John Wheatcroft to feature Monday 4th of July

John Wheatcroft

It’s now just over a year since we moved from the Orangery into the Ellerbrook Suite and during that time a number of people had hoped that John Wheatcroft might be available to perform the opening featured set on one of our Beaufort Jazz nights. John’s hectic schedule as a busy musician and Head of Guitar at London’s prestigious Guitar-X meant that this was always going to be a difficult one to arrange. So we were obviously delighted when we got a call from John to agree a date and are very pleased to announce that he will play our opening featured spot on Monday 4th of July.

Beaufort regulars and guitar fans will need little introduction to John’s superb guitar playing, however if you have not seen John play his style is described as “integrating modern jazz with the timeless Django swing”. As well as Django, John’s many musical influences include Birelli Lagrene, John Scofield, Allan Holdsworth. and even the great Charlie Parker.

Having performed with such musicians as Billy Cobham (Miles Davies) Frank Gambale (Chick Corea) and Carl Verheyen (Supertramp), John has recently toured the world with John Jorgenson and Carl Palmer (ELP). His playing has been widely acclaimed and John Jorgenson was moved to comment “John Wheatcroft has an incredible arsenal of knowledge on the guitar and puts it together in a very appealing style” Gary Potter- no stranger to Beaufort Jazz regulars. was equally impressed ” John Wheatcroft is an incredibly versatile guitarist with an astonishing technique”.

On the evening John will be accompanied by Mickey Dunne on guitar with John McCormick on upright bass.

If you are an occasional reader of this blog and havent got round to visiting us at Beaufort Jazz then this will be an excellent opportunity for you see an exceptional guitarist perform. Just make sure that you arrive in good time to get a seat as this gig is likely to be very popular.

As usual the evening starts promptly ay 8pm with doors open about 7.30pm. Entrance is the usual £1 with the customary raffle to help bolster funds. Newcomers (both audience and musicians) are always most welcome.

Look forward to seeing you on the 4th!

Douce Ambience to feature Monday 6th June

Douce Ambience

Suddenly a month has gone in hardly no time at all and it will be our next Beaufort Jazz evening on Monday 6th of June when Douce Ambience will play the opening featured performance. Beaufort regulars will no doubt recognise Douce Ambience as Rachel Cooper on flute and Rob Curson on guitar. They will be accompanied on the evening by Paul Draper on upright bass. 

Rob and Rachel have often jammed on Beaufort evenings but this will be their first time on the featured spot. If you have not caught them in the past their performances are typically Gypsy Jazz inspired with Rachel performing many of the solos on flute with Rob providing the rhythm guitar. It’s an unusual combination of instruments but it works very well and will no doubt give us a fine evening of music. If you are new to Beaufort Jazz and havent manged to get down to one of our evenings its worth making the effort to catch Douce Ambience on Monday.

As usual we start at 8pm with doors open at 7.45pm. Our venue is of course the Ellerbrook Suite in the Briars Hall Hotel.

Entry is a meagre £1 which helps to fund the evening.

Look forward to seeing you on the 6th!

Beaufort Jazz May review

The Sharp Four

Once again the Beaufort Jazz night was quickly upon us and the monthly featured band was the eagerly anticipated “Sharp Four Quartet”. As their name suggests they didn’t hang around and quickly went into the set with Caribbean Carnival and Swing 42 with a nod to Stevie Wonder in between. Jim Bannister was in particularly fine form on guitar as the quartet covered Wes Montgomery’s Road Song and the classic Horace Silver number – Song for my Father with Tom Sykes taking the opportunity to alternate between keyboards and his more usual violin during the set to great effect. Very enjoyable.

The Sharp Four are a fine group of musicians and if you havent managed to catch them performing in the Northwest why not try to make their performance in Chester at that excellent venue Alexanders on June 5th. You will not be disappointed.

A monthly jam night such as Beaufort Jazz can produce some unexpected and memorable moments, which has to be said is part of the enjoyment of being in the audience. You know that you will enjoy the evenings staple of Gypsy Jazz but then there is always the possibility of something a bit different. And so it was last Monday when Pete Shannon put together a trio of himself on bass with Ted Hanley on guitar and Brian Cuddy on keyboards. During the set an unamed vocalist was invited to join them on stage for three priceless numbers.

We didn’t know it at the time but the singer was Doris Steele, veteran of many polished Jazz performances over the years. After the set Doris told us how in the early 70s she met Duke Ellington when they were both performing at the Floral Hall in Southport. Duke was understandably impressed with Doris’s vocals and immediately invited her to join him on tour in America. Unfortunately, family commitments meant that Doris was unable to take him up on his invitation – but the offer remained open and Doris hoped to visit America following year. Sadly Duke became unwell and passed away and the opportunity was never fulfilled. What America missed Beaufort Jazz gained and hopefully Doris will join us again in the near future.

The later part of evening was given over to our traditional Gypsy Jazz jam sessions and its impromptu collaborations. Hot Club duo of Steve Cronin and Bill Cox were joined on stage by Alan Stratton on bass and with a very welcome appearance of Alan Shaw on guitar. Dave Evans fronted a quartet including Beaufort regulars Phil Bernia, Mike Dexter and Rob Curson to give us the Hot Club classics Minor Swing and Sweet Georgia Brown.

As a finale Trez Fez took to the stage to conclude the evening in their usual melodic style. We understand that Trez Fez will have  DVD available in the near future of their recent sell out gig at Heysham Jazz. More information to follow shortly.

The next Beaufort Jazz evening will be on Monday 6th of June and the featured band will be announced in the next few days.

The Sharp Four Quartet to feature Monday 2nd of May

One of the benefits of the Beaufort Jazz monthly featured spot is that we can  invite groups who we might not normally get to see during the evenings informal jam sessions. The Sharp Four Quartet are probably a good example and we are very pleased that they will open the next Beaufort Jazz evening on Monday 2nd of May.

The Sharp Four have been together for 5 years and have made their name by incorporating “a wide range of styles” into their performances. A typical gig will have a mixture of  latin, groove, mainstream and swing. We havent managed to get a sneak preview of their set list however we have been told we might expect a little bit of Wes Montgomery and Chick Corea during the evening. Something definitely to look forward to.

The current line up of the Sharp Four is Jim Bannister guitar, Tom Sykes on keyboards and violin, Bill Lythgoe bass with Chris Leyland on drums. As usual please give them a very warm Beaufort Jazz welcome. For newcomers, the event will be held in the Ellerbrook Suite at the Briars Hall Hotel in Burscough and will start promptly at 8pm. Doors open at 7.45 with the entrance fee a mere £1 to cover costs. Look forward to seeing you.

Many will remember the excellent gig from the veteran violinist Bob Clarke on that bitterly cold Beaufort Jazz evening in early December. A number of regulars managed to chat with Bob and get to look at his personal photo collection of some of the great musicians he has worked with over the years. We did manage to get a few of these photos posted on this blog – with the hope of a few more to follow. Now thanks to Bob and his grandson (who has scanned them) we have some more photos of Bob with Stephane Grappelli and Joe Venuti. In the next few days we will be posing these with hopefully some video of Bob’s gig. Enjoy.

Beaufort Jazz review

Djangobop

Holidays and other incidentals have got in the way of writing reviews on the last two Beaufort Jazz evenings, so a quick post here is overdue. Apologies for it being a little briefer than usual. The March evening featured the ever popular Djangobop. Normally performing as the duo of Matt Wells and Dave Stearstree the group was expanded by the addition of Paul Murphy on third guitar and John on upright bass. Djangobop are familiar friends to Beaufort Jazz evenings and their set was thoroughly enjoyed by a full house in the Ellerbrook Suite. Once again it was a pleasure to welcome the many new faces in the audience.

A special thanks to George White who kindly deputised for Paul Draper on sound.

Mike Dexter and Howard Shepherd

An unexpected March guest was the veteran banjo player Howard Shepherd who was partnered by the ever versatile Mike Dexter on guitar. Performing as Shep’s Rhythm Aces the duo have been together for nearly twenty years, though we think it was their first appearance at a Beaufort Jazz evening. It was one of those spontaneous and highly enjoyable moments which can only be found at jam nights like ourselves. The older members of the audience will no doubt have recognised Howard from his numerous musical appearances on the 70s TV series “The Comedians”.

Many Beaufort regulars were in attendance. In particular it was good to welcome back Bill Cox and Steve Cronin who have been ever present members of the Hot Club of Knotty Ash over the years. They formed in impromptu trio with Tom Sykes on violin.

La Paire Llamedos

Mike Dexter appeared in yet another guise as our featured act for April. Appearing with Les Cook as one half of La Paire Llamedos. Unfortunately this was sadly missed due to the aforementioned holiday. Reports however confirmed that this was another excellent Beaufort evening with yet another good turnout.

The next Beaufort Jazz evening will be on Monday the 2nd of May and we are very pleased to announce that the featured band will be the The Sharp Four Quartet. More information to follow in the next few days.

La Paire Llamedos to feature – Monday 4th April

La Paire Llamedos

As we promised, our next Beaufort Jazz evening will feature two musicians who are likely to be fairly unique and not something to be heard every day of the week. La Paire Llamedos are the musical talents of Les Cook on Hawaiian steel guitar and Mike Dexter providing a Hot Club style guitar accompaniment. This intriguing collaboration goes back over seven years and has entertained many audiences with their original arrangements of Hawaiian and Django classics.

The set is probably the most diverse we will have heard in a good while with Gypsy Jazz classics such as Nuages and Minor Swing featuring alongside early twenties Hawaiian stnadards. The duo not surprisingly claim “a very varied repertoire”

Mike is well-known to Beaufort regulars and Les Cook is one of the foremost authorities on the steel guitar and Hawaiian music in the UK. We think it will the first visit to Beaufort Jazz for Les so please give him a warm reception. For the performance Les will be playing an original 1920s National Hawaiian steel guitar and a hand-made Hawaiian style Maccaferri copy.

The performance begins promptly at 8pm with doors open at 7.45pm. As usual the entry fee is £1 to cover the costs of the evening and there will be the usual raffle to bolster funds.

Look forward to seeing you on the 4th!

Djangobop to feature – Monday March 7th

Matt Wells Djangobop

After one century ends another begins -and so we start our second century of Beaufort Jazz evenings on Monday March 7th. when the featured musicians will be the excellent Djangobop. Having supported Beaufort Jazz evenings for a number of years its very good news to announce that this popular guitar duo of Matt Wells and Dave Stearsrtee will be playing the opening featured set for the evening. They need little introduction to Beaufort regulars and many will remember Matt’s last visit when supported Bob Clarke last December.

Matt and Dave have been playing as duo for the last five years and they best describe their music as Django with” just a hint of more contemporary jazz”. Their association goes back even longer – over twenty years to be precise and during that time they have worked with many musicians across a whole range of genres, an experience which has clearly helped them to develop their unique style. The duo also take pride in the performance by “keeping the presentation to that of mid 40’s France”.

Dave Stearstree Djangobop

On the night the duo will be joined by Paul Murphy on third guitar and by the addition of a bass player. It promises to be another thoroughly enjoyable featured set from some talented musicians. It will also be another outing for the new sound system which Paul Draper has been using for about the last three or four Beaufort evenings. The general view seems to be that this has been a great success with the music sounding better than ever. As usual the evening will start promptly at 8pm in the Ellerbrook Suite. Doors open at 7.45 pm so please do try to arrive in good time for the start of the performance.

If you are thinking of visiting us for the first time, please remember that Beaufort Jazz now uses the Briars Hall Hotel as its new venue. The Beaufort Hotel (our original home – hence our name) closed a while ago and is now a nursing home. To the best of our knowledge they don’t host Jazz nights, so probably not worth a visit.

Look forward to seeing you on the 7th!

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.

Century celebrations

100th Beaufort Jazz celebrations

What an evening!  It was standing room only  in the Ellerbrook suite  as musicians and audience, old and new came to celebrate our 100th Beaufort Jazz evening.  It’s doubtful that we have ever had a better one. Needless to say there is a lot to report and there will be a full review on this blog in the next few days.  In the meantime many thanks to all the musicians who played and apologies if you didn’t manage to get to play on stage. It was such a packed and hectic evening that time just ran out even with the 11.30 finish.

Many thanks also to many people who got involved in the organisation of the event. It probably goes without saying that these occasions do not organise themselves and it takes a lot of time and effort to put on a voluntary music event such as Beaufort Jazz. Well done.

A special thanks is also needed for Aladdins Cave in Ormskirk who very kindly donated our special “100th” balloons to decorate the evening. Many will know them as suppliers of fancy dress but they also have a balloon decoration business for weddings and functions. If you are having a function, please check their website out here and give them a call.

One of the bands that didnt get to play on Monday was Trez Fez who gallantly stood down in order to allow other musicians to perform. Not to worry however as Trez Fez will be playing a special charity event this Saturday (12th Feb) at Aughton Village Hall. It is in aid of our local Queenscourt Hospice which is a tremendous local charity and throughly worthy of your support. The event starts at 7.30 and is only £6 entrance which is payable on the door. We understand that Polly Douglas and Douce Ambience will also play. Please make an effort to attend. If you need any further information, please call 07837 692 628. If you want to help promote the event please download the event leaflet here.

Enjoy!

The 100th Beaufort Jazz Evening! – Featuring Daniel John Martin

Daniel John Martin

Following our eighth anniversary towards the end of last year, someone casually asked what our next milestone might be? It was a good question and  after a little discussion and some maths we calculated that the February event would in fact be our 100th Beaufort Jazz Evening. It didn’t seem possible, but it is the case and Monday 7th February will be 100th time we have got together to enjoy our friendly evening of Gypsy Jazz.

It’s doubtful that we will get a telegram from the Queen but we are hoping for a full house. It would be good to see old faces again that havent managed to attend the last few evenings but might want to make a special effort for this one. Newcomers are aways very welcome,  just roll up on the night and take a seat – it’s that easy.

For our 100th celebrations we are very pleased to announce that Daniel John Martin will be our featured musician. Daniel is the Paris based jazz violinist and vocalist who has worked with some very familiar names during his career. If you have seen Daniel in France it could well have been at one of the popular jam sessions which he hosts alongside Angelo Debarre. These sessions have welcomed some splendid musicians over the years and they have been joined by Boulou and Elios Ferre, Moreno, Patrick Saussois, Rodolphe Raffalli, Andreas Oberg, Ludovic Beier and Kiyoshi Kabayashi – and many more.

Daniel is also well-known for his appearances at The Birmingham International Jazz Festival, The City of London Festival and many major French Jazz Festivals as well as finding time to record and appear at many of the recognised Jazz venues in Europe.

In his younger years Daniel spent many years travelling and living in South Africa before moving to Paris and studying violin at the Parisian conservatories. It was during these years that he “met up with jazz” and it has been his main musical interest ever since. Originally born in Congleton in Cheshire, his visit to Beaufort Jazz is therefore almost a homecoming after many years of travelling and performing. Please give him a very warm Beaufort Jazz welcome on what will be a unique and special evening.

Daniel’s website can be found by clicking here. There is also a promotional poster for the evening which can be found by clicking here. If you able to help to download the poster and promote the evening – it is greatly appreciated.

If you havent managed to make recent Beaufort Jazz events why not come down and share in our 100th celebrations? We will be back in the newly refurbished Ellerbrook Suite at the Briars Hall Hotel so there will be plenty of room for everyone to have a seat for the evening. As usual we will start promptly at 8pm with doors opening at 7.45pm. Entry is the usual £1.

Look forward to seeing you on 7th!

Review Bob Clarke and Petrus – introducing Daniel John Martin!

Petrus Beaufort Jazz Jan 2011

Normally winter weather in West Lancashire is fairly benign, however this year has been very different. Heavy snow and prolonged sub-zero temperatures have disrupted the region and made life difficult. As we approached the day of the Bob Clarke gig there was concern that we might have to cancel as some of the musicians accompanying Bob were snowbound. Despite a severe weather warning we did manage to go ahead as planned. Inevitably there were reduced audience numbers, which was a great pity as many Beaufort Jazz regulars missed a legendary gig.

Bob Clarke was of course our featured artist for December. The much traveled veteran violinist who had worked with some of history’s finest jazz musicians, was making his first appearance at Beaufort Jazz. The occasion was eagerly awaited. As you might expect, Bob was in fine form and most fortunately this historic little gig has been caught on video. We are hoping to be able to put some of this online in near future with more details of the gig, so please watch out for further information. 

Thankfully the weather had improved when we welcomed Petrus as featured musicians in January. Those of us who have seen Petrus before will remember that they cover a lot of musical ground, playing gypsy jazz ( in the style of Martin Taylor) along with standards and some Eastern European gypsy compositions. We heard a set which included such classics as Minor Swing, Norwegian Wood and All the Things You Are. They then concluded with Czardas – that song that everyone recognises but few can name.

Daniel John Martin Beaufort Jazz Feb 2011

If you missed Petrus you missed another fine Beaufort Jazz evening. You might however want to catch Les Bolger (their guitarist) who will be bringing the Les Bolger Guitar Ensemble to the Wilmslow Conservative Club on the 17th January. Les tells us they hope to have no less than six guitars on stage so definitely one for guitar enthusiasts.

Next month on Monday 7th February will be the 100th Beaufort Jazz evening. A huge milestone considering the difficulties in putting on a volounteer live music event. Well done to all the musicians and organisers who have kept Beaufort Jazz going through thick and thin.

As usual, we have tried to mark the occasion and are very pleased to announce that our featured act will be the Paris based violinist Daniel John Martin. Daniel will only be playing a small number of gigs whilst he is over here in the UK and we are delighted that he has found time to join us in Burscough. Daniel will be accompanied by Beaufort regulars and there will be a full announcement in the next few days. If you are reading this and you are nearer London than Liverpool, you will be pleased to know that Daniel is playing the famous Le QuecumBar with guitarist Romane on the 30th January.

Petrus to feature Monday January 3rd

Petrus to play Beaufort Jazz Jan 2011

Last Tuesday’s visit to Studio 2 at Parr Street was very enjoyable with Beaufort Jazz regulars descending en masse for the evening to see Clifton Harrydass and Trez Fez perform.  As you might imagine from a recording studio, the acoustics are exceptional and it was very good to hear familiar musicians play at Studio 2. The evening attracted an audience of about 60 who clearly enjoyed the event.

The cornerstone of the evening is the house band  at Studio 2 with John Mc Cormick on upright bass. This leads us very neatly into our  next Beaufort Jazz evening, as John also plays bass for Petrus, who will be our featured band on Monday January 3rd.

Some may remember that Petrus played the Southport Jazz Festival earlier in the year. It was an open air event and despite the windy Southport conditions they played a very enjoyable gig. We are delighted to welcome them to Beaufort Jazz and hope that the Briars Hall Hotel will prove to be a little less bracing.

Petrus promise us a varied set which will include Gypsy jazz and many favorite jazz standards. The line up also includes Tom Sykes on violin, Les Bolger on guitar and Danny Mannix on accordion. Tom of course needs no introduction but please welcome his fellow musicians as it looks like it will be their first visit to Beaufort Jazz.

We understand that the Ellerbrook Suite (our normal home for the evening) is being refurbished in January and therefore we will be in the restaurant again – as we were for the Bob Clarke gig. The good news is that we think that the Ellerbrook Suite will undergo some soundproofing as part of the refurbishment. If this is the case it may help solve the problem of the Suite being directly under the bedrooms. We will see.

All that is left is to wish you a Merry Christmas, for what remains of this Christmas Day and a very Happy New Year.

Best wishes

Bob Clarke update

The Bob Clarke announcement below has generated a lot of interest and no doubt stirred old memories for some. We now have a few more photographs, courtesy of Bob’s grandson who took the trouble to scan and forward them on to us. We  also have  some background about the people who appeared in them.

Bob Clarke Janette Scott Shirley Eaton and Johnny Mulgrew

The photo in the post below shows Bob with Denny Purssord on the left and Johnny Mulgrew on the right, holding the hat out. Johnny maybe familiar to some as he appeared in the Bill Hall Trio for many years, along with Spike Milligan who played guitar.

This picture  is one of those you wonder how it came to be taken. Bob is on the left with the actresses Janette Scott and Shirley Eaton. James Bond aficionados will no doubt remember that Shirley was the bond girl in Goldfinger who met an untimely end by being coated in gold paint. Johnny Mulgrew is in the foreground with an unidentified youngster.

The final photo click here shows Bob with Wild Bill Davison who was the cornet player for many years in the Eddie Condon Band.

As you may have gathered, all the photos here are thumbnails and if you click on them will take you to a larger version of the photograph. Likewise a link (in blue text) will also take you to a photo or link.

Look forward to seeing you on Monday.

Bob Clarke to feature Monday 6th December!

Bob Clarke and friends

Next Monday will of course be our Christmas Beaufort Jazz evening – and to mark the occasion we are delighted to announce that our featured musician will be the veteran jazz violinist Bob Clarke. When we first heard that Bob had agreed to play, it has to be said that we were very excited about the prospect of seeing  a superb musician who has played with some of the great jazz legends during his long career.

Bob’s professional career began in the early 1950’s when he was often to be found playing in the Soho clubs of that era. It was an environment that he enjoyed working in and eventually Bob went on to play in some of the iconic Soho jazz venues such as the Mandrake Club and Ronnie Scotts – at its original Gerrard Street location. On one such gig, Stephane Grappelli happened to be in the audience and the two met and became friends, often dining together and no doubt discussing gypsy jazz at some length. In the late 50s he went to play in Moscow with the Denny Wright Trio and then went on to tour the world. Eventually Bob settled in Paris playing at many of the top venues including 10 years at the Crazy Horse.

During his travels he associated with many  legends and enjoyed a number of musical collaborations.  He met Elvis at the Lido in Paris and on a trip to Las Vegas met both Duke Ellington and Nat King Cole. Bob also played on a number of occasions with Diz Disley and introduced Diz to Stephane Grappelli who in later years would work together.

By 1977 Bob had now formed the Bob Clarke ensemble and returned to England from Paris. The gigs quickly followed with  a season’s contract at the Victoria Palace. Then in Silver Jubilee week they played the opening act at the London Palladium. Nowadays, Bob still ventures down to London to play and during the summer months can often be found at the Keswick Jazz Festival where he plays to a loyal and appreciative audience.

On Monday, Bob will be accompanied by his friend Peter Birtwistle and two Beaufort regulars, Mike Dexter on upright bass and Matt Wells on rhythm guitar. It will be quite a night for Beaufort Jazz. As well as being  a great evening of music it will also be small piece of Jazz history.

As usual the performance will begin promptly at 8pm so please take your seats in good time for the start.

Look forward to seeing you on Monday!

November Review

David Powell

It seems quite a while since our last evening on the 1st of November and some readers will have noticed that we hadn’t posted our usual review. Apologies for the delay and on the basis of better late than never…

Our featured band was of course the Powell Brothers –  the guitar and saxophone duo of David and Arthur Powell. It was their first appearance at Beaufort Jazz and we were very pleased to welcome them. As promised, their set contained many standards including what was a delightful version of that timeless classic -Stella by Starlight.  It’s clear that they enjoy their music and took great pleasure in performing for appreciative Beaufort Jazz regulars. As usual, the 40 or so minutes we set aside for the featured performance passed by all too quickly and hopefully they will put the first Monday of month in their diary and we will see them again in the near future.

The remainder of evening was our usual gypsy jazz jam and it reminded us with the jam format how different each month can be. There were many guest musicians and hence the evening had a good number of impromptu ensembles – and some surprises. Roy Gregory, normally to found as one half of Modjango  intrigued us all when he produced an accordion and gave us a short set which included a splendid rendition of Autumn leaves. The evening finished a bit later than usual due to the excellent turn out and we hope that next month will be equally as popular.

Arthur Powell

Next month promises to be a bit of a coup for Beaufort Jazz as we have a gypsy jazz musician who was a personal friend of Stephane Grappelli and who has performed at Ronnie Scotts and many of the great European jazz venues. He also toured America and met the likes of Nat King Cole and Duke Ellington.

If that wasnt enough, he then worked with Diz Disley for a number of years. Not only do we play host to fine musician but we are very pleased to welcome a man who was actually involved in the golden years of gypsy jazz. It’s a tremendous prospect to look forward to. There will be a full announcement here in the next few days – don’t miss it.

Our next Beaufort Jazz night will be on Monday 6th December.

Anniversary celebrations

Neil Harrison and Ken Johnston - Zazous Anglais

Last Monday marked another milestone in the history of Beaufort Jazz as we chalked up our eighth anniversary in some style. Now firmly established at our new home in the Ellerbrook Suite at the Briars Hall Hotel, the future looks to be secure. The crisis of the closure of our old venue at the Beaufort Hotel is now well behind us and we are once again attracting many new faces to our monthly Manouche event.

One of the benefits of our new venue is the monthly featured opening event where musicians kick the evening off with an extended set. It usually lasts about 40 minutes and gives the opportunity for musicians old and new to perform a greater repertoire in front of a friendly and appreciative audience.

And so it was on Monday when the Manouche trio Zazous Anglais made the journey down the M6 from Lancaster in order to open the evening. They gave us standards such as Swing 39 and also included numbers that you don’t hear that often. Melodie Au Crepuscule and Bossa Sephora were new to many, likewise Chez Jaquet and David.  This ensured that we were able to enjoy a very original set. They concluded with Menilmontant to very warm and generous applause. Hopefully Zazous can join us again in the near future, If however you missed them, try to find them playing one of their regular gigs in and around Lancaster. You will not be disappointed.

Mark Knowles - Zazous Anglais

Ted Hanley was joined by Paul Turner on bass for his monthly smooth jazz session. Bill Cox and Steve Cronin joined with Pete Shannon to give us some familiar numbers from their Hot Club of Knotty Ash repertoire. The evening finished with Trez Fez forming one of their impromptu ensembles.

And so onwards to hopefully our ninth anniversary.  December’s evening will have its usual Christmas spirit with another milestone being reached early next year when we hope to be able to have a few surprises. More of this to follow in the New Year.

November’s featured act will be announced shortly.

Gig update – Zazous Anglais and Trez Fez

Just to update you with the latest gig news.

Neil Harrison - Zazous Anglais

If you were unlucky to miss the excellent Zazous Angalis last Monday then all is not lost They are appearing at the Lancaster Music Festival this coming weekend. Zazous will be playing two venues, on Saturday they will be playing at The Robert Gillow at 5pm with their second gig on Sunday when they will play The Bobbin at 3 pm.

Trez Fez will be playing at the Conwy Feast which starts Saturday 23rd October. The time and exact location of the performance to be announced shortly.

As many will know, last Monday was the 8th anniversary of Beafort Jazz. It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening and there will be pictures and a review in the next few days….

Zazous Anglais to feature Monday 4th October

Zazous Anglais

 On what will be our 8th anniversary, the next Beaufort Jazz evening will be on Monday October 4th. To mark the occasion we are very pleased to bring a new act to the Beaufort Jazz stage and announce that Zazous Anglais will be our featured band for the evening.  

Inspired by french swing and the iconic jazz era of the 30’s and 40’s, Zazous play gypsy swing with a some considerable flair. Guitarist Neil Harrison can be seen regularly in Europe and has been a frequent performer on the Paris live music scene for some years. Neil has played with many artists including Ninine Garcia, Potsi, Christophe Brunard and Merino at such venues as the Chope des Puces and Au Clarion des Chasseurs in Paris.  

Needless to say, we are very pleased to have Zazous Anglais feature and share our anniversary celebrations. Their uplifting and melodic musical style is sure to be popular so Beaufort regulars will definitely want to put this in the diary as one not to be missed.  

Zazous Anglais are Neil Harrison – guitar, Mark Knowles – rhythm guitar and Ken Johnston – double bass.  

Doors at the Briars Hall Hotel will be open at 7.30pm for an 8pm prompt start so please try to take your seats in good time for the performance. Entry is only the usual £1 to cover costs.  

Look forward to seeing you on the 4th!

Beaufort Jazz Review – Monday 6th September

Adam Palma

  It might have been raining last Monday evening but no one at the Beaufort Jazz night was concerned as a full house settled down to enjoy an evening of special guitar. Our monthly featured act was of course Adam Palma, the man with diverse guitar skills who captivates audiences with his fretwork. Opening the evening with a solo spot, Adam gave us a number of self penned songs and then treated the audience to his signature version of “See you later Alligator” where he plays 4 parts on the one guitar. Very impressive.  

In the second half of his set Adam was joined on stage by John McMahon, Matt Wells and Dave Stearstree on guitar, with Tony Hamer on bass. Launching straight into “Caravan” the group then played all the gypsy jazz classics that make Beaufort Jazz evenings so enjoyable. As usual, an impressive set came to an end all too soon.  

Ted Hanley was then joined on stage by Tony Hamer and Brian Rennie on saxophone to give us a set of smooth jazz guitar for which Ted is renowned. Once again Ted had made the journey from east Lancashire to join us. It’s a journey he has made for a good number of years now and needless to say Ted is one of our keenest supporters.   

Following Ted, Trez Fez took to the stage with an expanded line up which included Tony and Brian with Phil Bernia on drums, Pete Shannon on bass and Steve Parry on Trumpet. Clifton Harrydass on steel pan completed the line up. As usual, they gave us a set of uplifting gypsy jazz. This friendly band always  welcomes guest musicians into their line up and their generosity is often rewarded with new and exciting music. Trez Fez are rarely the same but never lose their distinctive melodic sound. Their set concluded with the usual enthusiastic applause.  

As a finale, Adam returned to the stage accompanied by Clifton and Samuel C Lees on guitar. It was vibrant and energetic set to end an excellent evening’s entertainment. Unfortunately for us, the Briars Hall Hotel had a number of residents that night and we had to end the evening promptly at 10.30 pm. If you are reading about us for the first time and wondering why, the Ellerbrook Suite which is home to Beaufort Jazz evenings is situated directly under some of the bedrooms in the hotel. We accept this with good grace as the Ellerbrook Suite is pretty much the perfect location for us.    

At the end of the evening, we were reminded that next month will mark the 8th anniversary of Beaufort Jazz. Eight years of great music, friendly people and thoroughly enjoyable evenings. Needless to say we are hoping to mark the occasion in some way and will make an announcement shortly.  

The next Beaufort Jazz evening will be on Monday 4th October. Why not join us?

Adam Palma update

 

Adam Palma

 As announced below, Adam Palma will be our opening Beaufort Jazz featured artist for Monday 6th September.   

The promotional poster for the event is now available and can be found here If you think you can help promote the event please feel free to download and display the poster. Your help is much appreciated!   

The doors will be open from 7.30 onwards and the performance will start promptly at 8pm so please do try to arrive in good time for the start.   

The Briars Hall  Hotel have reminded us that they do serve food before the event – so why not enjoy a meal prior to the performance.   

See  you on the 6th

Excellent Django resource

Every now and again we try to publish something original about Django Reinhardt which we think will interest enthusiasts. The difficulty is that much of the original material has already been published on the web in one form or another. So when we find a good Django resource on the web we are very pleased just to link to and recommend that site.

So it is with this site hosted by Paul Vernon Chester. It contains an excellent wealth of information on Django throughout his life and travels and should be of great interest to all Django students. Please click on the blue link above to get to Paul’s website.

Our sources also tell us that Paul is quite an accomplished guitarist and hopefully he will find himself in the North West at some stage and be able to attend one of our Beaufort Gypsy Jazz nights

Finally, don’t forget that Adam Palma is our featured act for September (see post below). This is definitely one to put in your diary. More details to be announced shortly!

Adam Palma to feature Monday 6th September

Adam Palma

 Back in May we had one of those evenings which we hoped could go on all night. Beaufort Jazz regulars will remember that Vernon Fuller was our featured act that evening and as usual, gave us one of his superbly professional performances. It was certainly a difficult act to follow. Then as the evening drew to close, Adam Palma stepped onto the stage and performed a truly memorable guitar set. It was a splendid finale to the evening. 

Since then Adam’s musical commitments have meant that he has had difficulty in making further Beaufort evenings, which makes it all the more enjoyable to announce that Adam will be our featured opening act for Monday 6th September.  The set will contain many gypsy jazz favourites and we are also delighted to announce that Adam has agreed to do a special solo spot within the set. 

If you have a look at Adam’s diary it is easy to see why we have had great difficulty in getting him to feature. In July Adam was invited to Nashville to perform and conduct workshops for the Chet Atkins Appreciation Society. In November Adam will also be supporting and playing with the legendary Mr Tommy Emmanuel on tour. 

If this wasn’t enough, Adam has also just agreed some gigs with top British soul and funk saxophonist  Snake Davis  Most people will know Snake from his work with M People however he has played and recorded with artists ranging from James Brown, Paul McCartney, The Eurythmics and Amy Winehouse. Dates will be announced shortly, so if you are reading this and want to book them, you need to act quickly. 

As always its difficult in a short post such as this to do justice to an artist like Adam who has incredibly diverse guitar skills. So please check out his website which can be found by clicking the link here 

This is definitely not a Beaufort night to be missed. The performance will start promptly at 8 pm so please take your seats in good time for the start. 

Entry is only the customary £1 to cover the costs of the evening. Yes that’s right – you will be seeing some of the regions finest musicians for less than the price of a decent newspaper. How can you miss such an opportunity? 

Look forward to seeing you all on the 6th