Isomatic UK Weblog

This evening we went to the George & Dragon in Thames Ditton to see the John Barnes quartet, comprising John Barnes (baritone sax, alto sax, clarinet, vocal), Alan Dandy (keyboard), Mick Durelle (bass guitar) and Don Cook (drums). Our favourite numbers were:
1) I Remember You, composed in 1941 by Victor Schertzinger with lyrics by Johnny Mercer, this link being to the 1961 number one hit by Frank Ifield (nostalgia).
2) My Mother's Eyes, composed in 1929 by Abel Baer and L. Wolfe Gilbert. The link is to the Kenny Ball version (nostalgia again).
3) Alan Dandy's solo feature God Bless The Child, composed by Billie Holiday as sung on this link.
4) Caravan, written by valve trombonist Juan Tizol. The link is to the Duke Ellington version.
John Lang (trombone) joined the band for 'Some of These Days', 'I Let a Song Go out of My Heart' and 'Ring Dem Bells'.

Labels: Jazz

This week we purchased a pair of roof bars for the Ampair van. I must commend www.van-roofracks.co.uk for low price, good quality and amazingly quick delivery. The manufacturer is Saunders of Wimbledon. My only quibble is with the instructions; a set screw and a bolt are two very different items and confusing them leads to the installer (me) having to repeat work. We were also concerned at the lack of shakeproof washers in such a high vibration application. We fitted Nord-Lock washers to the main bolts through the roof and I am contemplating adding Loctite to the threads of the set screws.

Labels: Vehicles

This evening we went to the Berrylands Hotel in Surbiton to see and hear Brian White's Magna Jazz Band. Special guests (pictured) were Ken Reece (cornet) and Graham Barton (keyboard). Our favourite numbers were:
1. Brian's vocal Everybody Loves My Baby, composed by Spencer Williams in 1924 with lyrics by Jack Palmer. This link is to a version by Clarence Williams' Blue Five. We gave Brian the traditional standing ovation but with Peter Winn and I spotlighting his face with our torches.
2. Lonesome Road, a 1927 song with music by Nathaniel Shilkret and lyrics by Gene Austin; sung on this link by Julie London.
3. Graham's great solo Bohemia Rag, the last Joseph Lamb rag published before his death in 1960. This link is to a version by Antoinette Filanowska, taken at a more leisurely pace than that of Graham.
We like Graham's style of playing with lots of five finger chords and trills that are not too exaggerated.

Labels: Jazz

This evening we went to the George & Dragon in Thames Ditton (pictured) to see the John Barnes quartet, comprising John Barnes (baritone sax, alto sax, clarinet, vocal), Alan Dandy (keyboard), Mick Durelle (string bass) and Don Cook (drums). Our favourite numbers were:
1) Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams, written by Harry Barris with lyrics by Ted Koehler and Billy Moll, published in 1931. This link is to the version by the late Les Paul and Mary Ford.
2) Alan Dandy's solo feature Take Five, written by Paul Desmond and performed by The Dave Brubeck Quartet on their 1959 album Time Out.
3) Guest vocalist Kim Martine's first number What a Difference a day Made, originally written in Spanish by Mexican composer María Méndez Grever in 1934 as Cuando Vuelva A Tu Lado. The English lyrics were written by Stanley Adams and made famous by Harry Roy & his Orchestra. The song is in the Bolero romantic style and its also known as 'What a Difference a Day Makes' as in this version by Dinah Washington. I call this Selina's song because she once danced to it at the Rutland Arms with a guy called Richard, immediately after claiming she was too tired to stay any longer.
John Shepherd (trumpet) and John Lang (trombone) joined the band for 'I've Found A New Baby', 'Who's Sorry Now' and 'Ring Dem Bells'.

Labels: Jazz

This evening, as usual for a Thursday, we went to the Berrylands Hotel in Surbiton, to see Brian White's Magna jazz band. Chez Chesterman (pictured) replaced Pete Towndrow on Cornet, the remainder of the band being standard. Our favourite numbers were as follows:
1. The World Is Waiting For The Sunrise, lyrics by Gene Lockhart and music (Toronto 1918) by the concert pianist Ernest Seitz, who had conceived the refrain when he was 12. Embarrassed about writing popular music, Seitz used the pseudonym "Raymond Roberts" when the song was first published by Chappell in 1919. The link is to the version by Les Paul and Mary Ford.
2. Chez's great Creole vocal 'E Las Bas', about which I know nothing except that it sounded just fine.
3. Alan Dandy's fine keyboard solo medley, based on the word 'Crazy'. It included 'Crazy in Love With You', 'You, You're Driving Me Crazy' and 'Crazy Rhythm'.
4. Chez's other vocal 'I Can't Sleep', another number about which I know nothing.

One of the Berrylands rituals is for Peter Winn to shine a torch on the raffle prizes as they are announced and he holds them aloft. As he was absent this evening, I dashed to the car to collect a huge torch before the gig started. When the time came, Frances held the prizes and I illuminated them. This was described as our 'double act'.

Labels: Jazz

This evening we went to the George & Dragon in Thames Ditton to see Pete Cook (alto sax, pictured), Alan Dandy (keyboard), Mick Durelle (Fender bass guitar) and Don Cook (drums).
The numbers we enjoyed most were:
Alan's solo feature 'Carnaval', one of our favourites as discussed in the post of last Tuesday;
The Touch of Your Lips, composed by Ray Noble and sung on this link by Nat King Cole.
Guests were John Shepherd (trumpet), John Lang (trombone) and Pete Skivington (Hofner bass guitar, pictured) playing 'Rosetta', 'When It's Sleepy Time Down South' and 'Ring Dem Bells'.

Labels: Jazz

Today we visited Poole Quay in Dorset, which has been re-vitalised to an amazing extent since I was taken there as a child. There are bars, cafés, pubs and restaurants 'ad infinitum' and sea trips of various lengths. Next summer, on a still, hot, day we plan to take the ferry to Brownsea Island and see red squirrels.
The first picture shows a view of the quay from one end. The second picture shows a 'real' boat; not a toy for tourists.

Labels: Travel

This evening we went to the Berrylands Hotel in Surbiton, where the Magna jazz band performs every week. On this occasion the band comprised Pete Towndrow (cornet, trumpet), Brian White (clarinet, vocals), John Howlett (trombone, vocal, pictured), Geoff Over (banjo, guitar, pictured), Richard Lyons (string bass) and Rex Bennett (drums). Our favourite numbers were:
1) John's vocal Hesitation Blues, written by Billy Smythe, Scott Middleton, and Art Gillham.
2) John's trombone feature, Dark Eyes, (Russian: Очи чёрные, Ochi chyornye; English translation: Black Eyes; French translation: Les yeux noirs), the lyrics by Ukrainian poet and writer Yevhen Hrebinka being subsequently set to Florian Hermann's Valse Hommage (in an arrangement by S. Gerdel') and published as a romance on 7 March 1884. Feodor Chaliapin popularised the song abroad in a version amended by himself. The link is to a performance by young musicians Quinn Bachand, guitar, Nelson Moneo, violin & Oliver Moneo, accordion at Daniel Lapp's Joy of Life Concert, April 6, 2007
3) Geoff's banjo feature Oriental Strut, composed by banjoist and guitarist Johnny St. Cyr who played with Louis Armstrong so is probably playing on this link to a performance by one of the many Armstrong bands.

Labels: Jazz

This evening we went to the George & Dragon in Thames Ditton to see the John Barnes quartet, but John was absent so the musicians were Terry Ede (tenor sax, Soprano sax, clarinet and flute, pictured), Alan Dandy (keyboard), Mick Durelle (string bass) and Don Cook (drums). Kim Martine (vocals) joined the band for two numbers.
The numbers we enjoyed most were:
1) 'Reccardo', about which I know nothing; help please !
2) Manhã De Carnaval, AKA 'Morning of the Carnival', 'A Day in the Life of a Fool' and 'Theme from Black Orpheus', by Brazilian composer Luiz Bonfá, as featured on this link.
3) Alan Dandy's solo keyboard feature Song for My Father, composed by Horace Silver and dedicated to his father.
4) Kim Martine's vocal Someone to Watch Over Me, composed by George Gershwin with lyrics by Ira Gershwin from the musical Oh, Kay! (1926), where it was introduced by Gertrude Lawrence.
John Shepherd and John Lang joined the band at the end, playing 'You Took Advantage of Me', 'As Long As I Live' and 'Ring Dem Bells'.

Labels: Jazz

This morning we drove through a part of The New Forest that we don't know from many previous visits. Hazards crossing the road included: fords (mostly dry at present), ponies, cows and donkeys. We note that there is jazz once a week at Burley; Tony Robinson's Chicago Aces. We must try them one day.

Labels: Travel

This evening we went to the Berrylands Hotel in Surbiton to see The Magna jazz band with Ken Reece deputising for Pete Towndrow on cornet.
Special guests were the French quartet La Planche à Laver (pictured), comprising Armel Amiot (banjo and vocals), Michel Cousin (washboard & accessories), Sébastien Vallet (bass saxophone) and Gilles Veron (clarinet). An example of their sound can be found at YouTube-Somebody Stole My Girl.
Our favourite numbers were the last two, with the two bands playing together, Michel taking over the drums from Rex Bennett:
1) Some of These Days, composed by Shelton Brooks for the 'Last of the Red-Hot Mamas', the song becoming a signature song for Sophie Tucker, who made the first of her several recordings of it in 1911.
2) Sweet Georgia Brown written in 1925 by Maceo Pinkard (music) and Kenneth Casey (lyrics). The tune was first recorded in 1926 by Ben Bernie and his Hotel Roosevelt Orchestra but this link is to a great version by Edmund Hall.

Labels: Jazz

This evening we went to the George & Dragon in Thames Ditton to see the John Barnes quartet, comprising John Barnes (baritone sax, alto sax, clarinet, vocal), Alan Dandy (keyboard), Mick Durelle (string bass) and Don Cook (drums). Our favourite numbers were:
1) Just One More Chance, composed by Arthur Johnston with lyrics by Sam Coslow and played on this link by the great Coleman Hawkins.
2) Putting On The Ritz, written and published in 1929 by Irving Berlin and introduced by Harry Richman in the musical film Puttin' on the Ritz (1930). The link is to a video of Fred Astaire performning in the 1946 film 'Blue Skies'.
Alan Dandy's two solo features:
3) Heliotrope Bouquet, composed by Louis Chauvin and Scott Joplin as a piano rag but played on this link by Todd Hallawell on guitar.
4) Sentimental Journey, written by Les Brown and Ben Homer with lyrics by Bud Green. Brown's orchestra, with Doris Day as vocalist, had a hit record with the song, Day's first no. 1 hit, in 1945. The link is to that version.
John Shepherd (trumpet), John Lang (trombone) and Mark Aston (tenor sax, pictured) joined the band for 'Who's Sorry Now', 'Oh, Lady Be Good' and 'Ring Dem Bells'.

Labels: Jazz