Month: April 2026

26 April – No Concert

19 April – Debbie Arthurs’ Jazz Quintet:  With music essentially from 1920s and 1930s we saw, for the first time, this quintet.  Leader, Debbie Arthurs, was on saxophone and vocals, Dave Deakin on trombone (and a couple of vocals), Keith Little on piano, Rachel Haywood on guitar and Malcolm Sked on double bass gave us a concert to remember.  They opened with ‘St Louis Blues’ and continued the first half with ‘Goody Goody’, ‘When The World Is At Rest’, ‘Lady Be Good’, ‘The Very Thought Of You’, ‘It Had To Be You’, ‘My Blackbirds are Bluebirds Now’ and ‘’You’d Be So Nice To Come Home To’.  After the interval we had ‘Ain’t Cha’, ‘Travelling All Alone’, ‘Running Wild’, ‘Don’t Blame Me’, ‘I Got Rhythm’, ‘Don’t Get Around Much Any More’ and finished with ‘It Don’t Mean A Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing’.  A couple of songs in there I had not heard before – always welcome to listen to something new.  Debbie Arthurs has a fine voice and the music was great.  We hope to hear them again in the next season.

12 April – Jane Williams’ Jazz Quintet featuring Andy Leggett:  Jane Williams (leader) was on Ukulele and Vocals – but we know she also is pretty good on the piano and indeed performed n this in a recent Channel 4 TV series of ‘The Piano’, Mike Frost on Guitar, Bill Lynnn Double Bass, Greg Evans on drums and lovely to see again Andy Leggett on reads.  They opened with ‘All Of Me’, ‘I Thought About You’, ‘It Don’t Mean A Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing’, ‘You Don’t Know Me’, ‘Bye Bye Blackbird’, S’Wonderful’, Andy Leggett singing with ‘The River And Me’ and ended the first half with a rousing ‘I Put A Spell On You’.  Second half began with ‘My Baby Just Cares For Me’ and went on with ‘One Note Samba’, ‘Is You Is Or Is You Ain’t My Baby’, ‘It’s Almost Like Being In Love’, ‘Strangers On The Shore’, Andy again sang and played ‘Everything But The Blues’ (and confided he and Jane had recorded this during lockdown), ‘Straighten Up and Fly Right’ and finished with ‘Buona Sera’.  Standing ovation followed.  See you all soon.

5 April – Kevin Grenfell’s Jazz Giants:   The band comprised of Kevin Grenfell (leader) on trombone and vocals, Paul Harrison (from Denmark) on reeds, Soren Stausbol (Danish and from Denmark) on piano and vocals, Simon Smith on double bass and “Baby” Jools Aldridge on drums.  They opened with ‘Boogaloosa Strut’ and continued with ‘Dinah’, ‘Creole Jazz’, ‘Stranger on the Shore’, ‘Sugar Babe’, ‘Fidgetty Feet’, Sweet Sue’ and then played happy birthday to Lisa Perry in English and in Danish.  In the second half we heard ‘Mr Sandman’, ‘Red Roses for a Blue Lady’, Petite Fleur’, ‘Swing 24’, ‘Is You Is Or Is You Ain’t My Baby’, ‘The King’, ‘Rondo’ and as always finished up with ‘Bye Bye Blackbird’  I am given to understand that we may well see them again later in the year!

29 March 2026 – Golden Eagle Jazz Band:   This band consisted of Kevin Scott (leader) on tenor banjo and with vocals, Alan Cresswell (I think and then I wonder if it was him so forgive me if I have got the name wrong), Ray Bowden on drums and vocals, Robin Woolhams on trumpet, Simon Wyld on trombone and John Sirett on double bass.  They opened with ‘Mary Wore A Golden Chain’ and continued with ‘I’m Confessing That I Love You’, ‘Over The Waves’ (better known as ‘The Loveliest Night of The Year’), ‘You’re Driving Me Crazy’, ‘Girl Of My Dreams’, ‘Tin Roof Blues’ ‘Bei Mir Bist Du Schon’, ‘Honeysuckle Rose’ and ‘Dr Jazz’.  The second half opened with ‘Old Grey Bonnet’ followed by ‘Apple Blossom Time’, ‘Crazy’, ‘The Sheik Of Araby’, ‘Up A Lazy River’, ‘I Pray Every Day We’ll Meet Again’, ‘Dinah’ and last song of the session was ‘A Thousand Goodnights’.  This New Orleans-style band met with approval and evident enjoyment.  Thank you gentlemen of the band.

22 March 2026 – Richard Hughes’ Trio “Fugue & Groove” featuring Amy Roberts:  What a lovely surprise – classical music played in a jazzy way.  The band consisted of Richard Hughes (leader) on keyboard, Steve Street on drums and Simon Smith on double bass.  To make it even better Amy Roberts on sax, base flute and clarinet joined them for the concert.  They started with a medley of Gershwin tunes and went on with ‘Prelude in C Minor’ (Bach), ‘Softly’, ‘Air On A G String’, ‘Sweet Georgia Brown’, ‘Jesu Man’s Desire’, ‘Faure Pavane’, with ‘Humeresque’ rounding off the first half.  In the second set they started with ‘Strangers in Paradise’ from Prince Igor, ‘The Man I Love’, ‘Fascinating Rhythm’, ‘Who Could Ask For Anything More (all Gershwin pieces), Chopin’s ‘Imprmptu’, Prelude in E Minor, Puccini’s ‘Nessun Dorma’, Mozart’s ‘Turkish March and ending with ‘After You’ve Gone and Left Me Crying’.  What a concert to remember.  Fab-u-lous!  Look forward to their next visit.

15 March 2026 – Andy Leggett’s Centenary Serenaders:  This band was founded by Andy Leggett, a top reeds player and renowned exponent of the Bechet style.  Along with Andy the band consists of Gethin Liddington on trumpet, Dave Deakin on trombone, Rachel Hayward on guitar and banjo, Jo Trudgeon on string bass and vocals and Rod Cotterell on drums.  They opened with ‘Some of These Days’ and continued with ‘Sweet Emmalina’, ‘Savoy Blues’, ‘Pattes de Mouche’, ‘I Get The Blues When It Rains’, ‘Si Tu Vois Ma Mere’, ‘Aunt Hagar’s Children’s Blues’, ‘At The Jazz Band Ball’ and ‘My Blue Heaven’.  In the second half they gave us ‘Ory’s Creole Trombone’, ‘As-Tu Le Cafard’, ‘Poor Papa’, ‘Grizzly Bear Rag’, ‘The Mooch’, ‘Millenberg Joys’, ‘Original Dixieland One-Step’ and finished with the ever popular ‘Petite Fleur’.  Smashing band, smashing concert – look forward to seeing them next time.

8 March 2026 – Regeneration Big Band:  This is the first time Regeneration has visited Stafford Jazz Society.  This 17 piece band, headed by leader and conductor Nigel Ashworth, also has Lydia Rae as their delightful vocalist.  They opened with ‘No Pressure’, and went on to play ‘A Gal in Calico’, ‘There’ll Never Be Another You’, ‘Polka Dots and Moonbeams’, ‘Three Landlords And A Guinness’, ‘Can You Read My Mind’ (love theme from Superman), ‘But Not For Me’, ‘Amanda’ and finished the first half with a Folk Song medley.  The second half opened with ‘The Carioca’, and continued with ‘I Don’t Stand A Ghost Of A Chance With You’, ‘It’s A Most Unusual Day’, ‘Sunday Kind of Love’, ‘There Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens’, ‘I Found A New Baby’, ‘I Won’t Send Roses’, ‘Easy To Love’, ‘At Last’, ‘He Ain’t Heavy He’s My Brother’ and finishing with ‘Mountain Greenery’.  Lots of smiling faces and people jumping to their feet.  Look forward to seeing them back another time.

1 March 2026 – No Concert