Chris Hodgkins’ Jazz Newsletter

 

Newsletter-Photo

Chris Hodgkins And His Band at Ealing Jazz Festival August 1st 2015. L to Rt: Charlotte Glasson (alto), Alison Rayner (bass), Chris Hodgkins, Cheryl Alleyne (drums), Diane McLaughlin (sax) and Max Brittain (guitar).

Chris Hodgkins’ Newsletter February 2016

 

Parliamentary Jazz Awards
The Parliamentary Jazz Awards are organised by the All Party Parliamentary Jazz Appreciation Group (APPJAG), co-chaired by Jason McCartney MP and Lord Colwyn, and supported by music licensing company PPL in conjunction with JazzUK and Jazzwise. Nominations for this year’s closed on 18th February and results will be announced in due course.

The categories for the 2016 Awards reflected the ever-increasing scope of talent from within the UK’s jazz scene including.
•    Jazz Album of the Year (released in 2015 by a UK band or musicians)
•    Jazz Vocalist of the Year (UK-based vocalist who impressed in 2015)
•    Jazz Instrumentalist of the Year (UK-based musician who impressed in 2015)
•    Jazz Ensemble of the Year (UK-based group who impressed in 2015)
•    Jazz Venue of the Year (including jazz clubs, venues, festivals and promoters)
•    Jazz Media Award (including broadcasters, journalists, magazines, blogs, listings and books)
•    Jazz Education Award (to an educator or project for raising the standard of UK jazz education)
•    Jazz Newcomer of the Year (UK-based artist, musician or group with a 2015 debut album)
•    Services to Jazz Award (to a living person for their outstanding contribution to jazz in the UK).

PPL has been supporting the awards since 2005. APPJAG has over 100 members from the House of Commons and House of Lords, across all political parties. Its aim is to encourage a wider and deeper enjoyment of jazz, to increase Parliamentarians’ understanding of the industry and issues surrounding it, as well as promoting jazz as a musical form, and to raise its profile both inside and outside of Parliament.

Jazz London Radio has  appointed of an advertising manager
Jazz London radio has appointed an advertising manager. For details of opportunities for sponsorship and advertising on its platform please contact our Sales Executive Jay Bennett
Email: [email protected]  or [email protected] or Phone: 07984 160 931 and website http://www.jazzlondonradio.com/advertising-with-jlr/

Chris continues to present Jazz Then And Now on Jazz London Radio. He can be contacted at [email protected] if you have bands on tour.

If you are one of the many jazz youth orchestras who would like to get their music played, contact Chris at [email protected]

To see the play lists of previous programmes please visit Jazz Then And Now

Jazz London Radio – An invite to promoters and musicians
Jazz London Radio is committed to promoting all the talent coming out of Britain. They invite promoters, from the small jazz gig to the major concert hall and touring musicians to send them details of their gigs which they will endeavour to mention them in their programmes. Promoters should send details of events with a couple of tracks to [email protected]

The criteria is that all MP3s/ M4a files are properly encoded with title of tracks, composer and album art and sent with the gig/event information to Jazz London Radio at [email protected]

You can also contact their presenters for information about tracks played or requests to [email protected]

You can listen to Jazz London Radio at  http://www.jazzlondonradio.com/listen/

Pure Jazz Radio – New York
Chris is now presenting a programme Jazz Is…… on Pure Jazz Radio

Pure Jazz Radio started on the 1st January 2009 with a few dozen listeners and has emerged as the “Internet Jazz Radio Station of Record”. We not only play great jazz but are the home of some of best jazz presenters in the world. Pure Jazz Radio also promotes the jazz scene world wide and talks with some of the leading talent regarding their latest projects. If it is happening – and it’s – jazz – you’ll hear it at Pure Jazz Radio

Rich Keith, General Manager, Pure Jazz Radio – New York

Jazz is a broad church that has developed an incredibly diverse range of musics with a global reach. When there is an altercation in the choir stalls about what jazz is, some one is reinventing jazz and building an extension to the church. The programme Jazz Is illustrates the rich history of jazz and the vibrant happening jazz of today.

Each week the play list will be posted detailing the tunes played, the musician, band, album and composers. Please visit Jazz Is…..

Ealing Jazz Festival under threat
For thirty years Ealing Jazz Festival has attracted hundreds of thousands of people. The Jazz Festival ran for eight days producing 34 concerts on the main stage, with major corporate and local sponsors. Since outsourcing the management of the festival to a private contractor the sponsorships have ended, admission charges have been introduced and now it is proposed to cut the Festival to just two days. This is despite participation by top jazz artists and audience attendance levels remaining high. The outsourced company is still involved. To add insult to injury the Council intends to dispense with the services of Dick Esmond, the co-founder and the Artistic Director. The festival is unique in that it is a local festival dedicated to showcasing  musicians and bands who live in Ealing.

If you could sign the petition that would be great, here is the link: Save Ealing Jazz Festival

For details on Chris’s recordings, reviews and sales,  projects, biography, blog, media and music business education, please visit Chris Hodgkins

Three Day Countdown to Steamboat at Ramsgate Seaside Shuffle!

Steamboat Jazz Band sail into port for another great gig at
Ramsgate Seaside Shuffle Jazz Club

Steamboat-Poster

Ramsgate Seaside Shuffle on Facebook 

“I Didn’t Want To Do It…”


… but “Jazz Made Me Do It!”


What better words to express my feelings about introducing Google Ads on the pages of this Website!

Why introduce ads? Because Jazz&Jazz is growing exponentially but without the funds to finance that growth. Covering jazz and producing features on Jazz&Jazz is costly – leaving me heavily out of pocket.

I want to achieve more, not cut back … more bands, more clubs, more festivals. And if need be, enlist help with the project. I have even explored possibilities of launching online fundraisers with, for instance, Indiegogo or Kickstarter, but would rather confine fundraising to the Jazz Community.

YouTube-Masthead

Jazz&Jazz YouTube Banner

I’ve included Google ads on my Jazz&Jazz YouTubes for a while and slowly they are contributing towards covering costs. So finally I have reluctantly introduced Google ads on the pages of Jazz&Jazz.

BUT, There Is An Alternative…
You can help! There is a Donate Button under “HELP US KEEP JAZZ LIVE AND ALIVE!” in the right hand column of this and each page on Jazz&Jazz. Some folks, not very many to date, have used it, and I thank them, as I thank those clubs and bands who permit me free entry to cover their events.

Donate

See Button to the right.

What if donations were to take off and grow exponentially? I plan to log and account for each contribution (by name or anonymously) on a Jazz&Jazz Donations Feature.

Funds for Special Events?
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the combined income from Google ads and Donations grew beyond the needs of producing Jazz&Jazz (along with my Social Media extensions on Facebook, my Facebook Jazzers Group, Twitter and Linkedin) and a fund could be set up to use any surplus for special jazz events!

Peter M Butler
Editor & Proprietor Jazz&Jazz

Hot Moves with Mysto’s Hot Lips at The Castle, Wellingborough

 

Olle Wassén (banjo), 
Pider Åvall (trombone/vocals, 
Niklas Robertson (saxophone/ clarinet/vocals, 
Fredrik Hamra (drums), Jan Karlsson (bass), Jonathan Gustafsson (trumpet)

Olle Wassén (banjo), Pider Åvall (leader, trombone/vocals), Fredrik Hamra (drums), 
Niklas Robertson (saxophone/clarinet/vocals), Jan Karlsson (bass), Jonathan Gustafsson (trumpet).

Touring the UK from Sweden, Mysto’s Hot Lips Jazz Band rounded off Tad Newton’s
St Valentines Jazz Weekend at The Castle, Wellingborough, with a stunning session of hot jazz and hot moves, enthralling a full house of fans in The Castle Theatre.

If you’ve not seen Mysto’s Hot Lips watch out for them. Delightful musicians full of exuberance and aged from their early thirties up to leader and trombonist Pider Åvall in his dynamic early 70s.

Who knows when Mysto’s Hot Lips will next tour the UK? So I’m thrilled to present this selection of YouTubes I took on the day.

 

Peter M Butler
Editor & Proprietor Jazz&Jazz

(Photos & YouTubes © Peter M Butler, Jazz&Jazz)

DixieMix Jazz Band Steal the Show at St Valentine’s Jazz Weekend, Wellingborough

 

DixieMix-Band

DixieMix Jazz Band, led cornetist Simon Nelson, is one of the UK’s most engaging and hard working jazz ensembles.

Fans will recall DixieMix’s recent highly successful UK tour with Rod Stewart which brought them national recognition with TV appearances plus festival and theatre gigs.

With the best jazz musicians in East Anglia, an enthusiasm for traditional jazz, the band provides outstanding entertainment and top quality performances for all occasions.

Featuring
Simon Nelson – cornet, trumpet, flugel horn and vocals
Chris Wigley – trombone and vocals
Peter Oxborough – clarinet, alto sax, tenor sax
Kevin West – banjo, guitar, ukulele
John Benson – bass and vocals
Tony Wilkins – drums and vocals

Jazz&Jazz YouTubes
The following Jazz&Jazz YouTubes were filmed at DixieMix’s show stopping gig during Tad Newton’s highly successful St Valentine’s Jazz Weekend at The Castle Theatre, Wellingborough. So brilliant was it, I would have filmed the entire show, but I’m a jazz fan and I was there to enjoy the live performance as much as to take movies! Great to meet you at last, Simon!

Visit The DixieMix Website

Peter M Butler
Editor & Proprietor Jazz&Jazz

(YouTubes © Peter M Butler, Jazz&Jazz)

Keswick Jazz Festival Thursday 12th / Sunday 15th May

Masthead

From the Festival Website

Keswick Jazz Festival is the UK’s largest and most popular celebration of traditional, New Orleans, swing and mainstream jazz.

Fabulous international guests and top UK talent in this large and warm-hearted gathering of people who all love to listen and dance to the great music that the Keswick Jazz Festival is renowned for.

Over 90 inspiring performances in this four day feast of jazz, with a further four days of concerts in Theatre By The Lake preceding the main festival.

Bohém Ragtime Jazz Band

Bohém Ragtime Jazz Band

Music from days of jazz when it began – Jelly Roll Morton, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and from the glory days of traditional jazz in the UK, to the fat and hip-swinging music of the New Orleans brass bands and Cajun style bands, also the jumping sounds of the jive bands, intimate  gipsy jazz, powerful and inspiring vocalists, hot pianists, cool saxophones, trumpets, trombones, banjos, clarinets… the list goes on.
A dance floor will be laid in at least one venue where the bands will play for dancing, and dance tutors will run classes in the morning for beginners and intermediates.

There will also be interesting jazz talks, jam sessions, guest sessions, a parade though the town, jazz services, music in local pubs and cafes as well as concerts in large and small venues in and around the town.

All set in the beautiful surroundings of Keswick, in the heart of the Lake District.

Visit Keswick Jazz Festival Website for Full Three Day Programme

 

Roy Williams

Roy Williams

Graham Hughes

Graham Hughes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Book Tickets!

 

Alan Bateman Presents Digby Fairweather In Oils

 

Digby-for-NJA-jazz

There’s a tale behind this portrait but if Alan won’t tell, neither will I! Let’s just say I had fun consulting with Alan about it, Alan had fun painting it, Tad Newton got a kick out of delivering it to The Jazz Archives HQ – and Digby and Gwen love it! By now I expect it has pride of place in their home!

And so it should to mark Digby’s Award for “Services to British Jazz” in the
2015 British Jazz Awards.

Peter M Butler
Editor & Proprietor Jazz&Jazz

Re-Release! Fest Jazz 2016 to Feature Joan Chamorro’s Incredible Sant Andreu Youth Band


This post was first featured on Jazz&Jazz in November last year! The first names for the programme at Fest Jazz 2016 have now been released and at Trevor Stent’s request will be featured on Jazz&Jazz imminently. It includes phenomenal bands – young bands – from across Europe, France and the UK.

In the words of Sean Moyses “I can promise fans Fest Jazz, 2016 will be French, Fun and Fizzing with Youth” (Sean Moyses, Just Jazz Magazine, October, 2015)

Sant-Andreu-Band-Stage

Fest Jazz, 2014: Joan Chamorro and the Sant Andreu Jazz Band

Fest Jazz, Brittany’s young at heart and inspirational festival, has announced the first big name for its 2016 extravaganza: Joan Chamorro and the Sant Andreu Jazz Band! 

Sant Andreu is a youth band from Barcelona, Spain, featuring children from 7 to 17/plus, youngsters and teenagers, led by Joan, their inspirational mentor.

They rarely perform outside their Barcelona home but following their incredibly successful involvement in Fest Jazz, 2014, they are returning to Châteauneuf-du-Fao for Fest Jazz 2016 to celebrate a very special occasion. In the words of Festival Organiser Trevor Stent: “We’re really proud and over the moon that this brilliant band of 30 young musicians has chosen to come back to Fest Jazz in 2016 to celebrate their 10th Anniversary. It’s a great tribute to the unique ambiance of Fest Jazz and a wonderful opportunity to see them so close to the UK. The youngsters rarely perform as a band outside Barcelona and they will be playing in small groups during the weekend and then in their Big Band on the Sunday evening. It will be fantastic!”

Joan Chamorro, Eva Fernandes and Andrea Motis, Fest Jazz, 2014

Joan Chamorro, Eva Fernándes and Andrea Motis, Fest Jazz, 2014.

Joan Chamorro messaged Trevor: “It will be brilliant to see our 30 talented young musicians performing at Fest Jazz again – especially as part of our 10th Anniversary Celebrations.”

For UK jazz fans Fest Jazz is a short hop across the Channel and a not to be missed opportunity to see this extraordinary group of young talents, including trumpet star Andrea Motis.

Brittany Ferries will again be offering a promotional package for Fest Jazz and Trevor hopes as many British fans as possible will join in the festival fun. There is also a possibility that, as for earlier festivals, a special coach from Lancashire will be organised for the Festival, depending on sufficient numbers to make it viable. This would include the ferry, accommodation and tickets for the festival. If you are a jazzer in striking distance of the “M6/M5” corridor, simply email [email protected] to indicate your interest.

pppp

Joan and his young stars in Châteauneuf-du-Fao town square, 2014. Vocalist Rita Payés.

Further information about the 2016 festival programme, accommodation and bookings will shortly be released on Jazz&Jazz as well as www.fest-jazz.com,  www.facebook.com/festjazzEarly enquires can be emailed to: [email protected] .

justjazz2A must read! Just Jazz Magazine Features:

French, Fun and Fizzing with Youth
FEST JAZZ!

By Sean Moyses

A Taste of Sant Andreu at Fest Jazz, 2014

Andrea Motis, Pizza Express Jazz Club, London
In November, 2014, Ginny and I were privileged to have front row seats at Pizza Express Jazz Club, Dean Street, for a very special performance by The Andrea Motis /Joan Chamorro Quintet – Andrea’s debut performance in London. It was wonderful to film several numbers during the event and to meet up with Joan during the interval. Here is just one of my Jazz&Jazz YouTubes featuring the event.

More Jazz&Jazz YouTubes of The Sant Andreu Jazz Band and Joan’s brilliant young stars can be found on the Jazz&Jazz YouTube Channel.

Fest Jazz and Jazz&Jazz
Jazz & Jazz has been an invaluable platform for news about young bands and musicians. It’s a great way for organisers like me to know what is going on! The enthusiasm of Peter Butler is inspirational and infectious and has certainly done much to boost the reputation of Fest Jazz  beyond the boundaries of Brittany.  Long may the site continue and flourish!”.
Trevor Stent, Fest Jazz

Thank you, Trevor, for being so complimentary about Jazz&Jazz and for endorsing our policy of publicising and promoting young bands and musicians not only in Jazz&Jazz features but also via Jazz&Jazz YouTubes and our Social Media pages.

Further Jazz&Jazz posts will follow shortly featuring the full Fest Jazz Programme, the variety of bands appearing and Brittany Ferry travel options.

Peter M Butler
Editor & Proprietor Jazz&Jazz

(Photos & YouTubes © Peter M Butler, Jazz&Jazz)

Links to Earlier Jazz&Jazz Fest Jazz/Sant Andreu Features to view at your leisure:
https://www.jazzandjazz.com/?p=14474
https://www.jazzandjazz.com/?p=9226
https://www.jazzandjazz.com/?p=9909
https://www.jazzandjazz.com/?p=9829
https://www.jazzandjazz.com/?p=8945

Also Philippe Briand’s Souvenir Fest Jazz Revue

Prelude to Fest Jazz, 2016: “I Remember Clifford” Eva Fernández, at Fest Jazz 2014

 

Joan, Andrea and Eva

Joan, Eva and Andrea

Ginny and I have booked early for Fest Jazz, Châteauneuf-du-Faou, Brittany, this year. Festival Organiser, Trevor Stent, guarantees a great line up which will shortly be featured on Jazz&Jazz.

Fans will be thrilled to know that Joan Chamorro’s young stars in his Barcelona based Sant Andreu Jazz Band will be returning for the festival this year. Here is a taster from one of their show stopping performances at Fest Jazz 2014.

Peter M Butler
Editor & Proprietor Jazz&Jazz

(Photos & YouTubes © Peter M Butler, Jazz&Jazz)

Andrea Motis’ Pizza Express Jazz Club Debut Stole the Hearts of London Fans

 

So worth re-featuring: Pizza Express Jazz Club hosted an outstanding London debut for young Catalonian star Andrea Motis (vocals, soprano sax & trumpet) accompanied by her mentor, Joan Chamorro (contrabass and tenor sax); Ignasi Terraza (piano); Josep Traver (Guitar); Esteve Pi (Drums).

Andrea Motis

Andrea Motis

In their programme Pizza Express likened Andrea to Norah Jones who made her London debut at the same venue. The magical number: “Flor De Lis” by Djavan.

Peter M Butler
Editor & Proprietor Jazz&Jazz

(Photos & YouTubes © Peter M Butler, Jazz&Jazz)

 

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