entertainment.

Bob Thomas & The Thomcats with Clare Gray at The Long Arm and Short Arm

PB: You’ve told me your experience back then has a bearing on your thoughts now but I’ll  come back to that later. Let’s skip to the 1990s because I believe that then The Long and The Short Arm hosted jazz sessions.

Smiffy: Yes, jazz came back to Lemsford Village, just outside Welwyn Garden City. Your and my good friend Bob Thomas launched weekly gigs there for his own band, Bob Thomas & The Thomcats, and a number of guest bands. It proved highly successful for a good ten years or more. But then the brewery switched landlords twice and jazz was ousted from the pub.

PB: Jazz ousted from your local, the pub you were born in! So yet again the fans had nowhere to go. But you decided to do something about that?

Smiffy at The Peartree on washboard with Dave Rance’s Rockin’ Chair Band.

Smiffy: That’s right. I asked other pubs in the vicinity if they were willing to stage jazz and that’s how The Peartree Jazz Club got started about three years ago. The Peartree Public House is pretty central for Hertfordshire fans, located in Hollybush Lane, Welwyn Garden City, where we now hold jazz gigs on the third Monday of each month.

PB: Out of your own pocket? Does the entrance fee cover your costs?

Smiffy: It’s not easy but I love jazz and the fans missed it. Football once a week was expensive enough so I’ve given that up! I chose a Monday because most people don’t have anything else on that night. Entry is £7 a night but I’ve now set up a club membership at £5 a year whereby members will still pay £7 but non members will be charged £8 or more depending on the band. That should help to build up attendance and takings to cover costs and might even fit in with my plans to move to two sessions a month later this year.

Starring at The Peartree, Tad Newton’s Jazz Friends with Trevor Whiting on clarinet

PB: What do you think it would take to attract fans from a wider catchment area and get more bums on seats?

Smiffy: Quite frankly big name bands but they are few and far between now. Terry and Kenny are gone. A club like The Peartree couldn’t afford them anyway.

PB: But let me come back to your experiences in your earlier days in promotion. You mentioned to me once a magic formula which worked back then.

Smiffy: Yes. I wanted to boost popular entertainment attendances at the Cherry Tree in Welwyn Garden City. I wanted a big name comedian who the local press would headline because I thought that would bring out the fans. Through contacts and good fortune I was able to book Bernard Manning at a concessionary rate. So then I didn’t need to advertise the event. The local press did that for me and the Cherry Tree was packed full to bursting that night. I even made a small profit.

I’d love to do the same for jazz at The Peartree before it’s too late, but who have we got left? Chris Barber’s band, or perhaps Kenny Ball’s Jazzmen now led by Kenny’s son Keith. Or Bill Kerr’s Whoopee Jazz Band. Terry’s daughter Melinda is continuing the Lightfoot tradition along with his grandsons. We could double bill with a more local band. That would bring the fans out and hopefully help increase club membership.

PB: But we’re still talking about older fans, and as my pal Jeff Matthews put it, in the next five years a vast swathe of that loyal audience will disappear. How about younger bands?

Smiffy: Well, you and I have been working on that, but haven’t been able to follow up on our leads so far due to recent commitments the musician we’ve been talking to has taken on.

PB: That’s right. Unquestionably there are a number of younger bands out there with solid fan bases in their own age groups. But they are mainly in London, Liverpool and other hot locations. Getting them to play to older fans at jazz clubs like The Peartree wouldn’t be easy. Plus they would want and deserve good money.

Smiffy: As your pal Jeff put it, older audiences might like to see young musicians in older bands but they also prefer bands that are generally around their own ages.

PB: Not much hope there then for the future of New Orleans jazz?

Smiffy: I think it’s going to take more than a small club like The Peartree to ring the changes, but I would still be willing to play a part and give it a go. If we could beef up membership and enthusiasm we might yet be able to book younger bands who might even bring along some to their own fan base. With the right publicity we could even attract University of Hertfordshire students. That would liven up our old faithfuls! But would it put them off? Somehow I don’t think so.

Russ and Rich Bennett

PB: If Hemsby last year was anything to go by you’re right. The Rich Bennett Band, average age around 33, were booked to star at the Autumn Parade. But you could tell the organisers were wary of how they would be received from their announcements on the preceding day. They need not have worried. The “elderly” fans took this dynamic young band to heart and swarmed to the stage to meet them after their sessions. Their CDs sold like hot cakes.

Smiffy: I’ve heard that the idea of a Festival for younger bands has been broached on your Facebook Jazzers Group.

PB: Yes, it would be great if that could be followed up.

Ben Martyn, Adrian Cox and Sammy Rimington at The 100 Club

Smiffy: I hear you were at the 100 Club recently for a session with The Martyn Brothers Band.

PB: Yes, early in April. The Martyn Brothers, another younger band. Bob Thomas came along with me and Sammy Rimington guested with them. To see him playing alongside Adrian Cox on clarinet and sax was inspiring. Bob spoke to Adrian and compared him with Bruce Turner which he took as a compliment.

Smiffy: The trouble is these younger bands build up fan bases and promote themselves via Facebook etc very successfully. Their gigs are alive with LindyHop and Swing dancing. What you and I have been talking about is luring all this further afield – even into the provinces and, dare I say, beginning with centres like Welwyn Garden City.

Trefor Williams and Richard Leach guest with The Fenny Stompers at The Peartree Christmas gig, December 2012

PB: I mentioned the thought of a Festival for younger bands to Sammy Rimington but that some had suggested older band(s) should also be involved to guarantee punters. Sammy didn’t think much of the idea of including older bands but suggested prominent guest musicians could be invited to play with the younger bands.

Smiffy: You and I have been talking about all this for the last six months. I’d love to play a part and get The Peartree involved. After all, Welwyn Garden City is within easy striking distance of London. But the big hurdle would be finance. We are still building up the Peartree’s fan base but currently its still nip and tuck. I’m getting calls from a good many bands now wanting to play at the Club. I’m the first to admit they are well worth their asking price, but without a strong fan bass I can’t afford to pay the big names top whack.

But wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could break the “ageing cycle” and get the youngsters involved again! As your pal Jeff said, “this has to be addressed”!

Photos © Peter M Butler, Jazz&Jazz