Well, Tom Kincaid and his compatriots came and delivered all that I expected and possibly a bit more – total commitment.   Thanks also to Sue Parish for leavening the mixture with some fine singing – and to yourselves for turning up in such heartening numbers.   It just goes to prove that, just as the sweetest meat is nearest the bone, the best jazz is the meaty bit in the middle – the great mainstream of our music .   And the guys who will be playing on July 8 typify that kind of jazz, with their roots firmly planted in the thirties and forties.   The Swing City Trio have visited twice before, so many of you will know what to expect: muscular saxophone from Steve Andrews, mining the tradition in the same way as Scott Hamilton but to different effect, sensitive but swinging guitar from Roly Veitch, and rock-solid bass from Roy Cansdale.   They are joined by fine ex-professional Dave Savill on cornet, replicating the scratch band which gave us a great night last year when Aaron Weinstein was unable to appear at the last moment.

Unfortunately I can’t be there myself – I’m on holiday in Bavaria where, although I’ll be looking for jazz,  I have a sinking feeling that I may have to settle for an alpenhorn-led quartet with accordion as the second voice.    And no, I wasn’t expecting any sympathy.

See you in August.

Thanks for turning out in such numbers for John Hallam.   To my ears he produced the goods yet again on this latest visit, ably assisted by his usual (well, usual for Kendal) accompanists Tim Belford and Roy Cansdale, plus first-time visitor Robert Willens on drums.   John’s baritone abilities were well displayed on ‘Lullaby of the Leaves’ and his tenor was equally commanding on several standards, but for me his clarinet provided the high points of the evening.   That may be because I try to play the instrument myself, but I strongly suspect that others in the audience might join me in admiring John’s impeccable tone, technique and attack: he must be among the very best practitioners in Europe.

Another reed-man (Willie Entwistle) joins us on Wednesday 9 September, this time as part of the Spats Langham Quartet.    This is our first visit from Spats, but he will be a familiar figure to any traditional jazz festival-goers among you, being a firm favourite on that circuit as a banjoist, guitarist and vocalist.   His guitar style has been likened to that of the great Eddie Lang, but his skill as an entertainer, honed as an accompanist to the late Tommy Burton, has resulted in him becoming England’s answer to the American Marty Grosz.   He has quite a following, so get to the Beer Hall early to bag a decent seat.

IMPORTANT NOTE.   And speaking of being early, please note that although this concert starts at 8.30 pm, we’ve decided that from October we will open the doors at 7.30 for an 8.00 start.   We hope that the resulting earlier finish at 10.30 pm will help those who use public transport to get home, not to mention the more senior among us who are beginning to wilt by 11.00!   Should you have strong views on this change, either pro or con, please convey them to any member of the committee.

Bruce.

The first thing for me to say is ‘sorry’ if you’ve tried to access the Jazz Club website recently.    We are having to change our webhost, and things are not going smoothly – perhaps because being a jazz geek does not make one an internet geek.   Please bear with us until it’s sorted.

Last Wednesday was just as good as we expected, with Tim Kliphuis giving another polished and professional performance, but with rather more soul than that description suggests.   His tributes to both Django and Stephane were obviously heartfelt, while his technical virtuosity was well displayed in the long unaccompanied section of the last number, which included part of Pachelbel’s Canon in D (I had to ask – null points for classical knowledge).   And he swung like a gate throughout!   Remarkable.

And a special word of thanks to Roly and Roy, who must have gained a few more grey hairs (yes, I know, imperceptible) while succeeding in keeping up with the master, at the same time making valuable solo contributions.

On Wednesday 9th December it’s Alan Barnes again, with the Steve Chadwick Quartet as last year.   That session nearly blew the roof off the Beer Hall in the course of producing as much swing, intensity and heat as I’ve ever heard in a live performance, so if December’s gig even gets near to that we’re in for a real treat.    We can’t be certain as to which instruments Alan will bring, but it may well be alto, baritone and clarinet.   What we can be certain of is seeing local reedmen sobbing in a corner after he finishes.

See you there – I’ll be the one with two handkerchiefs.

Bruce.

Well, wasn’t Spats Langham a revelation?   I  had previously only heard him in large theatre venues where his relatively quiet acoustic banjo, guitar and uke playing carried less impact than it did in the intimate (and hushed – thank you, all present) environment of the Beer Hall.    But it wasn’t just his playing that held our interest: his anecdotes,singing, and the sheer force of his personality gave us one of the best nights the Jazz Club has ever experienced.   In my last blog I likened him to Marty Grosz, but on that night’s form even the mighty Marty could have been overshadowed.

And let’s not forget Willie Entwistle, who rightly reprimanded me for describing him as ‘ex Temperance Seven’ – he’s still very much a part of that band.   Willie played some very classy alto and clarinet, and Roy Cansdale and Paul Adams provided great support.

Our next gig on Wed 14 October is a complete change.   Gavin Barras, a Kendal lad born and raised but now resident in Manchester, brings his European Union Quartet to Staveley.   This will be modern jazz at its most intriguing and melodic, with the four like-minded players spinning haunting webs of sound on both their own material and some jazz standards.   To slightly modify Jelly Roll Morton’s instructions to his sidemen , it should be ’sweet, soft and plenty cool’.   So please roll up and support this local lad made good and his foreign friends – and don’t forget the revised start time of 8.00pm!