Last Monday

Monday was another fine night with a full house in the Ellerbrook Suite. There are a few photos and even with the limitations of a small compact camera it’s still possible to get a flavour of the evening. Many thanks to all concerned

Thanks also to Tony Owens who brought an excellent selection of Altamira guitars for us to admire and play. Tony is an old acquaintance from many years ago (long before Beaufort Jazz) and it was very good to see him again.  Since we last met up Tony has started his guitar business Go to guitars and is now a distributer for a growing number of brands. Good luck to him.

As announced our featured musicians for our next Beaufort evening on Monday May 7th will be Diminuita, a renowned swing trio from Greece. It is their first visit to the UK as part of their European tour and we are obviously very pleased that the first two dates they agreed were ourselves and Le Quecumbar. More details to follow shortly.

Gig update

One regular event which we always try to mention here is the International Guitar Festival of Great Britain, which stands tall  amongst the regions musical events. Not many festivals could justify such an imposing title, but this one can, due in no small part to the ceaseless efforts of Rob Smith, the long-term festival director of this excellent event.

Understandably it came as a surprise when we learnt that Rob has decided to call it a day. But nothing is forever and Rob has passed his duties over to a new director Kate Carpenter – who on the one hand has inherited something special, but on the other has a hard act to follow. Best wishes to Kate who has been involved with the festival for a good few years and will no doubt keep it in safe hands.

A number of musicians who have supported Beaufort Jazz are appearing at the festival.

Gary Potter – 7.30pm Sunday 6th November – Birkenhead Priory

Modjango  – 11.30am Sunday 13th November – Woodside Terminal

Esmond Selwyn – 12.30pm Sunday 13th November – Floral Pavilion Plaza

Adam Palma – 12.30 and 6.30pm 26th November – Floral Pavilion Plaza

Another popular venue for us here in the North West is Parr Street in Liverpool where excellent jazz music is to be found every Tuesday night. Petrus will be appearing on Tuesday 15th November at 8pm and we would expect a number of Beaufort regulars to be attending.

Finally a classic gig is in prospect at the Lantern Theatre in Liverpool when John Wheatcroft and Daniel John Martin team up for An evening of Gypsy Jazz on Friday December 2nd.

Many will remember when we celebrated our 100th Beaufort Jazz evening in February earlier this year and welcomed Daniel John Martin as our featured artist for the evening. More recently John Wheatcroft performed the featured spot and it has to be said that both evenings were outstanding.

The Lantern is a relatively new venue and its website can be found by clicking the link here. It is positively minute compared to most theatres as it probably holds less than a hundred people. That’s less than the Ellerbrook Suite at the Briars Hall so this could well be a full house.

Enjoy

Century celebrations review – 100 and still going strong

Daniel and Gary in full flow

In the run up to last Monday emails were composed, texts sent and phone calls made – all to ensure that as many  as possible were invited to the 100th Beaufort Jazz evening. Our aim was very simple – that we would get 100 to come to our 100th. As it turned out, 120 of us managed to cram into the Ellerbrook Suite for what was definitely a standing room only occasion. Most encouraging was that we saw many new faces who had taken the trouble to search us out.

Our much awaited featured musician was Daniel John Martin, the Paris based violinist who was to be  accompanied on this landmark evening by Micky Dunne and Karl Webb on guitars with Tony Doyle on bass. Daniel came as a veteran of many Gypsy Jazz jam nights and took us through the standards with considerable ease. Djangos Tiger and Minor Swing were amongst them and covered with great flair. One enthusiastic person has managed to capture a clip on video and has posted it on YouTube. It can be found by clicking here and whilst it’s a little shaky it does give a glimpse of what was a first class set.

We were very pleased that the occasion attracted new musicians. Keith and Neil were a vocal and keyboard duo who gave us a number of jazz classics before leaving the stage to another duo, Amanda and Dave who gave us yet more standards. Hopefully they will have all enjoyed the evening and will join us again for the next Beaufort Jazz night. Helen Maher then stepped up with an impromptu quartet which included John McCormick on upright bass and were quickly followed by the High Peak Trio, who as their name suggests must have travelled some way to be with us. Ted Hanley then took to the stage and we learned that he had only ever missed two Beaufort Jazz evenings. A record to be  proud of especially as Ted has to make his way from East Lancashire each month. 

Gary Potter and Adam Palma jam together

Then it was not so much welcoming new musicians, but saying hello to those who had been away too long. Many will remember that Gary Potter was a regular at Beaufort Jazz for many years, after all, we were his local Gypsy Jazz jam in the North. Whilst he had not been able to attend in recent months, there was no stopping him from making the 100th celebrations. Supported by John Cordwell on rhythm guitar, it was if he had never been away. As a finale to the evening Gary welcomed Daniel back on stage along with Adam Palma to give us an energetic Sweet Georgia Brown. A fitting end to a fine evening. Well, almost the end, as there was still time for the traditional mass jam on stage which took us right up to our finish at 11.30.

The next Beaufort Jazz evening will be on Monday 7th March when the featured musicians will be he excellent Djangobop. A full announcement to follow in the next few days.