Below is a repeat of the text of my irregular Jazz nag, inviting fans to attend the sort of gig I go to myself.

Tomorrow, Thursday 2nd October , at The Hedsor Social Club, The Clive Burton Quintet play from 8.30 pm, admission £5, which now includes a raffle ticket. Second hand CD's are also for sale at this event.

As most of you know, Clive's Quintet play modern jazz, which isn't really modern, but for all you Bop fans out there, they do play it very well.

On Tuesday 7th October, we have another chance to hear Clive, and if you enjoyed some of the music from last years Cancer Research Concert, you will have another chance to hear Clive with John Slater on Trumpet, voice and humour!
In this iteration they will be called "Jubilee Jazz", and will be playing more in the Dixieland style than Bop, so if you are fan of Cookham's fabulous Shirtlifters why not come and hear their lead trumpet in a different musical environment.
The band will be at The Bourne End Community Centre from 8.30 pm, entry, with raffle ticket and half time refreshments is still only £4 (I think!).

Now I'm going to write about some of the Jazz CD's I've listened to in the last week or so. The artwork should be at the top of the blog.

First up, one I hadn't heard before, even though it was recorded on 1960. To be honest, in 1960, I was more likely to be listening to Chris Barber than Stanley Turrentine, but listening from this new perspective of time distance, it really is something I should have been listening to before. It's classic bebop, with Stan on tenor sax, Horace Parlan piano, George Tucker bass and Al Harewood drums. The album is called "Look Out", and its well worth lookin out for. Its a BlueNote reissue via EMI. They play mostly compositions by Stan, but "Tiny Capers" by Clifford Brown will be familior to most, as will Jerome Kern's "Yesterdays". Its one of Rudy Van Gelder's remasters, so the sound quality for the year is excellent.

OK, so Stanley Turrentine wasn't the most famous star of the bop revolution, but he should not have been missing from my earlier education, and so maybe he should now be included in yours!! The number is a mind blowing 50999-5-14377-25. What are they on!

Next Up, is a band that I listened to right from the start. It is again back in the 1960's, this time 1968. And The Kenny Clarke-Fancy Boland Big Band were making a big impact in Europe. Most people into Big Band Jazz had purchased "Smiles, and "More Smiles", and I'm sure some people bought those just for the covers alone, but this one "Fellini 712" had a more modest cover. The musicians were all legends, taken from Europe, the UK, and the USA. They included Benny Bailey, Tony Coe, Dusko Gojkovic, Johnny Griffin, Ronnie Scott and many more. It was a beautifully crafted and well rehearsed big band playing modern music with an accessible melody line. All soloists gave something to the music, and the mix was magic. And it can still be had today, because its all reissued on MPS Universal 02498 14805. Its not a new reissue (2004), but should still be obtainable.

The last album this time has been reissued so many times, and I have bought all of them!! Its one for my Desert Island. "Humph at the Conway" never ceases to enthral and entertain. Its from the "Dirty Bopper" period, with Bruce Turner joing Humph's well established band with Wally Fawkes clarinet, Johnny Parker piano, Micky Ashman bass, Freddy Legon guitar, and George Hopkinson on drums and washboard. What a mix, and it was 1954!

Timeless music, call it mainstream or whatever. I just call in marvelous. The sense of fun, the live atmosphere of the recording, it's was all, for me, wonderful stuff, as I discovered that jazz didn't have to be constrained to a trumpet, trombone, clarinet front line. One single track stands out for me, Bruce Turner playing "St. James Infirmary Blues". Go and search it out. I've got it this time round on Calligraph Records CLGD 038, published on 2000.

Well, that about rounds up this one. Look out for the CD's, and do keep live jazz alive by turning out to the gigs.

TTFN

Geoff C