Peter Burton's daily log, covering Peter's personal interests, e.g. jazz, travel and general grumpiness plus (occasionally) the business of Isomatic and its associate companies.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Missed Berrylands; Jack o' Newbury again
On Thursday we had a visitor at Park Farm so there was no chance of leaving early for jazz at the Berrylands. We took him for dinner at the
Jack o' Newbury in Binfield, Berkshire, leaving for home around 22:00. Cottage pie and a pint of 'Hoppit' went down well.
Labels: Eating out
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Apex jazz band with Bob Dwyer
On Monday night we saw the Apex Jazz Band at
the Cricketers in Horsell Birch, Woking. The band comprised Tony Nutt (cornet), Peter Minett (soprano and alto sax), Bob Dwyer (guest on trombone), Terry Twiss (guitar, banjo, vocals), Bert Shipp (bass guitar, vocals) and Ian Parry (drums). Due to tiredness we only stayed for the first half, during which we particularly enjoyed:
Bert's vocal 'Tishomingo Blues', to which we danced;
Terry's vocal and guitar for 'Georgia on my Mind';
The ensemble piece 'Papa Dip'.
The picture shows the full band with Aileen May's hair and shoulder in the foreground.
Labels: Jazz
Monday, November 26, 2007
Urban Gin House Band with Peter Godfrey
On Sunday evening we went to
The Europa in East Molesey to see the Urban Gin House Band. The line-up comprised Alan Brock (trumpet, vocals), Les Dyos (trombone), Peter Godfrey (keyboard, pictured), Mike Bennett (bass) and Mike Knipe (drums). Our favourite numbers with these musicians were 'Blue Lou', with a great trumpet section from Alan and 'Dippermouth Blues'.
Guests were:
John Shepherd (pocket trumpet), Phil Brown (trombone) and Trevor Dockerill (tenor sax) playing 'Paper Moon' and 'Fine and Dandy';
Peter Clancy and Roy Stokes (trombones) playing 'Bugle Boy March' and 'Tishomingo Blues', the latter with more great trumpet from Alan.
Colin Lewry played keyboard in the breaks the second one accompanied by Peter Clancy on string bass.
Ian Hunt and partner sat with us for the first time. She noted that they had seen us visiting the bar at the Berrylands so I asked how we were so noticeable. The answer was 'Selina's mini-skirts!"
Labels: Jazz
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Surrey drive; Burford Bridge Hotel
This morning we went for a drive through the beautiful Surrey countryside stopping for excellent coffee and shortbread at the Burford Bridge Hotel. It is now owned by
The Mercure Group but seems unchanged. Our outgoing route was via West Horsley, East Horsley, Green Dene, Ranmoor and West Humble (one-time home of novelist and royal court servant Fanny Burney). We returned via Dorking, Coldharbour, Abinger Common, Abinger Hammer, Gomshall and Newlands Corner (usually packed with visitors due to its fine views and walks).
Labels: Travel
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Gatsby Jazz Band with Kevin Scott
This evening we went to
The Wych Elm in Elm Road, Kingston Upon Thames, for the monthly performance by the Gatsby Jazz Band. The picture shows Kevin Scott depping on banjo as regular leader and banjo player Mike Adamson was missing due to illness. Our favourite numbers were:
'Black and Blue' and 'Jeepers Creepers', with Alan Jenkins singing;
'Beale Street Blues' with Kevin singing.
I brought with me a very old five-string banjo (pictured) which Kevin examined and Dave Griffiths attempted to play. Kevin has kindly offered to post pictures of it on his web site
Findajo Vintage Banjos with a view to selling it.
Labels: Jazz
Friday, November 23, 2007
Samba to Bossa Nova
This evening we sat in front of the TV (unusually) and watched the first episode of
Brasil, Brasil. This episode covered Samba to Bossa Nova, of which the last section was the most interesting to us. We particularly enjoyed the story of how guitarist Charlie Byrd was funded by the USA State Department to tour Latin America and brought back the Bossa Nova. Back in the 1960's we struggled to obtain the recording of that tour, called
Latin Impressions after hearing Vince Wilson's copy at Henlow, Bedfordshire. The small record shop in Stevenage Old Town eventually tracked it down and obtained it for us. The most famous tracks are Luiz Bonfa's 'Carnaval' from Black Orpheus and Antonio Carlos Jobim's 'Samba de Una Nota So', both of which we are known to request jazz bands to play.
The photograph is of Astrud Gilberto, who famously sang 'The Girl From Ipanema', another Jobim composition.
Labels: Television
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Brian White Magna Jazz Band at the Berrylands
This evening we went to the
Berrylands Hotel in Surbiton, where
Brian White's Magna jazz band performs every week, again with the standard line-up. Brian, referring to the evening's programme, said that he "had a little list". The reponse from the trombonist was "to port or to starboard ?" The picture of Brian shows it to starboard.
Our favourites from the excellent list were:
'Dippermouth Blues', with "Oh Play That Thing" from the audience;
'Ain't Misbehavin' with "your kisses are worth waiting for" accompanied by real kisses with Selina;
'Babette', as played in prehistoric Magna Jazz Band recordings, but not when I previously requested it;
and best of all
Alan Dandy's keyboard solo, 'The Man I Love'.
Labels: Jazz
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Ampair web site
The
Ampair web site now shows the A600 series of wind turbines. We are only selling the battery-charge versions via the site, the gid-tie version requires contact to arrange site visit(s).
Labels: Wind power
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Panama Cafe Orchestra with Graham Collicott
On Monday night we saw the Panama Cafe Orchestra at
the Cricketers in Horsell Birch, Woking. The band comprised Dave Lowe (cornet), Richard White (clarinet, alto sax, baritone sax), Chris Lowe (trombone), Graham Collicott (drums, pictured), Chris Houslander (sousaphone) and Dave Griffiths (banjo).
It was only the second time we have seen Graham perform and once again we were impressed with his skills, shown to good effect on 'Washboard Wiggle'. Our other favourites were: 'Royal Garden Blues', 'Cloudy' to which we danced, 'Canal Street Blues' to which four other couples danced, and 'Davenport Blues'.
Labels: Jazz
Monday, November 19, 2007
Ampair Test Site in Cornwall
We have just spent the weekend working at the
Ampair Test Site in Cornwall. The picture shows the four wind turbines running there, two of them for nearly a year now. Overnight we logged winds of up to 15 m/s, far higher than we ever experience at Ampair's Berkshire HQ.
Labels: Wind power
Friday, November 16, 2007
Failed to reach the Berrylands
On Thursday evening we were required to interview a candidate at 17:00 so we left at 18:00, then had to stop for fuel on the way home. Dinner took longer than I expected and we had to pack for the weekend trip to our Cornish trials facility. Result; too late for our regular Thursday evening at the Berrylands to see the Magna Jazz Band.
Labels: Grumpy
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Millais, Archduke, Present Laughter
Selina's birthday treat on Wednesday was a trip to London, first for the
Millais exhibition at Tate Britain; a large display showing the versatility of this great British artist.
We then walked along the Thames to
The Archduke for an excellent early dinner. This is our favourite London eatery which we began using soon after it opened in 1979, when it had no competition in the area. How things have changed.
Our last treat was to walk the few yards along the street to see the Noel Coward play
Present Laughter at the National Theatre. Very enjoyable.
Labels: Art, Eating out, Theatre
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Clive Burton's Century Jazz with Pete Towndrow
On Monday night we saw Clive Burton's Century Jazz at
the Cricketers in Horsell Birch, Woking. The band was back to normal personnel, comprising Clive Burton (trombone), special guest Pete Towndrow (cornet, flugelhorn), Mike Wills, (alto and tenor sax) Zane Cronje (keyboard), John Money (string bass) and Martin Harp (drums). These are great musicians, playing swinging mainstream jazz from the heart. We particularly liked Zane's delicate style and his passing musical references to serious music, e.g. Chopin and Albeniz. Our favourite numbers were:
'This Heart of Mine';
Zane's feature 'The Folks who Live on the Hill';
'Casa de Luz' by Shorty Rogers (who remembers Shorty Rogers and his Giants from the '50s ?);
and, best of all my request, 'The Morning of the Carnaval' from Black Orpheus. Pete Towndrow loves the Brazilian Bossa Nova period (as do we) but denied ever playing 'Carnaval' before. I said that he had played it one night at the Berrylands when Brian White was absent but, on checking my own weblog, I see that he got Alan Dandy and Rex Bennett to play it for me. I apologise.
We sat with a good crowd of women, including Jan Burton, Doreen Towndrow and Margaret, Zane's young lady. This left no room for Brian who, having heard our moans about New Year's Eve, handed us a printed invitation to have dinner at his place and then go on to the Co-op club. What a nice guy !
Labels: Jazz
Monday, November 12, 2007
Urban Gin House Band with Dave Cox
On Sunday evening we went to
The Europa in East Molesey to see the Urban Gin House Band. The line-up comprised Alan Brock (trumpet, vocals), Dave Cox (tenor sax, clarinet, pictured), Alan Dandy (keyboard), Mike Bennett (bass) and Eddie Kettle (drums). Our favourite numbers with these musicians were 'September in the Rain', 'Love is Just Around the Corner', 'Disorder at the Border', 'Stranger on the Shore' and Alan Dandy's great duet with Mike Bennett 'Pick Yourself Up'.
Guests were:
John Shepherd (pocket trumpet), playing 'I Cover the Waterfront' and 'Hi-Ya';
Audrey Stokes (pictured), singing 'Don't Get Around Much Any More' and 'Deed I Do';
Trevor Dockerill (alto sax), playing 'Blues on a 12 Bar Theme';
Fred Shaw (cornet and vocal) playing/singing 'I Want a Little Girl' and 'Doctor Jazz'.
Colin Lewry played keyboard in the breaks.
Unusually for the Europa, we were joined by other dancers for the slow numbers.
Labels: Jazz
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Into The Wild at the Kingston Odeon
On Saturday evening we went to Kingston's Odeon Cinema to see
Into The Wild as it was not showing locally. It received rave amateur reviews on IMDB.com so we were more than hopeful. However, we found the film rather disappointing; perhaps it appeals more to the US market. In urban UK there is less desire to live in the wild, with all the horror that it involves. The scene we found particularly sickening was the hero's feverish butchering of the moose (or was it a caribou) before the flies laid their eggs in the fresh meat and ruined it. I had a strong desire to vomit !
Labels: Film
Friday, November 09, 2007
Brian White Magna Jazz Band at the Berrylands
On Thursday evening we went to the
Berrylands Hotel in Surbiton, where
Brian White's Magna jazz band performs every week, again with the standard line-up. The picture shows Rex Bennett, who was given a substantial drum solo for once.
Every number was good but our favourites were:
'At The Jazz Band Ball';
'Careless Love';
'Wabash Blues';
'My Baby Just Cares for me', which at least two of the band had never played;
and best of all
Alan Dandy's boogie-woogie solo 'Down By The River'.
Labels: Jazz
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Nissan Kubistar
Boost Energy Systems has just bought a Nissan Kubistar van, advertised as the shortest in its class but with the greatest load space. I tried it yesterday and it seems fine.
Labels: Cars
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Louis Prima
On Tuesday evening we stayed in and watched a tribute to
Louis Prima on BBC 4. There was so much we did not know, e.g. he composed the jazz classic 'Sing, Sing, Sing.' I find it sad that today he is best known as the voice of 'King Louis' in the jungle book.
Labels: Jazz
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Phil Brown Swingtet with Peter Godfrey
On Monday evening at The Cricketers in Horsell Birch we saw the Phil Brown Swingtet, comprising Phil Brown (trombone), Lester Brown (trumpet, flugel horn), Mark Aston (Tenor Sax, Clarinet), Ken Ames (guitar), Guest Peter Godfrey (keyboard, pictured), Mike Bennett (string bass) and David Clancy (drums). Our favourite numbers were:
'Perdido', 'Georgia On My Mind', 'Satin Doll' and Phil's vocal 'I Want a Little girl'. We were imprerssed by Peter Godfrey on all these numbers.
Guests from the audience were Roy Stokes (trombone) and Colin Lewry (keyboard playing 'Rosetta' and 'If I Had you'.
Brian was back at our table after many weeks absence due to Peugeot problems. His latest news is that he has been suspended from the 'Aggi' club in Guildford. One is never too old for bad behaviour !
Labels: Jazz
Monday, November 05, 2007
Southbourne, Shaftesbury
On Sunday we took a day trip to Dorset, where glorious sunshine was the order of the day. After a walk along the promenade at Southbourne (first picture), we lunched at
The Commodore again (second picture). This time we tried the starters and the wine; both good.
After lunch we went to Shaftesbury but were disappointed to find our favourite teashop closed.
Labels: Travel
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Elizabeth at the Guildford Odeon
On Saturday evening we saw
Elizabeth: The Golden Age at Guildford's Odeon cinema. Historically inaccurate but very moving.
Labels: Film
Saturday, November 03, 2007
Jack o' Newbury, Binfield
On Friday evening Selina and I ate out at the
Jack o' Newbury in Binfield, Berkshire before returning to work for the evening shift. No photograph seems to be available on the web and it was rather dark to take one ourselves but here is an artist's impression. Good food and a fine range of wines by the glass. Friendly service and friendly locals. One word of warning; no food on Sunday evenings.
We first tried the
Three Legged Cross but they no longer serve food on any evening. We then went to the
Stag & Hounds but all the tables were occupied or reserved.
Jack of Newbury is a legendary figure of early Tudor England akin to Dick Whittington. His story was written as a work of fiction in the 1590’s by Thomas Deloney.
Labels: Eating out
Friday, November 02, 2007
Brian White Magna Jazz Band at Berrylands
On Thursday evening we went to the
Berrylands Hotel in Surbiton, where
Brian White's Magna jazz band performs every week, this time with the standard line-up. The audience was small but included Derek from Oban, our furthest flung (ir)regular. Brian kindly said that we were missed last week.
Every number was good but our favourites were:
'Melancholy Blues' after a false start with Pete Towndrow playing in Eb against the others in F;
'Whispering', unusually including the verse, played on the trombone;
'Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out';
'Georgia Grind', with some of the audience, including me, joining in to echo the title words;
and best of all
Alan Dandy (pictured) with bass and drums playing 'Oh Look At Me Now'. As a member of the Tommy Dorsey band, pianist
Joe Bushkin wrote this number with John DeVries supplying the lyrics. The song launched the career of the young Frank Sinatra, who was then the band's vocalist.
Labels: Jazz
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Single to 3 phase converters
As we have a sunny morning I have just photographed our Booster A12 in its latest format. This revision provides a lower profile, reduced complexity, greater component accessibility and improved starting power. I will add this image to the
Isomatic Phase Converters web page.
Labels: Phase converters
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