CELEBRATING VICTORY WITH TEA, CAKES & SWING When sirens wailed a farewell All-Clear, the roar of night time bombers ceased and the blast waves of detonating V1s and V2s subsided it was time to celebrate. And that’s just what thousands of children did at street parties held throughout London and the rest of country on May 8th, 1945. It may have been 75 years ago,
Modern jazz fans enjoyed an exciting experience seeing pioneering musicians of the calibre of Joe Harriott, Don Rendell and Tubby Hayes in action at local clubs in the early 1960s. If it was a shade too pricey to travel up town and visit exclusive Soho clubs, there were plenty of pubs like the King Alfred, Lower Sydenham in South London, where top jazz men frequently
SIMON SPILLETT QUARTET Simon Spillett blew up a storm while celebrating the life and music of Tubby Hayes in a show that proved even more exhilarating than the gale blowing over Essex on a wet and windy Saturday afternoon. Despite the threat of transport chaos posed by Storm Dennis, fans and dignitaries descended in droves on the concert presented by the National Jazz Archive at
O2 Islington, London And lo – a star is born! Now is this wild claim mere pop propaganda? No, here is important information designed to assist in propagating the faith in a new band and their charismatic young singer and composer Jack Denton. The word had clearly spread to the O2 Islington, when Our Propaganda delivered their fiery message to a loyal congregation of fans
PETE LONG BIG BAND ‘Live’ AT CADOGAN HALL When the Benny Goodman Orchestra and guests presented their legendary concert at Carnegie Hall, New York City on January 16th, 1938, it was a ground breaking event that established jazz as a serious musical form and also wowed a lot of Lindy hopping swing fans. When clarinettist Pete Long presented his band’s concert at Cadogan Hall on
By thunder, what a year that was! Well now’s the time to look back in pleasure rather than anger, at some memorable musical events including the concerts, albums and records that enlivened 2019. There was sadness too when many fine artists and musicians who had made their special mark in pop history, passed away. MAGIC MOVIES It was a year when major rock movies hit
The Oval, Croydon, November 15thh, 2019 ‘It’s Friday night, the bar is still open and we’re still playing, which is good!’ Steve Eggs acknowledged the cheers of a crowd packing one of Croydon’s finest bastions of ‘live’ rock music with a cheery smile and a wave at the bar girls pulling those foaming pints. The Steve Eggs Band had spent the evening playing a succession
Monday, October 21st 2019 It was 50 years ago when the Jimi Hendrix Experience played an important concert at the Royal Albert Hall on February 24, 1969. Although captured on film by a team of cameramen, the event seemed consigned to history and became just a distant memory of those lucky enough to be there. Now, for the first time, a long anticipated documentary movie
Remembering the Drummer’s Finest Hours “Why are you always smiling Ginger?” “Because I’m happy!” It was 1963 and the flame haired drummer sitting at the back of the crowded club room was having a ball. He was clearly in seventh heaven as he powered up a lively R&B group jamming away at the 1963 Richmond Jazz & Blues Festival. So was the audience in heaven,
Loughton, Essex, September 28, 2019 Adrian Cox delighted an enthusiastic audience with his Profoundly Blue show performed with an excellent quartet at Loughton Methodist Church last September. The concert was a fund raiser for the National Jazz Archive but it also raised the spirits of all those entranced by Adrian’s exuberant clarinet playing and charismatic stage personality. The show was designed as a tribute to
