Month: April 2022

24 April – Mike Owen’s Scarlette’s Serenaders:  Led by Mike Owen on trombone the band also had Ian Wynne on piano, ‘Lord’ Jim Swinnerton on bass, Nick Ward on percussion and Danny Blythe on reeds.  Their opening number was ‘There’s an Old Spinning Wheel in the Parlour’.   Other numbers, in no particular sequence, included ‘I want a Little Girl to Call my Own’, ‘Trust Me’, ‘Alabama Jubilee’, ‘Easter Parade’, ‘All Alone By the Telephone’, ‘I’ll Fly Away’ and ‘Beg Your Pardon’.   They finished with ‘Hold That Tiger’ with Mike making a good fist of tiger growls on his trombone.   This band was put together at short notice when the original band booked – Henderson Big Band – felt they were not ready to perform in public.   So a big thank you to Scarlette’s Serenaders for saving an audience from disappointment.

17 April – Kevin Grenfell’s Giants of Jazz:  What an Easter treat we had in store with the arrival of the Jazz Giants, led by Kevin Grenfell (trombone, trumpet and vocal).  He was joined by Jeremy Huggett in fine form on reeds and vocals, Richard Hughes on piano, Simon Smith on double bass and Jules Aldridge (Baby Jools) on drums.  Their opening number of ‘Running Wild’ set the stage for this concert.   Kevin was on the button with his comedy and indeed introduced a song dedicated to Boris Johnson ‘It’s a Sin to Tell a Lie’.  Some of the other numbers included ‘Up a Lazy River’, ‘Love’ with the audience happily joining in with the spelling of this with their arms, ‘Some Day You’ll be Sorry’, ‘Slow Boat to China’, ‘There Ain’t Nobody here but us Chickens’, ‘Hello Dolly’ and ‘Blueberry Hill’.  Since it was Easter there was a brolly parade to Bourbon Street and the group finished with ‘Bye Bye Blackbird’.  We will see both Kevin and Baby Jools for the Baby Jools’ Jazzaholics on 1st May.  Can’t wait to see them again.  Fantastic music and a standing ovation at the conclusion of their concert said it all.

10 April – Fret & Fiddle:  Led by Sally Minchin on jazz violin, this band exceeded all expectations.  Along with Sally were Andy Bole (guitar), Richard Hughes (piano), Steve Street (drums) and Jodie Carey (string bass).  The music they made simply blew me away.   They kicked off with ‘Stomping at Decca’ and then went on to play, in no particular order, the following selected from the day:  ‘Jeeves & Wooster (theme tune)’, ‘Make Me a Pallet on Your Floor’, ‘Caravan’, ‘Dance Me to the End of Love’, ‘Tinko Tinko’, ‘Je t’endreai’, ‘Misirlou’ (spine-tinglingly lovely), ‘Chardash’ (also amazing) and ‘Dark Eyes’.   Individuals in the audience leapt to their feet to applaud after a number which simply blew them away.

The sons of Sally and Andy were with their parents and Fred – only 6 years old – found the courage to come up on stage to play with the band whilst his brother, Ben (9) found it a little challenging and remained in his seat.   Good to see youngsters ready to take over.  What a concert, what music, such a show.   Look forward to seeing this group again.

3 April – Original Panama Jazz Band:  This band, led by John Critchley on trumpet, plays a mix of classical and contemporary jazz.  John also has quite a line in humour.   The rest of the band consisted of Dave Dixson on reeds and vocals, Andrew McKenzie on trombone and vocals, Malcolm Hogarth on piano, Isabel Toner on string bass and Bill Buck on drums.  Some of their numbers included the following: ‘China Town’, ‘Do You Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans’, ‘Dinah’, ‘’deed I Do’, ‘Sorry’, Autumn Leaves’ (sung in French by Dave – Les Feuilles Mortes in French should you be interested), ‘Hold That Tiger’, ‘One, Two, Buckle my Shoe’, ‘The Goof and I’ (a new one on me) and ‘My Blue Heaven’.  They finished with ‘Maryland My Maryland’.  Good jazz, good musicians, good attendance.

Additionally the amount collected for Ukraine as at 3 April stood at £730 until a very generous and kind-hearted person put an envelope in with £1,000 in cash.  God bless whoever did this.

27 March 2022 – Andy Leggett’s Centenary Serenaders:  This fabulous band, leader Andy Leggett (clarinet & saxes); Lewis Taylor (trumpet); Dave Deakin (trombone); Rachel Hayward (guitar & banjo), Joe Trudgeon (double bass) and Dave Andrews (drums) take you back to New Orleans in the 1920s and 30s.   They opened with ‘Halle Halle Halleluja’ and went on to give us renditions of ‘Everywhere You Go’, ‘Flee as a Bird to your Mountain’ – this Louis Armstrong number was dedicated to Ukraine, ‘The Coffee Grinder’ ‘Poncho Trail’, ‘Louisiana (my Home)’, Pat du Bouche’, ‘Jacqueline’, ‘The Mooch’, ‘Poppa’s Gone Goodbye’, ‘Weary Blues’ were some of the numbers I wrote down to remind myself.  They concluded with ‘Dans Les Rue d’Entibes’.   The applause at the end of the concert was thunderous and people leapt to their feet in a standing ovation.   This group brought a whole heap of magic to a Sunday lunchtime in Stafford.

It was announced that the money bucket for donations for Ukraine over the past three weeks now tallied £615.  Well done Stafford jazzers.

20 March 2022 – Sussex Jazz Kings:  Welcome to Sussex Jazz Kings consisting of leader Dave Stradwick on cornet, Bernard Stutt on clarinet, Iain McCauley on trombone and vocals, Pete Lay on drums and vocals, Peter Clancy on bass and tuba and Paul Segley on banjo.  They did look smart, wearing matching green short sleeve shirts.   The opening number was ‘The Old Spinning Wheel in the Park’ and the session went on to include such numbers as ‘Painting the Clouds with Sunshine’, ‘Rose of Tralee’ (an Irish number sung by a Scotsman in Enland!!), ‘Gigaminco Blues’, When You and I were young Maggie’, ‘Magnolia’s Wedding Day’, ‘Big Chief Battle Axe’, ‘The Curse of an Aching Heart’ (which the band said they were renaming ‘The Curse of an Aching Everything – ha ha), ‘Creole Love Call’ and ‘My Blue Heaven’.  They ended with ‘You are My Sunshine’.   Toes were tapping around the room at this New Orleans-style jazz.  Great.

13 March 2022 – Wabash Jazzmen with Nick Ward:  Yes, the Wabash Jassmen are back bringing with them a fine percussionist – Nick Ward.  The group consists also of Tony Pipkin on cornet/trumpet, Richard Leach on trombone, Mark Challinor (leader) on banjo, ukulele and guitar with some vocals, Richard Vernon on string bass and in place of Mike Hayler (currently unwell) we have the renowned Eric Newton with his clarinet.   They opened with ‘At a Georgia Camp Meeting’ and went on to include numbers such as ‘China Boy’, ‘The Bogalusa Strut’, ‘The Moose March’, ‘Good Night Sweet Prince’, ‘This Love of Mine’, ‘The Weary Blues’, ‘Muskrat Ramble’ and ‘Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out’ to name a few.   The afternoon flew by and before you know it we were packing up to go home.  Could have gone on for longer but all good things must end.  I am sure they will be back in the next season.

We had an unexpected guest by the name of John, a ukulele player celebrating his 80^th birthday with family.   I hope he enjoyed the concert – I am quietly confident he did!

6 March 2022 – Ron Hills’ Swing Kings:   The opening number was dedicated in tribute to two fine musicians gone to the jazz front in the sky:  Roy Sainsbury and Frank Nicholls (also a skilled painter who painted the SJS portrait of Louis Armstrong).   The Band, consisted of Tony Pipkin on trumpet + vocals, Terry Roberts on reeds (recovering from a nasty bout of shingles so very brave of him to come along today), Ron Hills (leader) on trombone + vocals, Nick Wiltshire on keyboard, Simon Smith on double bass and Roy Dutton on drums.   Some of their programme included ‘Sing, Sing, Sing;, ‘ All I Do The Whole Day Through is Dream of You’, ‘Blue Bossa’, ‘My Blue Heaven’, ‘I Never Knew’, ‘I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter’, ‘It’s d’lovely’ and ‘Bye Bye Blackbird’.  There was a lovely trio (piano, bass and drums) in the middle of this when they played ‘My Romance’.   Great to see them again.

You would be interested to know that £320 was raised for the Ukraine situation by taking donations at the desk.   Well done everybody.